Firms warned against flouting insurance laws

Muscat, Oct 7 - “Financial burdens” will be imposed on employers who do not abide by Social Insurance Law regulations, Hamood al Jafari, a legal researcher at Public Authority for Social Insurance (PASI) has said. Not abiding by law could include non-provision of accurate information about wages, delay/ non-payment of dues on dates stated in law. “The employer will be asked to pay an additional 13.5 per cent interest for delayed dues unless it has a valid reason approved by PASI board,” he said, adding that the authority is keen to provide all guarantees to apply the Social Insurance Law. As the social security system relies on partial funding, subscriptions are considered an essential financial source for PASI. These subscriptions are contributed by the employer, the insured employee and the government every month. Regulated by Social Insurance Law, these subscriptions are paid by the employer to PASI to cover occupational injuries, diseases, old age insurance, disability and death due to non-occupational causes. “The employer pays 10.5 per cent of insured person’s wages to cover old age disability and death due to non-occupational causes, while the beneficiary (worker) pays 7 per cent,” said Al Jafari. Yet, to cover insurance against work injuries and occupational diseases, the employer should commit to pay one per cent of the worker’s monthly remuneration. Pay starts immediately from the date of joining work. If an employee’s service is terminated, the contribution must not be paid unless it is the last day of the month. Zainab al Nassri