Only 24,084 employers have pension accounts, insurance covers — PenCom
By Asishana John
The National Pension Commission has said that only 24,084 employers have pension accounts and insurance covers for their employees as of the end of September 23.
PenCom said this in its report titled ‘Schedule of employers issued with certificates of compliance with provisions of the PRA 2014 as at 23 September 2021.’
The certificates given to the employers allowed them do business with the Federal Government and expire on December 31, 2021.
This was for complying with the National Pension Act’s laws which stipulated that employers with at least three employees must have pension accounts and life insurance cover for their employees.
PenCom stated that it had been receiving applications from private sector organisations for the issuance of Pension Clearance Certificates.
It added that approval was given to organisations that remitted pensions into the Retirement Savings Accounts of their employees.
PenCom in its compliance guidelines for life insurance policy for employees and submission of insurance certificate issued to employers stated that companies that had no insurance covers for their workers would no longer be allowed to do any government business.
It noted that the regulations would be in addition to ensuring that the companies had appropriate pension accounts for the workers.
PenCom’s directive on issuance of certificate of compliance with the provisions of the Pension Reform Act 2014 to the general public, suppliers, contractors or consultants bidding or soliciting for contract or business from any Federal Government ministries, departments and agencies stated that employers must fully comply with the provisions of the law.
It said, “In that regard, the commission issues annual Pension Clearance Certificate to eligible organisations.
“The MDAs are reminded to ensure that only Pension Clearance Certificates issued by the commission are accepted as evidence of compliance with the Pension Reform Act 2014.”
In the directive, PenCom stated that in accordance with the provisions of Section 4(5) of the 2014 and Section 5.5 of the guidelines for life insurance policy for employees, employers of labour covered by the PRA 2014 were required to submit copies of the insurance certificates with the schedule of benefits to the commission.
