MONROVIA – On Monday, February 15, 2021 the Government of Liberia through the Joint Payroll Management Team of the Civil Service Agency (CSA) and the Ministry of Finance & Development Planning (MFDP) in collaboration with the National Social Security and Welfare Corporation (NASSCORP) organized an interactive training and awareness symposium on the benefits of social security contribution central government employees.
Speaking on behalf of the Director-General of the Civil Service Agency(CSA), Mr. Alfred Dorsaye, Principal Administrative Officer at the Civil Service Agency welcome participants to the symposium and explained that part of the CSA core mandate is to ensure the welfare of all government employees through various programs and initiatives. He lamented further that to achieve this, the role of Human Resource Personnel and Financial Comptrollers is critical.
“It is in pursuit of this desire the Director-General rallied the partner with the Ministry of Finance & Development Planning (MFDP) and the National Social Security and Welfare Corporation (NASSCORP) to initiate this training and awareness workshop to interacts with Human Resource Personnel and Financial Comptrollers”. Mr. Dorsaye concluded by encouraging the HRs and Comptrollers to listen attentively to the presentations, interacts so they can better educate their respective employees about the processes and benefits of social security.
Also Speaking at the program, Mr. Del-Francis Wreh, Executive Director of Liberia Macroeconomic Policy Analysis Center (LIMPAC) and Head of the Joint Payroll Management Team explained that there was significant change to methodology for Social Security deduction after the Government Payroll Harmonization process which needed to be properly explained to HRs and employees of spending entities to avoid misunderstanding and confusions, and rejection of the social security scheme. Before the national harmonization in July 2019, most government employee’s social security contribution was only calculated on their minimum Liberian Dollar Basic Salary, leaving out the larger amount of the general allowance. This lower social security contribution meant lower pension benefit after employees were retired by the government, which has resulted into many employee’s refusal to get retired after the required years of services.
Mr. Wreh further lamented that the practice of only deducting social security contribution from only government employees Liberian Dollars basic salary was immediately corrected during the harmonization because of the collapsing of the basic salary and general allowance before social security and has increased social security contribution for current employees; projecting higher pension salaries after retirement.
Mr. Wreh close by encouraging HRs and Comptrollers to see social security deduction as an investment for the future retirement and to enroll each of their employees with the National Social Security and Welfare Corporation to accurately monitor their employee’s social security status and benefits.
During his presentation, NASSCORP’s Assistant Director-General for Public Information, Education, and Training, Mr. Winston Jah reiterated the importance as a critical social safety net for employees, especially after retirement. He explained that a significant number of government employees are yet to register with the National Social Security and Welfare Corporation. Mr. Jah also explained and cautioned HRs and Comptrollers that government employee must be duly registered with NASSCORP to qualify for social security deductions benefits. ”By law, it is the responsibility of the employer to enroll their employees and ensure their social security deductions are collected and remitted to NASSCORP”. Mr. Jah Stressed.
For his presentation, the Deputy Director for Pension and claim, Mr. Rufus Johnson explained to the HRs and Comptrollers about the procedures for retirement including the process for retirees transitioning from the main GoL Payroll to the pension payroll. Deputy Director Johnson explained and illustration the step for the filling the C1 forms, which is used to capture employees’ various jobs and salaries before retirement. He encouraged the HRs to commence the retirement procedures early to ensure timely placement of retirees on the pension payroll with NASSCORP after their removal from the main GoL payroll.
The one symposium brought together over 250 participants including Human Resource Personnel and financial Comptrollers from across 103 spending entities on the Central Government Payroll.