On top of increasing members’ maximum monthly contribution rate to 14 percent from 11 percent, the Social Security System (SSS) also plans to adjust the premium sharing between employer and employee.



“We are in the process of consultation po with the employers, with employers association, para ma-determine natin ano ang magiging reasonable sharing between the employees and employers,” SSS chairman Amado Valdez said in an interview on GMA News’ “Unang Hirit” on Tuesday.



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The present sharing scheme is 3.63 percent for the employee and 7.37 percent for the employer.Since the SSS is planning to implement a 3-percentage point increase in members’ monthly contributions by April, Valdez said the pension fund is looking at adjusting the sharing scheme to 50-50.“This is to ease the burden on the part of the employers since the whole concept of SSS contributions is for the long-term savings of employees,” Valdez told GMA News Online in a separate interview on Tuesday.“The advantage is on the employee ... kasi, in the current sharing, the employer is paying more for their employees’ premium,” he said.The need for higher contributions cropped up since the SSS fund life was shortened by a P1,000 increase in the monthly pension of retired members last year with another P1,000 to be disbursed in 2022.The SSS was supposed to implement a higher contribution rate in May 2017, but the plan was deferred so it can be implemented in tandem with new tax reform law.Republic Act No. 10963 or the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion law took effect on Jan. 1, 2018.