Comply or be Denied
A specific procedure has been developed to give effect to this policy. This is mainly carried out by the Compliance Department.
Whenever an Inspector or other officer approaches a self-employed person and advises him or her to register, and to pay contributions, that Inspector or other officer creates a record of that contact and keeps it on a file. Any other contact with that person is recorded on the said file. If it turns out that the person refuses or fails to comply and no other action is taken, Social Security will then resort to that file later on if that same person shows up and applies for Assistance Pension. In the mean time, Inspectors will continue to appeal to that person at every available opportunity in the hope that they will make good on their obligations.
At the same time that the forewarning is being given, Social Security is emphasizing the many timely and substantial benefits that are available to self-employed persons who are contributing to the Fund. They are entitled to similar benefits as employees with the only exception being injury benefits. The consolation in regard to the unavailability of Injury Benefits is that the self-employed person who gets injured on the job will be entitled to receive Sickness Benefit for relevant periods of being unable to work.
The Board is also reminding all self-employed persons that since the inception of the coverage, benefits been paid out to persons in the sector are approaching the half million dollar mark. An additional fact is that with the passage of ten years, it is now possible for someone who had started paying contributions in 1996 to qualify for a pension from purely self-employed contributions.
If you would like to get more information about the Comply or be denied policy you may contact your offices in Basseterre, St. Kitts and Charlestown, Nevis.