The Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) has launched its Mobile Service Week in Takoradi on the theme ‘Securing your retirement – your role as a Stakeholder’.
The SSNIT Mobile Service is an annual event wherein SSNIT officers move from their regular office settings to pitch camp at vantage locations across the country to bring its services closer to members and clients.
The Mobile Service also affords stakeholders who may be too busy to visit the branches or remember to use the Trust’s online platforms an opportunity to transact business with the Trust at their convenience. Again, it is to draw attention of stakeholders, especially workers, to their roles in ensuring that they receive enhanced retirement benefits when they retire.
Dr. John Ofori-Tenkorang, Director-General of SSNIT, at the launch noted that employers play key roles in securing the future of workers in Ghana. He explained that employers are obliged to register their business and workers within 30 days of commencement of operations.
“You must deduct 5.5% from the workers’ salary each month and add 13% to it, making a total of 18.5%. By the last day of each month, you must submit the list of workers, their SSNIT numbers and corresponding salaries, (contribution reports) to SSNIT and remit 13.5% of total salaries as contribution to SSNIT by the 14th of the following month,” he said.
“Out of the 13.5%, 2.5% of salaries is passed on to the NHIA by SSNIT in exchange for free health insurance for SSNIT contributors. The other 5% of salaries (out of the 18.5%), the employer remits directly to its Tier-2 manager,” he added.
According to him, the Trust has put in place various measures to help employers meet these obligations. Regarding workers, Dr. Ofori-Tenkorang advised them to ensure they receive the right pensions when they retire.
He explained further that: “What determines what you get at pension are two things – the salaries on which you pay the requisite contributions, or insurance premiums so to speak, and how long you have contributed or paid those premiums.
“You must therefore be interested in knowing whether your contributions are being paid, and also whether they are being paid on the correct salaries. To do this, check your statement of account regularly from our offices throughout the country,” he said.
He summed up by saying: “If you contribute based on a relatively big salary, you will get a big pension” – indicating that the Trust has intensified education of the public during the last few years. These outreach programmes are targetted at members and employers as well as prospective contributors, including students.
Frank Molbila, Takoradi Area Manger of SSNIT, urged workers to take advantage of the advisory services and engage SSNIT officers on preparing for retirement because, irrespective of one’s work, retirement will come due to either old age or invalidity.
