Social Security System president and chief executive officer, Michael Regino, on Tuesday, November 8, urged employers to settle their delinquencies so that their employees can enjoy the SSS benefits due them.
Regino, who was in Bacolod City for an SSS Stakeholders Forum, said their RACE (Run After Contribution Evaders) program is not designed to arrest employers with delinquencies but is a reminder for them to pay, which is required by law.
He said the SSS offers payment schemes for employers who have delinquencies.
Employers who did not remit SSS contributions from March 2020 to February 2022 at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic will not be charged penalties when they pay what is due their employees for that period, Regino said.
It is important that employers pay SSS contributions so their employees will have retirement benefits when they grow old, he said.
He said SSS members are also entitled to sickness, maternity, disability, death, funeral and unemployment benefits.
CHARGES
Regino said employers who refuse to pay contributions due their employees will face charges.
The SSS additional modes of collection are through Warrants of Distraint, Levy and Garnishment (WDLG) against delinquent employers, he said.
SSS ON WHEELS
Regino said 90 percent of SSS transactions are now done online.
The total transactions of SSS a year are over a 100 million, he said.
Next year they will also start implementing their SSS on Wheels program to provide services in remote areas, Regino said.
The SSS will initially purchase 36 vehicles to be distributed around the country, he added.
APOLOGY
Regino stressed the need for SSS employees to have empathy in dealing with their clients.
He apologized for any misbehavior that some SSS employees may have committed.
“SSS has a noble purpose to provide social protection to members,” he said.
Those who have complaints against their employees or want to acknowledge their good work can write to the SSS, Regino said.*