NSSA garnishes defaulting employers

Scores of defaulting companies in Victoria Falls have been crying foul after being taken to the debt collectors while others have had their accounts garnished.
In an interview on the sidelines of the 38th African Regional Labour Administration Centre (ARLAC) meeting in Victoria Falls yesterday, Mr Matiza said the authority wanted to avoid a situation where an employee is retrenched or is injured at work and fails to get something.
“Any company running a business and employing workers is mandated to pay contribution to NSSA. If the company uses labour, then it is mandatory that they pay contributions in the form of pensions for the employees.
“It is for the benefit of the worker and that is why we have resorted to garnishing accounts and taking defaulters to debt collectors. We want to recover every cent from the defaulting companies,” he said.
Mr Matiza said every worker was one day going to grow old or get retrenched and therefore the need for the contributions that will provide social security.
“That is why we do not want to create gaps in terms of contributions.
“So that is the position, as long as a company is using labour, they have to pay the contributions. If there are confusions or anything, we have labour officers throughout the country.”
He said the authority had an open door policy where employers could come in and work out payment plans to avert situations where they will be taken to debt collectors.
“The problem is that some employers do not want to sit down with our inspectors and in such cases we let the law take its course.”
The provision of social security is based on the principle of social solidarity and pooling of resources and risks, involving drawing of savings from periods of employment, earnings and good health to provide for periods of unemployment, old age, invalidity and death.