• CHERYL G. CRUZ
Forty-five employers in Negros, with total delinquency of P7.68 million, have been served with violation notices by the Social Security System Visayas West 1 Division (SSS VW1D) in a series of RACE (Run After Contribution Evaders) operations this month.
Common violations include non-remittance of the employees’ contributions, and non-registration of the business with the SSS.
The delinquent employers, mostly operating construction, hardware, coffee and bakeshops, and resorts, among others, are under the coverage of the SSS Bacolod, Bacolod East, Bago, Bais, Dumaguete, Kabankalan, Sagay, San Carlos, and Victorias branches, with 254 total employees affected.
Angelo Blancaver, concurrent head of SSS VW1D, led the series of RACE campaigns this month in a bid to ensure that the contributions of employees are duly remitted by their respective employers so that benefits, such as maternity, sickness, retirement, disability, death, funeral, or unemployment assistance can be availed of.
The SSS said that once a business opens, the owner/employer is mandated to register it with the SSS, report and register all employees, and regularly remit or pay to the system the contributions collected from employees.
The monthly contributions of members serve as basis for qualifying for benefits, the SSS said.
Employers who received violation notices are given 15 days to coordinate with their respective servicing SSS branch/office and settle the contribution delinquencies. SSS warns of legal action against those who failed to comply.
Under Republic Act 11199, or the Social Security Act of 2018, employers who fail to register their employees, or have not deducted and remitted their contributions to SSS, will be penalized with a fine of P5,000 to P20,000, and face imprisonment ranging from six years and one day, to 12 years. | CGC
