… as employers threaten to withhold contribution over poor performanceThe Nigerian Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF), saddled with the responsibility of implementation of the Employee Compensation Act (ECA) scheme, says it has paid out N267 million as compensation to about 2,800 workers who filed in claims between 2011 and May 2015.
This performance is however seen as unimpressive by employers of labour, who have threatened to withhold their contributions to the scheme until improved record of performance is evident.
The ECA came into force in 2010, repealling the erstwhile Workmen’s Compensation Act 2004. It makes comprehensive provisions for the payment of compensation to employees who suffer from occupational diseases or sustain injuries arising from accidents at workplace or in the course of employment.
It applies to employers and employees in both the public and private sectors of the economy. The law also provides for payment of compensation to a deceased employee within and outside the workplace provided a link is established between the death and the job description.
Ismail Agaka, general manager of the Lagos corporate office of NSITF, told leaders of business at a recent annual general meeting of Nigeria Employers’ Consultative Association (NECA) in Lagos, that in the last five years 2,800 applications for claims arising from work-related injuries or deaths had been processed and paid to the tune of N267 million.
Agaka’s revelation sparked off concern among the employers who argued that the claims paid by the NSITF portrayed poor performance in view of the high number of claims that may have been filed within the period, and when juxtaposed against the contributions of enterprise to the scheme.
The Act makes it mandatory for corporate organisations/employers of labour to contribute 1 percent of their total emolument, which is set aside to compensate for injury, mental stress, occupational hazard, and death. Total emolument is defined as the summation of basic salary, transport and housing allowances.
Segun Oshinowo, director-general, NECA, warned that agencies empowered by the law to collect one form of levy or the other from enterprise cannot continue to lag behind in their performances, saying “the law that empowers such agencies to collect the levy and gives them responsibilities and we expect that such responsibilities be carried.”
The DG said against the abysmal performance of the NSIFT in the implementation of employee compensation scheme, NECA might be forced to compel its members to withhold their payment to the scheme until an evidence of performance was established by the implementers.
“We will direct our members to deduct the 1 percent as required by law, but create a special account and put the monies there until we see performance by the implementers of the scheme, before effecting payment,” the DG said.
