- Lagos, Edo, Kaduna and FCT scale hurdle
State governments have continued to flout the Pension Reform Act (PRA) 2004, repealed by PRA 2014, as 33 states have failed to procure group life insurance Policy for their employees.
National Pension Commission (PENCOM) made this known in a publication entitled: Status of Implementation of CPS in States as at February 26, 2020.
Of the 36 states in the country, Lagos, Kaduna and Edo states’ employees are covered under the policy. Also, covered are workers of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT),
Section 4 sub-section 5 of the Act stipulates that employers should have a group life insurance policy for their workers.
The policy, which ensures that dependents of a deceased employee receive three times his total yearly emolument, is meant to cushion the effects of the death on a late worker’s family.
Early this year, PENCOM warned defaulters to shape up.
The commission announced that from last March, firms without insurance covers for their workers would not be allowed to do any government business.
In a circular entitled: “Compliance with guidelines for life insurance policy for employers and submission of insurance certificates for 2020”, PENCOM said compliance with the law was not complete without the group life insurance policy.
The commission stated: “This is to remind employees in the public service of the federation, Federal Capital Territory and states that have implemented the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS) as well as private sector, that it is their rights under Section 4 (5) of the PRA 2014 to have Life Insurance policy taken on their behalf by their employers for an insured amount of not less than three times their annual total emolument.”
The commission stated that employees were also required to ensure that pension contributions deducted from salaries and/or contributed by employers were remitted to the Pension Fund Custodian (PFC) by the employer not later than seven working days from the date of payment of their salaries.
The commission advised employees to report where the employer fails to do.
It added that the they should ensure that their employers get the life insurance policy; submit the evidence of their compliance to the commission and place the certificate in an open place in the organisation; and must remit the deducted contributions into their retirement savings accounts.
