The Tribune

By YOURI KEMP

Tribune Business Reporter

ykemp@tribunemedia.net

The National Insurance Board (NIB) yesterday revealed that some 2,000 unemployment benefit claims have “stalled” because employers have failed to file the required contributions statements.

Dr Nicola Virgil-Rolle, pictured, the social security system’s director, warned that much-needed payouts to laid-off workers would be “delayed” - but not stopped - by companies who do not provide the information necessary to calculate an employee’s wage and due benefits.

She spoke out after NIB, in a statement, said: “To-date, NIB [has been] able to quickly process over 12,000 unemployment benefit (UEB) applications related to COVID-19. However, there are another 2,000 claims in process which have been stalled because of the lack of C10 information.

“Without the C10 forms which contain the wage information, NIB cannot accurately determine a person’s insurable wage that is used to calculate the unemployment benefit. These claims may also be deemed ineligible by NIB’s claims system as the person may not have sufficient contributions to meet the requirements without the additional months of C10 data added.”

Urging employers without outstanding C10 contribution forms to file them electronically, either using the Excel spreadsheet on its website or via its digital portal, NIB added: “The National Insurance Board is appealing to employers who have not recently filed their contributions statements and have laid-off staff to file the C10s as soon as possible so that the unemployment benefit (UEB) can be paid quickly.

“For the last year NIB has stepped up its enforcement efforts to ensure that employers file their contribution statements and make their NIB payments. At this point, the most important issue is for NIB to have the C10 statements so that insurable wages can be calculated and credited to the employees’ accounts.”

Dr Virgil-Rolle subsequently told Tribune Business: “In our system, when we don’t see the right amount of contributions it goes into a queue where our contributions staff investigate if these things are on file, or whether we need to get the employer to send the information in.

“The process runs a lot smoother when employers are compliant and have the C10 sent prior to the 15th day of every month. That makes it a lot smoother for going through our system and having everything current. When that does not happen, it causes a backlog like this where we have to check and then get the information and post it.

“You would have noted that we pushed the EFS (electronic filing) portal, and that was one of the reasons and advantages - that employers can directly post their C10s and there would be no need for manual intervention,” she added.

“You can automatically go. It makes it easier to use, and you can pay online as well. For this purpose we are not asking or demanding payment; we are only asking for the direct information so that we can appropriately calculate the insurable wage and ensure that the person was working there at the time.”

Speaking directly to the “stalled” claims, Dr Virgil-Rolle said the issue “delays us, but it doesn’t stop” the payment of due benefits. “Most employers have been very happy to assist and get information to us,” she added.

“We have been working and most employers, once we contact them, they send the information in immediately. That is important, and it is just a matter of having an additional step of having a meeting with our compliance officers to then check with the employer to ask for the information. So it is very important to have those C10s in on a timely basis.”

The failure of employers to file contribution forms on time results in laid-off staff being unable to obtain timely benefits that may be crucial to them and their families purchasing life-sustaining necessities and staying above the poverty line.

Dr Virgil-Rolle, meanwhile, also confirmed that expatriate work permits who have been laid-off are ineligible for unemployment benefits. She explained: “To be eligible for unemployment you need to be available to work and look for another job.

“On certain categories of work permits, however, those persons are tied to a single employer so they won’t meet the test for the Department of Labour’s labour certificate and that is what is necessary to qualify for unemployment benefit.”

“It is a long-standing policy of NIB because of that. Now persons with spousal permits are allowed, and they are not tied to a particular employer, so they would be able to obtain the labour department’s labour certificate, which allows them to qualify for unemployment benefit. Persons that are on permanent residency are not tied to a particular employer.”

However, NIB’s stance may lead expatriate workers and their employers to question why they are both paying contributions if no benefits are available in return.

Still, Dr Rolle said: “NIB is now over 12,000 claimants who have been able to be processed, and we have worked around the clock to reach the others. We are quite confident that within the next week we will be able to grant the other approvals and go through the process.

“We had to change our business model to focus just on this. Even for those who have been delayed a bit because of the lack of C10s we have persons actively working on that.”