The National Pensions Act, 2008 (Act 766 as amended by Act 883) is being amended to include allowances of workers in the computation of pension.
Currently, it is only the basic salaries of workers which employers use to compute the pension contribution of their workers to SSNIT.
The Director-General of Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT), Dr John Ofori-Tenkorang, who disclosed this at a Breakfast Meeting with Employers in Accra yesterday, said the move was to help retirees to get enhanced pension when they retired.
“We are looking at many possible amendments in the Pensions Act. Some of them is just to ensure the drafting is very clear and to clarify the language that is being used, some of them are to make sure that any loopholes that people can take advantage of to the detriment of the scheme is closed,” he said.
The 2022 Employers Breakfast Meeting, the third in the series and attended by employers from Greater Accra and Eastern Region was on the theme “The Sustainability of the SSNIT Scheme: The Role of Employers.”
DrOfori-Tenkorang explained that, the consolidation of allowances would help enhance the pension workers take after retirement.
He explained, even though some workers took home big salaries, such individuals took home less pensions because pensions were calculated on basic salaries, excluding allowances.
For example, he cited an example of a Medical Doctor who complained of taking monthly pension of about GH¢ 1, 200.00, yet his take home salary was about GH¢ 6000.
Dr Ofori-Tenkorang said when he delved into the issue he realised that although the Medical Doctor’s take home salary was about GH¢ 6000 per month, his basic salary was GH¢ 2000, an amount which his employers used to calculate his monthly pension contribution.
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