British Virgin Islands: Minister of Natural Resources and Labour, Dr. Kedrick Pickering, was told by a resident at a recent meeting in Virgin Gorda, that some employees are of the view that their social security payments are being paid but find out when it’s time to claim benefits that payments weren’t made, according to a BVInews.com report.
The complaint said a few employers are guilty of deceiving the social security (SS) system by pocketing funds deducted from employees for Social Security payment.
In light of the complaint, Minister Pickering told the residents: “It is important for everyone to understand that if you work and you have proof that monies were deducted from your salary for social security, when you are entitled to benefits then social security will pay you. Once you can prove your pay check shows that you working for John Brown and he has been taking social security payments out of your cheques… Social Security has the authority to investigate that person. And if necessary bring them to court to collect and correct that situation. That’s in the law and that will be taken care of, but the important thing is this, as an employee you ought to have proof, you just can’t go word to mouth.”
Another resident asked the Minister to look into and take actions against such practice. “They are cheating the system, they are cheating Inland Revenue. What measures Social Security and Labour Department can do to work tighter as a team to try and stop this illegal behaviour?” the resident asked.
The BVInews.com report said that in response, the Minister told the resident that the Social Security Board has set up a system to deal with various concerns in the form of an appeals’ tribunal. He also noted that only difficult employer/employee’s matters are referred to the Labour Department for assistance. “A Government cannot legislate immorality and unethical behaviour… if you doing things that are illegal the law will eventually catch up with you,” the minister said.
In a 2009 interview, Director of the Social Security Board, Antoinette Skelton, encouraged employees to make periodical checks with the Board to ensure that their contributions are paid because “there are some unscrupulous employers out there who deduct social security contributions from their employees, but do not pay their benefits.”
She even mentioned that the Board has such cases in the courts, and stated that the onus is on the employee to go into the Board and request a printout of their contributions, adding that it only takes a few minutes, according to the BVInews.com report.
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