Govt. to crack-down on security companies not paying NIS for staff

Jun 10, 2024 News

Kaieteur News – The government has announced strict measures against security companies found to be deducting insurance contributions from their employees without remitting these payments to the National Insurance Scheme (NIS).

Vice President, Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo

Vice President, Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo during a recent press conference informed reporters that this was one of the most prevalent concerns brought up at his outreach held at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre (ACCC). He indicated that a thorough inspection of all security companies providing services to the government has been ordered, with a report expected within two weeks.

“Should we have an adverse finding in relation to particular companies on this matter they run the risk of losing their contract,” the Vice President warned.

The Vice President stressed the importance of timely payment to employees and the obligation of companies to remit deductions for NIS to ensure that workers have recourse to benefits in the event of injury. “The security companies, they get paid for a service [and] they have to pay the people who are working for them, and they have to also ensure they pay them on time and ensure that their deductions for taxes and for the NIS are remitted to the NIS,” he underlined.

The Vice President organised a public day at the ACCC on Monday with 1,000 individuals turning up to have their issues, concerns and matters addressed.

The event brought together a number of government ministers and technical officers from various ministries, who worked diligently to ensure that all the challenges presented to them, were effectively resolved.

Issues relating to agriculture, housing, drainage, irrigation, insurance, employment, and public works were among the prevalent concerns aired by residents.

Since 2020, the PPP/C Administration has been diligently focusing on addressing and resolving all outstanding matters related to the National Insurance Scheme and those affecting the livelihoods of citizens. (Extracted from DPI)