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NSITF tasks employers on promotion of occupational health, workers’ safety        

By Toyin Olasinde
29 November 2016   |   4:20 am
The Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF) has urged employers of labour to comply with the provisions of the Employees Compensation Act (ECA).
Ismail Agaka. PHOTO: nsitfpay.com

Ismail Agaka. PHOTO: nsitfpay.com

The Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF) has urged employers of labour to comply with the provisions of the Employees Compensation Act (ECA).The Act is aimed at promotion of occupational health as well as ensuring safety of workers in the workplace.

This comes as Nigeria Employers Consultative Association (NECA) cautioned employers against flouting the newly agreed definition of payroll in the payment of the one percent required by the ECA.

Speaking in Lagos at the NSITF-NECA Safe Workplace Intervention Project (SWIP) 2016 and problem solving clinic on the ECA 2010, the Acting Managing Director of NSITF, Ismail Agaka, over 51, 000 employers had registered with the scheme and about 6,004,015 employees had been covered.

He explained that if those registered were matched with the number of employers and employees in the country, the coverage is still considered very low with a lot more work is required to be done in order to extend the coverage.

The NSITF boss assured that the management is determined to intensify the drive and push for more participation, saying, “so far, we have registered over 51,000 employers, 6,004,015 employees. But when you juxtapose this with labour force and others, you will realize that this has not gone far.”

While stressing the importance of the ECA, the Acting Managing Director added: “We have a family whose breadwinner died and after the computation of the entitlements, we are now paying up to N1.3million monthly to the beneficiaries. That represents 90 per cent of the last income of the deceased breadwinner.”

Earlier, Director-General of NECA, Segun Osinowo, said the controversy that surrounded the definition of payroll deduction into the scheme necessitated the setting up of a joint committee of employers and NSITF work on a new set of definition of the payroll as well as mode of deduction.

The NECA boss said the products of the committee formed the basis for the Memorandum of Understanding that was signed by the two organizations. He further explained that the MoU clearly spells out items that constitute payroll with pension, special allowances exempted from the list.

While the definition of payroll may cause controversies, both NECA and NSITF decided to define payroll on the basis of exclusion and that the items that would be excluded are items that are irregular on the payroll such as bonus, overtime payments, items that employers bear the costs but do not translate into cash in the pocket of employees, which formed the basis for exemption of pension contributions.

Oshinowo explained that indeed the new Memorandum of Understanding that that was signed by NECA and NSITF provided clarity of definition as far as items that constitute what a payroll is within an organization are.

He added: “It is difficult to run a scheme where controversies would dogged the implementation because the stakeholders are not on the same page on the terms and references that are contained in the law. We believe that the MoU would benefit the workers that the scheme is meant for at the end of the day and as employers we have to support that. We appreciate the fact that payroll is a generic concept because the context of payroll will differ from company to company.”

The NECA boss hinted that the signed document would be sent to all employers in the country before the end of the year to enable them plan for 2017 expenditure.

Also at the forum NSITF-NECA SWIP Year 2016 award for Safe Workplace Intervention Programme was given to the International Breweries and Portland Paints and Products Nigeria Limited.

The two companies, which won the award in the category of Excellence in Safety Culture in South West Nigeria, were rewarded with an ambulance each.

The Assistant Director of Factories, Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment, Mrs. Ibokette Olive, said the awardees were selected after an occupational safety and health audit was carried out.

In the occupational safety and infrastructure category, Multishield Limited, Tisco, Wires and Cable, Metrovet Consultants Limited, Afrab Chem Limited, Kopek Construction, RT Briscoe and Steel Works Limited were rewarded with safety equipment.

As a reward for their level of compliance with safety measures, Promasidor Nigeria Limited, Dangote Cement Plc, Chi Limited, BOC Gases and Mobil Oil Nigeria Plc bagged Outstanding Performance Awards.

Commenting on the award, the Managing Director, Portland Paints, Mukhtar Yakasai, called for enforcement of safety in Nigerian companies and advocated for a minimum level of safety that should be complied with to reduce the risk of accidents.

While expressing his excitement over the recognition, the Chief Operating Officer, International Breweries, Mr. Andrew Ross, said that the ambulance would be the second one owned by the company and would be donated to a local hospital in the host community of the company.

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