Social Security Office setting up permanent unit specifically to go after defaulters
PUBLISHED : 1 Aug 2024 at 18:29
The Social Security Office (SSO) is planning to go after employers who have failed to pay their portions of the mandatory contribution to the Social Security Fund.
However, the office admits it has no available estimate of how many companies have not paid their contributions and how much is in arrears.
It expects to spend up to a month compiling the figures, according to Boonsong Thapchaiyuth, secretary-general of the SSO.
The office has now decided to establish a permanent unit specifically to chase after defaulters, he said.
“The unit will lay out an action plan and spell out a timeline for tackling the outstanding contribution issue,” Mr Boonsong said.
The recouped payments will come in handy for improving Social Security Fund (SSF) services in terms of medical treatments and allowances for the disabled, those on maternity leave, children and funerals of fund recipients.
Under the social security system, both employees and employers are required to pay monthly contributions to the fund. Employers are responsible for deducting employees’ contributions and sending the money along with their own portions to the SSF.
Anecdotal evidence has indicated that many employers stopped making contributions during the Covid-19 pandemic because they were facing severe financial problems.
Mr Boonsong warned employers to sort out their contributions and promptly settle overdue payments.
The SSO is working to build a database to paint an overall picture of the overdue contribution problem. Once the database is up and running, the issue will be dealt with systematically and the office will be able to effectively map out ways to recover the money, according to Mr Boonsong.
He insisted that despite the absence of employers’ contributions, their respective employees will not lose their welfare benefits under the fund since the office has covered the shortfall.
Niyada Seneemanomai, a spokeswoman for the SSO, said some companies have deducted their workers’ pay but neglected or refused to pass the employees’ contributions on to the SSO.
This has caused workers to file complaints with the office. If it could be verified that the lack of contribution was the employer’s fault, the employees’ social security benefits would be unaffected.
Employers who fail to send the employees’ contributions to the SSO in time will face a fine accounting for 2% of outstanding contributions.