Four business establishments with P15 million unremitted employees’ contributions and penalties are set to face criminal charges.
State-owned Social Security System (SSS) reported that it filed separate charges at the prosecutor’s office as a result of the nationwide Run After Contribution Evaders campaigns.
Rolando Ledesma Macasaet, SSS president and chief executive officer said these companies operating in the restaurant, fire extinguisher supply, BPO, and car spare part industries have failed to remit contributions on behalf of their 140 employees.
Macasaet said this negligence has deprived their workers of the ability to access essential SSS benefits and participate in loan programs.
“SSS previously visited the four employers during RACE operations to remind them to pay the contributions of their workers. However, they failed to settle their contribution delinquencies despite receiving violation notices from SSS,” Macasaet said.
Macasaet added the legal actions taken by SSS against these delinquent employers serve as a reminder for business establishments to ensure that they deduct and remit the monthly contributions of their workers.
SSS Vice President for Operations Legal Services Division and RACE Team Coordinator Renato Jacinto S. Cuisia said that SSS issued notices of violation and show cause orders to erring employers compelling them to settle their contribution delinquencies and comply with their obligations under Republic Act No. 11199.
Employers are mandated to register their businesses with the SSS and report all their employees within 30 days from the actual employment date as per the law.
“It is not just a legal obligation, but a moral responsibility of employers to deduct from the employee’s salary the employee’s share in the monthly SSS contribution and, together with the employer’s share, remit it to the SSS,” Cuisia said.
Cuisia said that it issued notices of violation and show cause orders to erring employers compelling them to settle their contribution delinquencies and comply with their obligations under Republic Act No. 11199.
The restaurant business had the highest contribution delinquency among the four delinquent employers standing at P11.1 million, which is composed of P4.8 million unpaid workers’ contributions and P6.4 million penalties, according to the SSS assessment.
SSS records showed that the establishment still needed to remit the SSS contributions of its 35 employees from June 2007 to August 2023, Cuisia noted.
He said that the restaurant owner and the three other erring employers were given multiple opportunities to settle their contribution delinquencies.
“However, they did not cooperate with the SSS and comply with the Social Security Law, leaving SSS with no other recourse but to file a case in court against them,” the SSS official explained.
Earlier, SSS issued violation notices to more than 1,200 delinquent employers across the country in a synchronous RACE operation to remind them of the legal consequences of not remitting their employees’ contributions.
The SSS is eyeing to charge another 655 delinquent employers soon for not remitting P257 million workers’ contributions, Macasaet said.