No more late registration claims on the MSD fund

The Social Security Commission (SSC) has advised that as of 1 March 2014 it will no longer accept late registration claims in respect of Maternity Leave, Sick Leave, and Death Fund (MSD Fund).
Of late, the SSC has been inundated with late claims, some as far back as the year 2000 where members claim ignorance that they had to submit benefit claims from the SSC.
Such claims are currently being considered at the discretion of the SSC in good faith. However, the frequency and the reasons provided by members as to why claims were not submitted on time has become untenable for the SSC to continue with this practice.
In terms of the Social Security Act, all claims are to be submitted within a prescribed period which is stated as follows: the first maternity leave claim must be submitted 7 days before the expected date of delivery, while the second claim must be submitted within 7 days from the date of birth. The last claim should be submitted 7 days prior to the resumption of employment.
For sick leave benefits, all claims must be submitted within 30 days from the date on which the paid sick leave has expired while claims for death, disability or retirement must be submitted within 30 days from the date of the occurrence.
The upsurge in the submission and acceptance of late claims has become an administrative burden and is affecting the efficient and effective delivery of customer service in line with the SSC’s core values.
SSC said that if all employees are registered on time it will ensure that all members receive their benefit payments on time.
Rino Muranda, Head Corporate Communications said: “The Commission therefore would like to request all employers to register their employees within the prescribed period, i.e. 30 days from the date on which he or she so becomes an employer/employee.”