SSS expects more household help members with signing of Kasambahay Law

The signing of the Kasambahay Law should mean more household helpers signing up for membership in the Social Security System (SSS), the state pension fund's top official said. “This new Kasambahay Law has more teeth in terms of enforcing compliance and punishing non-compliance. More importantly, househelpers are given wider social protection through their mandatory membership and contributions in Philhealth and Pag-IBIG, aside from SSS," said SSS president and chief executive officer Emilio de Quiros, Jr. President Benigno Aquino III signed Republic Act 10361, or “An Act Instituting Policies for the Protection and Welfare of Domestic Workers” on January 18. Under current SSS guidelines, part of the monthly contribution is deducted from the helper's salary, calculated from 10.4 percent of his or her gross income, with the employer paying 7.07 percent and the employee paying 3.33 percent. Under the new law, domestic helpers earning a monthly salary of P5,000 or less are exempt from the mandatory SSS deduction from their salary; the employer must bear the total cost of the contributions themselves. Non-compliance to the provisions of the law, said de Quiros, carries a penalty of P10,000 to P40,000, much higher than the current fine of P5,000 to P20,000. “So hopefully, household employers will be further deterred from not obeying the law," he said. According to SSS data, 95,860 domestic helpers are SSS members as of December 2012. As of October 2012, contributions from the sector amounted to P189 million. — BM, GMA News