SSS sues delinquent employers

STATE-RUN Social Security System (SSS) said it sued delinquent employers for violations of the Social Security Law. In a statement, Romulo Neri, SSS president, said the pension fund brought to court 1,623 delinquent employers. Penalties include fines of up to P20,000 and a maximum imprisonment of 12 years.

Two hundred violating employers were charged because of their failure to register and refusal to present employment records to SSS account officers.

“The rest of the cases were for non-remittance of contributions, which remains the most common violation among employers,” Neri said, adding, “because of this, members cannot avail of SSS benefits and loans during times of need.”

Employers are required to remit their workers’ monthly SSS pre-miums on or before the 10th day. Under the law, late contributions from a company are charged with 3 percent monthly penalty.

Neri said the pension fund also collected a total of P796.77 million in 2008 from delinquent employers representing overdue contributions.

SSS collected a total of P475.38 million last year from employers who responded to the demand letter sent by its lawyers. Companies that the pension fund sued had paid a total of P321.39 million last year.

Earlier, Rep. Lorenzo Tañada 3rd of Quezon, chairman of the House committee on human rights, said that as of September 30, 2007, the total number of delinquent employers had reached 500,611.

These consist of 164,603 from the National Capital Region, 175,255 from Luzon, 89,807 from the Visayas and 70,946 from Mindanao.

This pressed Tañada to file House Bill 4194, or the proposed “Social Security Condonation Law of 2008.”

Under the bill, any employer who is delinquent or has failed to remit all contributions due and payable to the SSS may, without incurring the prescribed penalty, remit in full such delinquent principal contribution exclusive of interest and or penalties within a period of six months.

The pension fund files charges against delinquent employers in court or before the Social Security Commission, which hears cases on SSS-related disputes.

The pension fund said it registered revenues of P65.50 billion in the first nine months last year from P48.40 billion in the same period in 2007. Its profit reached P16.18 billion, 136 percent higher than a year ago. –Johanna M. Sampan, Reporter, Manila Times