Employer

An employer is a person or  corporate body with whom an employee has entered into a contract of service or apprenticeship expressed or implied whereby such a person or  corporate body is liable to pay salary, wages or other remuneration for services performed by the employee.

All employers are required to be registered with the NIS and to pay contributions on behalf of their employee/s. An employer shall ensure that every employee is registered with the NIS within four days of commencing employment. Employer contribution is 5% of the gross earnings of an employee. The maximum insurable earnings on which contributions are payable is $4,250.00 per month, $990.00 per week. The Maximum 4% deductions for any given period is $170.00.

Employers are required to pay 1% of gross earnings for employees under the age of 16 and over the age of 60.

The following are taken into consideration for the purpose or determining the earnings of an employee

• Overtime wages/payments
• Cost of living bonus
• Additional Payments in respect of dependants
• Supplements for long service in industry efficiency
• Commission on sales or similar payments
• Gratuities paid by employer
• Payment for night or shift work
• Service charges
• Any of an employee’s liabilities paid on behalf by the employer
• Holiday Pay
• Danger or dirt money or similar payments

Every Employer is required to submit the insurable earnings of their employees via manual or electronic remittance forms. Contribution payment must be made together with a remittance form that clearly shows

• The names and numbers of the employer
• The names and numbers of the employee
• In the case of weekly paid employees the amount earned each week
• The insurable earnings and total 9% contribution
• The total amount of contributions to be paid

The total 9% contribution must be remitted to the NIS within fourteen days from the end of the month for which contributions are being paid. Employers failing to do so will be charged an initial 10% surcharge and an additional 1% interest for every month or part of a month that the contribution payment remains outstanding.