Dear Editor,
For some strange reason a letter was addressed to the Editor of SN of August 11 ‘seeking’ to clarify how NIS pension is calculated. It starts out as follows: “i) your relevant wage”… With the paragraph ending “… by an average weekly or monthly wage/ salary”. At this stage it is unclear who decides on a ‘Weekly Wage’ or ‘Monthly Salary’.
But then next in paragraph ii) ‘credited contributions’ are said “to be awarded to a person due to age or upon receipt of a complete week or more of benefits…”. Note reference to monthly salaried persons is omitted. The query is immediately clarified by reference to ‘when the Pension you are entitled to….’ But the amounts of $34,000, $27,000 and $35,000 – do not indicate whether they are weekly or monthly payments, even though the ‘NB’ following stresses that pensions are calculated by/in 12 month (periods) -‘commencing from the month of your birth’.
Follows thereafter “Case 1 – Calculation of a Minimum Pension” – which displays ‘Number of Contribution (?)’. But to some the tabular presentations could have been more explicit in terms of whether or not ‘total’ annual ‘insurable contributions’ are actually ‘weekly’. If so, should there not have been examples applicable to 12 months of insurable contributions? On the whole how many pensioners would this publication reach – in too many cases too late. And how does one explain years made up of a different number of weeks?
Preferably, after review of the above observations the NIS should circulate its directive to identifiable employers. Opportunity is taken to enquire whether, if any, distinctions obtain with respect to ‘contributions’ assigned to the following categories of public servants, i.e. Permanent Pensionable Employees, Contracted Employees and Temporary Employees whose services extend to the applicable retirement age?
Sincerely,
E.B. John
