Pension cases drag on
(CNS):The National Pensions Office has revealed that just four of the cases being pursued in the courts against delinquent employers have been closed since its last update in February. While it is understood that hundreds of employers are failing to comply with pensions contributions, efforts to prosecute some are moving very slowly. In reality very few bosses are being held to account not only for failing to make their lawful contribution on behalf of their staff but deducting pension payments from their wages without paying it into their funds. Of the four cases recently closed only one boss was fined $350 in relation to the charges of failing to make contributions.
Since the pensions office made the decision to name and shame employers who have been referred to the courts, just fifteen cases are still being perused with warrants out for the arrest of at least four bosses who failed to show up for their court appearances. Another eleven employers who are making an effort to pay are being given every opportunity to deal with their arrears.
In 2010 Nicola Williams released a report into the shocking levels of delinquency in pension payments among employers and in October 2013 the complaints boss updated that report and detailed even more disregard for the law by bosses. She said tens of millions of dollars are missing from pension funds. But despite the revalation that hundreds of bosses are non-compliant less than two dozen have ever gone before the courts.
Following Williams’ findings last year the employment minister, who has responsibility for pensions, has still not stated when the new legislation will be brought to the Legislative Assembly, nor has the government revealed its policy regarding the future of private sector pensions. In a long and rambling address in the LA following Williams’ update, the current minister, Tara Rivers, said that the regulatory oversight and supervision of pensions was a national objective, and spoke about the need for “a robust and efficient regulatory framework, which leverages technology and other innovations.”
However, almost a year on little has changed for employers or the sixteen registered pension plans which hold the future pensions of almost 51,000 people.
See the latest update from the NPO
July 2013 – August 2014 Report on Matters before the Summary Court
Category: Crime
While we are at it, I asked the pensions office to transfer my pension since I no longer worked with Government and wanted it transferred to Chamber. For well over two years I have been waiting. Each time I am told they need the signature of the director. It takes two years to sign paperwork? Then I was told that there was an anomaly. I asked if it was something I could assist with. I was told no that it was internal. Then I got a call to say it was all sorted and by two days it would have been transferred.
So two years and counting I am still waiting. Conclusion – THe pensions office is just as bad as the employers who do not pay the contributions. They are holding onto my pension when I asked for it to be transferred to the Chamber pension. So before you take employers to court, you must do your job as well.
07:39, your pension is probably gone due to double dipping MLA's and other high ranking Government personnel.
They probably thougt you were going to work for Government for life and didn't expect to have to deal with it until you retired.
This will continue as none of the politicians take this matter seriously. If they did the pension and labour office would not be closed in Cayman Brac. The employees in Cayman Brac have no representation with the office closed. It makes no sense to call the Grand Cayman office as no one answers the phone and if you leave a message no one returns calls. Minister Rivers goes on TV and all,she talks about is education but she is not taking her responsibility for pension and labour in Cayman Brac seriously nor are the Cayman Brac representatives. The labour director makes press releases that all is well in Cayman Brac and that complaints are minimal which is not true. The employees in Cayman Brac are suffering as they have no body to go to for assistance. It is a disgrace.
Why should I as an employer pay towards pension???? Now take the one who hasn't paid pension and all the are fined is 350.??? What kind of s… is this…I put in thousands and thousands of dollars into pension what kind of justice is this. May as well stop paying into pension and just pay the 350 fine….closed case
What kind of crap is this??? Where is whats her name to explain this one? Government pays her a good salary and she has NOT ACCOMPLISHED A DAMN THING
Said it before and I will say it again. Pension scheme won't work in Cayman. Especially when employers that steal from employees only get fined $350.00 for being crooked. This whole island has become a damn joke.
Caymanian
What is even a bigger joke is the profound amount of personal pension money lost to individuals who had no choice but to pay into the unisured fund. No, I'm not an employer, just an employee who lost thousands.
Managers of the pension fund should be paid based on earnings to the fundholders.
This hardly good news for many employees trying to find out where their pension deductions have disappeared and it is of course mandatory for them to make these contributions, but appears to be optional for employers to forward them. Given that state of affairs, the National Pensions Law should be either cancelled, or modified to allow employees to handle their own pension investment. As it stands now, employers appear to be using an employer's contribution as a means to reduce wages without any repercussions. Fix it, enforce it. Or cancel it.
On a side note: are the MLA's now collecting their pensions subjected to the same treatment?
Extremely doubtful.
WOW! I don't know what to say! Having been the first person prosecuted for pensions offences, I paid $80,000 in fines, and owed less than C.I. Precast is accused of owing. To hear of an employer being finded a mere $350 is insulkting to me! I paid my fines and pensions in full as agreed by the court and after legal fees to defend myself, having been exonerated myself, my life and my finances were in disarray. I am now interested to see how much C.I. Precast stands to be fined and if it is in line with the outrageous amount I paid to see if justice is fair and/or similar to all. In addition, how is it that hundreds of employers are failing to comply and yet there are only 15 cases pending? Why aren't there hundreds of cases pending? The NPO and AG's office must act on EVERY employer who are not complying with the law, not just the select few! Either you are breaking the law or you are not! Is that fair to those of us who either paid our pensions, fines or retrubution?
Pirates!
only $ 350 in fines after defrauding millions this is pathetic
$350 fine is appalling. My spouse had this happen – got demoted for asking when found out it was being taken off cheque but no where in pension. It is stealing and it is a criminal offence and all they get fined is $350? What a joke. Totally corrupt and with this kind of "punishment" it will keep happening as there is absolutely no incentive to obey the law. Those employers that are doing it are laughing and getting away with criminal behaviour.
Can't you press charges? I know it is costly to hire an attorney, but I do hope that there will be soon a bunch of employees banding together to take their employer to court……..
It would be nice to press charges but by the time it gets to even be heard most people will be rolled over. Some companies were forced to put in a payment plan in order to repay so that when it came time to be brought up on charges they can say that they have repaid it. But in the meantime, demotions, loss of work and threats will easily sway people to not press charges as it is not worth it especially if the penalty will be $350!
This is what happens when foolish people make foolish laws and put fools in charge of compliance and enforcment. And THAT is the real problem.
I am married to a Caymanian, we have two children who were born in Cayman and I have lived here now for a substantial amount of time. I once used to love it here, but nowadays I am finding it harder and hard to cope in this lawless society. Be it pensions not being paid, helpers being kept as indentured slaves, the increase of littering all over the Island, the lack of pride people seem to have to maintain their yards and houses (no, you don't need money to keep you yard free of junk or to cut down the bush!), no enforcement of any traffic laws, the constant fear of burglaries or being a victim of robberies, roaming packs of dogs……….the list seems endless. Yes, I am aware that crime exists everywhere in the world, but I can guarantee you that in my home-town of 60,000 people where I was born and raised and where my family still lives, the news do not indicate daily burglaries/robberies and you can get to work without fearing to be killed by an idiotic driver who thinks no law applies to him/her. The amount of bad news we have to cope with on a daily basis is absurd for such a small country. Something has gone very, very wrong in Cayman.
When are you moving back to your Utopia?
I bet your are one of those who gets a car loan to drive and expensive car, yet lives in a shitty run down house and believes the Government is responsible to provide hurricane shutters for the residents or bus your kids to school………..Likely you are also one of those who thinks that there are people hired to pick up the garbage along the road that you aren others toss out….
they're married to a Caymanian, you XXXXXX XXXXX!
If all an employer is going to get fined is 350 may as well stop paying into pension and just pay the fine when caught!!!!
"Hundreds of employers are failing to comply with pensions contributions efforts to prosecute some are moving very slowly. In reality very few bosses are being held to account not only for failing to make their lawful contribution on behalf of their staff but deducting pension payments from their wages without paying it into their funds. Of the four cases recently closed only one boss was fined $350 in relation to the charges of failing to make contributions."
Is this crap for real? No wonder crime is on the increase and these islands are becoming what we fear the most "third world" and crime infested. How can you fine someone $350 for such an offense, that person should have been made to pay restitutation of 100% to the employee their trade and business license cancelled and their business taken over by government and sold. In the USA if one don't pay their taxes you stand to loose everything and often times wind up in federal prison too irrespected of who you are, they range from criminals to movie stars it matters not. The same should apply here, if you don't pay employees pension lose your business or do time. How can you justify collecting pension from an employee and not making the contribution, this is stealing and should be dealt with forthright irrespective who the culprit is.
I agree with your comment entirely but how can we expect our Government to get this resolved when the CIG are guilty of the same crime? When was the last time a Civil Servant got a pension statement? I guess government is allowed to dick around their own workers because they pay pension and health 100% on their behalf. We do not even know where they invest the pension funds if at all. SMH
Don't worry about government their employees get a lump sum at retirement and monthly payment until they expire. It happened with my parent who work for government for many years. Upon retirement my parent got a good payout and is receiving a pension payment which can pay the bills at the end of the month and still have extra money. Unlike my aunt who worked for a law firm for the same amount ofyears when she retired she got a gold watch, taken out to dinner and a thank you for your service and some nice cards but that was it. Long before it was mandatory to pay pensions (from 1997) government paid their employees pensions so don't put government in that bunch of losers that deduct their employees pension and don't pay it.
"Hundreds of employers are failing to comply with pensions contributions efforts to prosecute some are moving very slowly. In reality very few bosses are being held to account not only for failing to make their lawful contribution on behalf of their staff but deducting pension payments from their wages without paying it into their funds. Of the four cases recently closed only one boss was fined $350 in relation to the charges of failing to make contributions."
Is this crap for real? No wonder crime is on the increase and these islands are becoming what we fear the most "third world" and crime infested. How can you fine someone $350 for such an offense, that person should have been made to pay restitutation of 100% to the employee their trade and business license cancelled and their business taken over by government and sold. In the USA if one don't pay their taxes you stand to loose everything and often times wind up in federal prison too irrespected of who you are, they range from criminals to movie stars it matters not. The same should apply here, if you don't pay employees pension lose your business or do time. How can you justify collecting pension from an employee and not making the contribution, this is stealing and should be dealt with forthright irrespective who the culprit is.
I truly do not understand the expats' desire to be a part of this by grasping for citizenship. Wake up children.
The fact is thatthis ill-considered and largely dysfunctional penson scheme isn't working and employer's do not respect it as legally binding. This isn't new, it goes back to the day the Pension Law came into force .
Who in their right mind dreamt up the idea that people employing ex-pats who have no prospect whatsoever of collecting a pension here should be forced to pay into this scheme? How much does it cost these islands, both directly and indirectly, to run a scheme that spends most of the time doing nothing but collecting money that it then has to refund?
One of my former colleagues worked here on a two-year contract. He (and our employer) had to pay pension contributions for 15 months. Six months after he got back to the UK it was all refunded to him. Where's the sense in that?
Since at least a third of expats seem to be becomming Caymanian, and everyone will have a chance to apply, requiring expats to pay into pensions is entirely appropriate.
You should stop getting all your news from your grandpa. There is NO MORE PR. Just the promise of it. NO ONE gets or is getting PR. The amount and quality of work needed to do this is way beyond the abilities of the CIG and will always be.
Because all the sensible ones will arrange for the money to be paid into their own private pension schemes in other countries when they leave Cayman. In the UK, for instance, if the plan is over 2 years old, then the money has to be transferred into another pension scheme, or it can be left in the scheme here and a pension collected when they retire (though most of the pension funds here seem to be poor performers). Just because a person moves country, doesn't mean that they lose their pension. Some countries employers pay much more into your pension scheme than here – regardless of your nationality or where you eventually plan to retire (I believe 20-30% is common in Japanese firms)
It means that there is forced savings for workers while they are on island. It could be 2 years or 20 years. In theory someone can leave their pension monies in the plan, however given the dismal retuns of Cayman plans by & large most are happy to pull the cash out.
I totally agree its all bollox but the reason expats have to contribute is to boost the fund, without their contribution the pool would be too small to grow. But its still bollox.
The people that run the funds (into the ground) make a very good living indeed. And I dare say they are Caymanians. So shut you mouf
This is disgraceful, its no wonder employers continue to treat staff this way.
As usual they are never held accountable and when they are its a joke. Imagine $350 fine…
pathetic !!!
You have to be pretty much a moron to comply with any Cayman law you don't want to. Our enforcers seem either corrupt or incompetent or both.
A moron or an honest law-abiding person? So you are saying that you only obey laws out of a fear of being caught and punished and not because you have any moral compass yourself? Wow.
"Our enforcers seem either corrupt or incompetent or both."
No, the enforcers are merely looking out for their family members.
Mankind is tribal, this is true in every corner of the world.
Well, I wouldn't say a moron. You can always have your own moral compass and do the tight thing.
"do the tight thing." – an entirely appropriate mistype, I presume!