The Social Security System (SSS) on Tuesday announced that its self-employed members could now register to the employees’ compensation (EC) program.
SSS president and CEO Aurora Ignacio signed a joint memorandum circular according to the ECC Board Resolution No. 19-03-05 on promulgating the Policy on Expanding the Coverage of the Employees’ Compensation Program to the Self-Employed Compulsory Members of the SSS, said EC commission executive director Stella Zipagan-Banawis.
The payment reference numbers issued by SSS for self-employed members will already include EC contributions starting September.
Meanwhile, SSS will notify via email those self-employed members who already paid their contributions in advance to pay their EC contributions for September until the last applicable month of the advance payment.
It said payment deadlines apply for the contributions will also apply for the EC contributions of self-employed members.
Currently, EC contributions are fixed at P10 monthly for workers with a monthly salary credit of below P15,000 and P30 monthly for those with a monthly salary credit of P15,000 and above.
“We are happy for this milestone development made by the ECC and SSS as it endeavors to cover almost 3 million self-employed workers,” Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III said.
“The inclusion of our self-employed compulsory members of the SSS is a manifestation that we are true to our commitment to provide meaningful benefits and services to all workers, both in public and private sectors,” he added.
SSS allows registration of self-employed members to the compensation program
SSS defined self-employed individuals as:
- Self-employed professionals who have their own business offices;
- Partners, single proprietors of businesses, and directors or trustees of the board of corporations duly registered with appropriate government agencies;
- Actors, directors, scriptwriters, and news correspondents who do not fall within the definition of the term ”employee” in Section 8 (D) of the Social Security Law;
- Professional athletes, coaches, trainers, jockeys, individual farmers, and fisherfolks;
- Workers in the informal sector such as market and ambulant vendors, transport workers, and those similarly situated;
- Contractual and job order personnel engaged by the government through a contract of service and who are not coverable under the Government Service Insurance System Law; and
- any other self-employed as determined by the Social Security Commission under such rules and regulations that it may prescribe.