The Tribune

Bahamian companies should employ digital and human resources software to ensure they stay compliant with National Insurance Board (NIB) obligations, IT executives are urging.

Duran Humes, TriblockHR’s chief executive, said in a statement that harnessing such innovation is set to assume greater importance as the private sector moves to implement the 1.5 percentage point NIB contribution rate increase set to take effect from July 1.

“It is extremely important at this given time that more businesses consider digital and HR software as we near the new NIB rate increase,” he added. “Given the fact that NIB is making great efforts on the enforcement side of things, it has been - and will continue to be - paramount for companies to keep accurate and easy-to-obtain records when asked.

“NIB is set to raise rates every two years in the middle of the year (summer, and most small/micro businesses - whose fiscal cycle is January to December - may be thrown off by the increase in the middle of the year.

“To prepare for the upcoming increase, I suggest companies conduct an assessment on what your new estimated cost will be from the employer side so that they can better manage it. I’d also suggest speaking with your staff to help them understand that their take home pay will be less and what that means for their life planning.”

Effective from July 1, 2024, the NIB contribution rate will increase from 5.9 percent to 6.65 percent for employers, while the percentage rate will increase from 3.9 percent to 4.65 percent for employees. Mr Humes asserted that digital is the future when it comes to helping companies remain compliant with tax increases and payments such as NIB.

“As time goes on, we can expect our labour laws and tax system to become even more complex than it already is,” Mr Humes added. “So much so that handling your taxes and labour relations becomes a very laborious task that takes away from human resources’ important work, which is focusing on the people.”

“When you have to deal with gratuity pay, sick pay, vacation pay, regular pay, injury reporting etc, the big task of keeping everything accurate becomes somewhat overwhelming; even more so as your organisation increases in size.

“This does not have to be so much of a burden to track and maintain. Some use elaborate excel spreadsheets and others utilise built for purpose (TriblockHR) human resources software. By doing that you greatly decrease the amount of effort required to do simple things like submit your NIB C10 contributions or to autofill and submit a B44 work-related accident form.”

Keith Roye II, TriblockHR’s chief operations officer, said that as the July 1 implementation date nears it is important for companies to understand “the numbers” in an effort to remain compliant.

“It is very important for a few key reasons,” he added. “Knowing the exact rate increases allows companies to accurately forecast their expenses and budget accordingly. For example, an increase in NIB contributions directly affects payroll costs. Companies need to account for these changes in their financial planning to ensure they can meet their obligations without disrupting their financial stability.

“Additionally, companies need to communicate any changes in deductions to their employees effectively. Understanding the details of the rate increases helps in explaining these changes to employees, which can affect their net income and personal financial planning.”

TriblockHR, a human resources software development and management company headed by Messrs Humes and Roye, has rolled out a platform and educational tools to better equip companies for the change.

“TriblockHR helps companies stay compliant by doing all of the heavy lifting automatically. Calculations, reporting and all of the necessary checks and balances are in place to ensure that any company that uses the software is able to confidently say they are fully compliant,” Mr Humes added.

“Even when it comes to paying third party or external deductions, Triblock is built to facilitate that as well - whether it’s an employee’s auto loan, mortgage or your pension contributions. Once payroll is completed everything is handled for you.”