Business
By Anthony Isibor
THE heartwarming stories of how employers and employees have benefited from the Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund, NSITF, was one of the highlights of the two-day Retreat organised for the Senate and House or Representatives Committee on Labour, Employment and Productivity.
Although the purpose of the scheme is not widely understood as revealed by some participants at day one of the retreat on Thursday 15, Oluwaseun Mayomi Faleye, MD/CEO of NSITF explained that the scheme is empowered by law, in line with Section 84 (2) of the Pension Reform Act 2014 (as amended) to provide social security services to all eligible citizens.
The NSITF, which thrives at the heart of the Employees’ Compensation Scheme, ECS established under the Employees’ Compensation Act of 2010 aligns with the International Labour Organization’s, ILO, Social Security Convention No. 102, which ensures that employees and their beneficiaries receive adequate compensation and rehabilitation in the event of work-related injuries, diseases, or death.
The ECA 2010, mandates every employer of labour (Public & Private) to contribute 1% of the total emoluments of its staff to NSITF in order to pay claims and compensations to eligible employees or their beneficiaries in the occurrence of workplace accidents and work related injuries, diseases and death.
Speaking at the event, Frances Nwachukwu, managing principal in charge of compliance, NSITF revealed that the scheme, which is about compensation to injured employees in the course of work, ensures that all the contributions made by the employers would be translated into benefits in case of any eventualities.
According to her, Benefits include:
1. In the event of death, a wholly dependant surviving spouse and children are placed on a monthly pay-role until the last child is 21 years or graduates from the tertiary institution; whichever comes first.
2. Surviving spouse without any dependant children.
3.Aged parents.
4. Disability payments are made up to 55 years which means that a beneficiary who goes above 55 years of age exits the scheme, however, an injured employee, who is above 55 is covered by the act to be paid monthly benefits for two years, while those with temporary disabilities are paid a lump sum.
5. Retirement saving benefits, which is 10% of the payment to disabled beneficiaries; paid to the Pensions Funds.
6.Medical expense refund paid to the employer, who has paid the medical bills of an employee.
She disclosed that the funds contributed is measured precisely by how much those expectations are met and said that it currently has 708 beneficiaries enjoying the death benefits, 908 disability beneficiaries, and 338 beneficiaries under the retirement benefit .
This also includes the processing and payment of 103,292 claims, including 111 persons, who received artificial limbs (prosthetics).
Some of the stories of the beneficiaries as told by Nwachukwu revealed how a widow, whose husband died in the course of his duty has been paid over N169 million since 2015.
She explained that the widow whose last child will be 21 years in May of 2034 will continue to receive the NSITF benefits till then.
She also told the story of another widow who has been paid N1 million monthly since her husband; an oil worker died in 2015 on his way to work.
There is also the story of an employer, who was reimbursed over N10 million as medical expenses refund while the spouse of the employer-victim was placed on N55,000 monthly allowance.
Chief among these stories was that of a construction worker who had a hearing loss and needed a hearing aid implant worth N14 million. He didn’t just get the implant, he was also placed on disability benefits and has received almost N4 million in benefits so far.
There was also the very emotional story of Rose, a widow with 5 children whose husband was killed by armed robbers on his way to work. Today her children are almost through with their university education as a result of the scheme.
Nwachukwu also noted that the guidelines to ensure that fully documented claims are paid within 14 working days include:
1. The beneficiaries have to be registered as an employer.
2. Must have been contributing on behalf of the employees.
3. Must show the evidence of those contributions.
4. The incident must be work related and must be reported within 21 days by way of notifications.
5. Claims must be determined within a year or three years at the behest of the board.
Those who are eligible
A. Employees who suffers partial or permanent disabilities.
B. The employer who bears the cost of treating an injured employee known as “Medical Expense Refund”
A.I
Aug. 16, 2014
Tags: Frances Nwachukwu NSITF OLUWASEUN Mayomi Faleye
