SOCIAL SECURITY FUND

Enabling Legislations

Social Security and Housing Finance Corporation

(SSHFC) was established by Act of Parliament and the
enabling legislations are
 SSHFC Act 1981
 Injuries Compensation Act 1990
 Social Security Act 2010
 Housing Finance and Development Act 2010
 SSHFC Act 2015
GOVERNANCE

The legislation provides for the composition of a Board as

follows:
 Chairperson
 Vice Chairperson (Permanent Secretary of the Ministry)
 The Managing Director
 The Permanent Secretary of the Ministry responsible for
lands
 A representative of the employees of the Corporation
 A representative of the employee members of the National
Provident Fund
GOVERNANCE
 A representative of the Pensioners
 A representative of the employee members of the
Federated Pension Fund
 The President appoints ex-officio members of the
Board
GOVERNANCE:
TENURE OF BOARD MEMBERS
 Ex-officio members shall hold office for three years
and may be reappointed for not more than one further
term.
 A member may resign from office in writing addressed
to the President.
GOVERNANCE: MEETINGS OF THE
BOARD
The legislation provides for
 Frequency of meetings - at least once every three months
 Emergency meetings – One third of the Board membership
must request an emergency meeting.
 Quorum of a meeting – one half of the Board must be
Present for a meeting to proceed.
 Decision making process (a simple majority)
 Minute recording – (a requirement)
 Board is empowered to regulate its procedure at meetings.
 The Board is responsible to designate a staff as Board
Secretary
MANAGEMENT AND ADMINISTRATION
OF THE CORPORATION

 The general policy of the Corporation must comply

with the Act
 The minister may give general directives in writing to
the Board on matter of policy and the Board shall
comply with such directives.
MANAGING DIRECTOR OF THE
CORPORATION

 The Managing Director is appointed by the President.

THE SOCIAL SECURITY FUND

The legislation established Social Security Fund, which

consist of
 The Federated Pension Fund – (An Insurance Scheme)
 The National Provident Fund (A Savings Scheme)

The corporation is tasked with the administration of the

Social Security Fund.
The Injuries Compensation Fund
 The Injuries Compensation Act also tasked SSHFC
with the joint administration of the Injuries
Compensation Fund with the Department of Labour
ORGANISATION OF THE
CORPORATION
To carry out the assigned tasks, SSHFC is organised
into the following Departments:
 Operations Department
 Department of Human Resources And Administration
 Internal Controls Department
 Finance & Investment Department
 Department of Research and policy planning
 Information Technology Department
 Public Relations Department
 Housing Department
EMPLOYER AND EMPLOYEE
COVERAGE

The legislation applies to

 Any employer not specifically exempted under the Act
 Any employee not less than 18 years and not more 59 years
of age employed by an employer to whom the Act applies,
 Any employer who was covered under the Pensions Act
1950 before the coming into force of the current legislation
 Any citizen of The Gambia employed by Diplomatic
Missions, International institutions similar to diplomatic
missions or Non Governmental organization.
EMPLOYERS AND EMPLOYEES
EXEMPT FROM COVERAGE

 Civil Servants
 Non-Nationals employed in Diplomatic Missions,
International institutions similar to diplomatic
missions or non governmental organizations.
PAYMENTS INTO THE SOCIAL
SECURITY FUND
National Provident Fund (Contributory)
 Employer Contributes 10% of Basic salary
 Employee Contributes 5% of Basic Salary

Federated Pension Fund (Non Contributory)

 Employer Contributed 15% of Gross Salary
 Employee does not contributes

 Interest accruing from investments relating to the two funds are paid into the
respective funds.

 Any other income earned on the assets of the Social Security Fund or the
Injuries Compensation Fund are paid to the respective Funds.

 Benefits/Compensations are paid out of the respective Fund.

PAYMENTS INTO THE INJURIES
COMPENSATION FUND.
 Injuries Compensation Fund (Non Contributory)
 Employer pays 1% of gross salary upto a maximum of
D15.00 dalasis
THE ACCOUNTS OPERATED UNDER
THE SOCIAL SECURITY FUND

 A Members’ Fund Account

 An Income Account
 An Administration Account
MEMBERS FUND ACCOUNT

 All contribution receipts together with interest allotted

to members of the NPF are credited to this account
 Benefits paid out of the NPF are charged to this
account
INCOME ACCOUNT

 Interest accrued on investments and income from

investments are credited to this account
 Interest allotment to members’ Accounts is charged to
this account
 Transfers to the Administration Account are made
from this account
 Transfers to the reserve fund are made from the
account.
RESERVE FUND

A reserve fund is maintained into which the following

are paid
 Payment of fines and penalties under the enabling Act
and regulations
 Contributions by employers and employees which
cannot be allotted to a member’s account.
REGISTRATION OF EMPLOYERS
AND EMPLOYEES

 All register able employers are required to register with

the Social Security Fund within 30 days as from when they
became register able.
 An application form as prescribed by regulation is
completed for the purposes of employer registration.
 Initial Contribution is required to commence on the first
day of the month following the month the employer
became register able under this Act
 An employer not register able under the Act may register
voluntarily provided the employees give their written
consent.
 A self employed may register voluntarily.
REGISTRATION OF EMPLOYEES
 Employers are required to register their employees by
completing the prescribed form
 Each registered employee is provided with a
membership card.
 An employee member who secures employment with a
new employer should produce his/her membership
card to the new employer and the new employer
should complete the prescribed transfer advice form.
CONTRIBUTION ACCOUNT

 The Corporation creates and maintains an account for

each registered employee member
 Contributions received in respect of an employee
member are credited to the contribution account of
the member while any benefits paid to the member are
debited from the member’s contribution account.
 A statement of accrued benefits for the Federated
Pension Fund or a statement of account for the
National Provident Fund is produced and forwarded to
each employee member through his/her employer.
BENEFIT TYPES PROVIDED UNDER
THE NPF
The following benefits are provided
 Statutory Retirement Benefit
 Invalidity Benefits
 Withdrawal Benefit
 Survivors’ Benefit
 Redundancy Benefit
NOMINATION OF SURVIVORS

 Employee members complete the prescribed nomination

form to nominate dependant(s) and must clearly specify
how survivors’ benefit should be distributed among his/her
nominee(s).
 The nominations could be updated periodically to reflect
the changing circumstances of an employee member.
 Where a member fails to update the nominations
registered and the circumstance of the member is found to
have changed at the time when survivors’ benefit becomes
payable, the benefit is paid to the curator of intestate
estates for distribution in accordance with intestate laws.
FEDERATED PENSION FUND
 An Insurance Scheme
 Pension is accrued at a rate of 2% of salary for each
year of service, subject to a maximum of 66.67%,
where salary in defined as basic salary plus a fixed
allowances. Neither salaries nor pensions are indexed
BENEFIT ENTITLEMENT

 A member must have served at least 5 years to qualify for

benefits.
 Female members are allowed to benefit if they retire on
marriage grounds. The five year minimum service would
not affect entitlement in such cases.
 A member with less than five years service at statutory
retirement age is paid a lump sum benefit based on the
pension accrued.
 A member with less than five years and retires before the
statutory retirement age would forfeit his/her benefits
unless under circumstances of retrenchment or
redundancy.
NATURE OF BENEFIT
 Service less than 10 years, lump sum equal to 5 x full
pension entitlement
 Service 10 years and above pension is payable but part
of the pension entitlement could be commuted into a
gratuity
TYPES OF BENEFIT
 Normal retirement benefit
 Retirement benefit on marriage grounds
 Voluntary retirement at age 45 years.
 Ill-Health/Invalidity benefits
 Survivors’/Death benefit
 Redundancy/Retrenchment benefit
INJURIES COMPENSATION FUND

 The Injuries Compensation Act 1990 was enacted to

replace the workmen’s compensation Act 1940. The
new legislation remained dormant until July 1996
when it became into effect.
COVERAGE

The law cover’s workmen of

 The Civil Service

 The Public Enterprises
 The Local Government authorities
 The Private sector employers
EXEMPTION

 Casual workers on piece meal contract

 Domestic workers
 Members of employer’s family living in employer’s
house
 Out workers
REGISTRATION

 Employers register by completing the prescribed form

 Employee registration is done by completing the
prescribed form supported by required
documentation.
ADMINISTRATION

 The Scheme is jointly administered by SSHFC and the

Department of labour.
 SSHFC –Trustee of the fund: registers employers and
employees, collects contributions and pays
compensations
 Department of Labour – Processes claims, prevention
and receive specialist support from social Welfare and
Medical & Health Departments.
 TYPES AND LEVELS OF
COMPENSATION
DEATH/ FATAL ACCIDENTS

 120 months of deceased member’s earnings where

earnings are subject to a maximum of D1500 a month.
 Minimum compensation is D100,000
PERMANENT TOTAL INCAPACITY

 A Pension of 60% of monthly earnings which are

subject to a maximum of 1500 Dalasi. Minimum
pension is D100.00
 Where the injured workman needs a constant
attendant, then a constant attendance allowance of
25% of the injured workman’s pension becomes
payable monthly
PERMANENT PARTIAL INCAPACITY

 Incapacity of 20% or more (pension payable equals the

percentage incapacity multiplied by pension payable
under permanent total incapacity).
 Incapacity of less than 20% (a lump sum is payable)
TEMPORARY INCAPACITY
TOTAL TEMPORARY INCAPACITY

 60% of earnings, which are subject to a maximum of D1500 is

paid for six months
 Payment of pension may be extended for a further six months if
the injured workman does not recover over the initial six months

PARTIAL TEMPORARY INCAPACITY

 Injured workman receives a monthly compensation equal to 60%

of the different between the pre-accident and post accident wage
of injured workman over the period of incapacity.
COST OF MEDICAL TREATMENT
 Medical charges are shared between the employer and
the Injuries Fund, where employer pays 25% of costs
and the injuries fund pay 75% subject to a maximum
of D10,000.00.
 Medical evacuation is subject to the approval of the
Director of Medical services.
Thank you