Contractors failing to pay NIS should not be awarded govt. contracts

Contractors failing to make National Insurance Scheme (NIS) payments on behalf of their employees should not be given the compliance needed for them to acquire contracts.
This view was offered by the Minister of Labour, Joseph Hamilton, during a recent interview on Kaieteur Radio’s ‘Wake Up Guyana Show.’
During his interview, a question was posed asking why contractors who are not NIS compliant, be in receipt of contracts for construction and other state contracts including in the security arena.

Further, it was asked what course of action could be taken by the Ministry of Labour.
According to Minister Hamilton, the Labour Ministry has no mandate in that regard. He said the NIS is governed under its own statutes and regulations.
“The NIS like the GRA… they come under their own laws, statutes and regulations. They have what they call inspectors and (properly) if a man has not paid up his dues – his contributions for employees, he should not be given a compliance,” the Labour Minister noted.
The compliance is basically, statements from NIS, that the employer is meeting the NIS obligations regarding contributions.

He said that there are laws in place to ensure these persons comply, which includes them being taken to court. In light of this, Hamilton said, he is questioning why the NIS is not “robustly applying the law across the board.”
He also noted that workers at the NIS are not doing their jobs.
In giving an example, he said that he would often contact senior officials at the NIS querying about matters and these matters would usually be solved within 24 to 48 hours. “So what it is suggesting to me is that people are not doing their work, they are not properly supervised. Because if the matter at the level of most senior functionary can be resolved in 24 hours, it means it is a resolvable matter,” the Minister lamented.

As previously reported by Kaieteur News, the Minister stressed that when persons fail to pay NIS on behalf of their employees, they are not only robbing the employees but the NIS. Hamilton also highlighted a “culture” of deskbound officers even within the Labour Ministry. “They should only be at their desk when they are going to write their reports. They should come in every morning, report to their bosses and be given assignments,” he said.
According to the Minister, he is dealing with that issue to ensure they understand their roles.