174 EMPLOYERS PROSECUTED

 MBABANE – Up to 174 employers attracted the wrath of the ENPF in the first four months of 2020.

ENPF is the Eswatini National Provident Fund, which is a savings scheme with a principal purpose of providing benefit for employed persons when they retire from regular employment due to old age or in the event of becoming incapacitated. The employer is responsible for paying statutory contributions for every employee who is eligible to become a member of the Fund.

Over 170 employers had to be prosecuted for non-compliance.

 Vusi Ngcamphalala, who is Compliance and Reconciliations Manager at ENPF, confirmed the developments in the recently released Fund’s newsletter.  This mainly covers employers who are registered with the Fund. They were said to have failed to fulfil their statutory obligation of remitting their members’ contribution to the Fund on time.

Usually this consists of about three per cent of the total number of registered employers.

Concern

“The number prosecuted in four months is a concern to the Fund and requires vigorous inspection from the compliance team.

“It should be noted that before an employer is taken to court, there is some communication that takes place between the Fund and the employer. It is only after the final written demand that the employer is taken to court if no positive results are realised,” shared Ngcamphalala.

All eligible employers  in the country are expected to pay contributions on behalf of their employees who are the Fund’s members before the 21st of the month following the current payroll month.

“We urge employers to adopt a culture of voluntary compliance to avoid these implications.

“We also encourage those that are behind with payments to voluntarily come forward and arrange fair payment terms with the Fund,” said Ngcamphalala.

Door-to-door operations in all the four regions are done regularly and all non-compliant employers are brought to book and criminal charges are preferred against them. 

MOST CONCERNS FROM 

THE FOLLOWING AREAS

Members whose contributions are deducted but are not remitted to the Fund. 

Members who are eligible to contribute but their employers are not registered. 

Employers who under-declare their employees and subsequently the contributions. 

Members who agree with their employers not to contribute at all. 

Employers who are behind with payments, affecting qualifying members from getting their full benefit claims.

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