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Leonard Ncube  Victoria Falls Reporter
In a landmark development set to transform the workplace, the National Social Security Authority is finalising two social insurance schemes to take over the remuneration of ill and pregnant employees for the duration they will be away from work.National Social Security Authority general manager, James Matiza, told journalists in Victoria Falls yesterday that two social schemes, National Health Insurance Scheme and the Maternity Scheme would be rolled out soon.

Under the Maternity Scheme workers will contribute towards a centralised fund to help ease the burden on employers who at present pay women on maternity leave.

The maternity levy will come into effect once government completes work on the two social insurance schemes.

In an interview on the sidelines of the 41st session of the African Regional Labour Administration Centre (ARLAC), Matiza said the scheme will ease the burden on employers who would no longer be required to pay women on maternity leave.

“The government is in the process of implementing two social insurance schemes to increase the coverage of contingencies under International Labour Organisation (ILO) from four to six,” said Matiza.

He said the crafting of the National Health Insurance Scheme was at an advanced stage and NSSA was waiting for government directive to implement it.

“Desk research on the maternity scheme is complete and work on the design and principles will soon start. The maternity scheme will substantially relieve the employers of the burden of paying salaries to women on maternity leave for periods as long as six months as is provided in the Labour Act.

“Benefits of the maternity scheme are consistent with the constitutional guarantee of paid maternity leave for women, without any discriminatory qualifiers in line with ILO Maternity Protection Convention. The maternity scheme will alleviate the burden of the employer who bears the full costs of maternity leave,” said Matiza.

He said the new levy will benefit women because there will be a centralised fund.

The same fund, he said, will also benefit employers.

“This will change the set up as men will also contribute towards this fund while at the same time removing the element of employers being unhappy because of paying salaries for people on maternity leave,” said Matiza.

Turning to the issue of pensions where concerns have been raised regarding failure by some pensioners to receive their monthly payments or getting meagre payouts, Matiza said retirees and beneficiaries were getting low payouts because they would have contributed less due to their low wages and shorter contributing periods.

There are reports that NSSA paid $88 million to 167,926 beneficiaries last year.

Matiza said government had increased minimum monthly payouts from $25 per month to $60 while the highest earners were getting close to $2,000.

“Paying pensions to retirees is a challenge, the problem being that we set a ceiling of insurable earnings and payment period whereby these two aspects are thrown into a formula which is used to calculate monthly payments,” said Matiza.

The insurable earning ceiling is $700, said Matiza.

He said government had realised that the minimum payouts were too low hence the increase to $60.

Matiza said the 167,000 people were those who qualified to receive pensions against more than 1 million contributors.

“Less contribution means less pension payout. Those who leave work early or contribute for a few years will get less than those who earn more or contribute for many years. Because of low salaries obtaining in most sectors, many people will get little pensions,” said the NSSA general manager.

Responding to a question that NSSA was investing in infrastructure yet pensioners were failing to access their monthly payouts, Matiza said the investments were meant to guarantee pensioners payments when they retire.

He said they were engaging different companies that were failing to remit deductions so that they make payment plans once business picks up.

The meeting which started yesterday ends on Friday.Technocrats and Permanent secretaries from Labour Ministries from different member countries are discussing a number of key issues that include among others labour protection measures.

ARLAC is a 19-member organisation and Minister of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare Prisca Mupfumira will officially open the meeting tomorrow.