Coverage of Self- Employed Persons (SEP) National Insurance - - PDF document

Coverage of Self- Employed Persons (SEP)

National Insurance Corporation (NIC) St Lucia

Coverage of Self-employed Persons

Coverage is provided to any person who carries on trade, business enterprise/professional services or any other lawful activity which:

Generates income through sales/payment services rendered or other

income

Generates monetary remuneration in form of:

• 1. Salary
• 2. Return on investment
• 3. Profits
• 4. Other forms of monetary remuneration

Persons between the ages 16 – 65 years Residing in St Lucia

Administrative Procedure for Affiliation

Registration process:

If self-employed has registered business name,

registration is done immediately without further investigation.

If there is no business registration document and no

identification indicating affiliation to any group, investigation is undertaken by investigating officer to verify self-employment.

Wage Bands for Self-Employed Contributors

Persons earning a minimum of EC$5,000 per month will be required to pay the maximum of $500.0 No arrangement for certain group as coverage is voluntary

Category Income Band ($EC) Contribution Payable ($EC) Special 0 - 500 50 A 501 – 1,000 75 B 1,001 - 1,500 125 C 1,501 – 2,000 175 D 2,001 – 2,500 225 E 2,501 – 3,000 275 F 3,001 – 3,500 325 G 3,501 – 4,000 375 H 4,001 – 4,500 425 I 4,501 - 5,000 475

Specific Characteristics of SEP

Voluntary Coverage. Contribution rate is very close to 10% of mid-point of

earnings class.

No contribution subsidy. No incentive for affiliation to social security. No administrative procedure for affiliation, contribution

collection and payment of benefits.

Entitled to all benefits except employment injury, at same

rate as other insured persons.

Challenges of Current SEP and Proposed Solution

Challenges

Voluntary coverage. Low coverage- (6% of Self-

employed population).

Lack of incentive. Contribution affordability. Registration and compliance

monitoring.

Benefit relevance. Benefit Accessibility. Aging population

Proposed Solution

NIC engaged the International

Labour Organisation (ILO) to undertake a comprehensive study self employed persons in 2015.

Objective: significantly increase

the level of coverage of this category of workers within the employed population.

Equitability in coverage level of

the informal sector

Current Status of Self-Employed Project

Completion of the national survey of self-employed

persons in December, 2016.

Await draft report from the ILO.

Composition of Self-Employed Population Based

• n Survey Result

Category Female Male Agriculture and Forestry, fishers 27.14% 34.64% Construction 0.12% 17.26% Manufacturing 5.89% 5.15% Other service activities 13.39% 12.75% Restaurants/Catering/Food Service Activities 6.93% 1.61% Transportation and storage 0.46% 15.84% Wholesale and retail trade 46.07% 12.75% Total 100.00% 100.00%

Thank You