Harare (New Ziana) – The National Social Security Authority (NSSA) said on Thursday it is giving temporary relief to companies hard hit by the Covid-19 outbreak by allowing them to stagger statutory monthly remittances that are due to the pension fund.

Companies are obliged to remit monthly pension contributions to the compulsory state run pension fund.

A significant number of companies were hard hit by the Covid-19 induced national lockdown which the government implemented from the beginning of April this year and which saw many firms temporarily ceasing operations.

The failure to generate revenue during the lockdown in turn forced firms to cut salaries and at worst retrench.

The lockdown was meant to limit citizens movement to curtail the spread of Covid-19 which has killed tens of thousands globally and infected millions.

To save local companies from the heavy financial obligations and give them some breathing space to recover, NSSA said it would allow companies to defer payments and would also suspend for three months, April to June, penalties that are normally charged for late remittances.

“The National Social Security Authority is pleased to advise employers that it has put in place measures to assist organisations that may be struggling to remit their monthly obligations due to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic,” it said.

To benefit from the relief, companies were however obligated to prove that they were financially stressed, NSSA said.

Granting of the relief measures was however not automatic.

As part of the measures, NSSA said it had also deferred implementation of new contribution rates that were meant to be effective from January 2020, up to end of June in light of the coronavirus outbreak.

Contributions to the Accident Prevention and Workers Compensation Scheme would however not be waived, even for stressed companies, for the benefit of workers, NSSA said.
New Ziana