NIS investigates reports of persons receiving invalidity benefits while employed

The National Insurance Scheme (NIS) is actively investigating reports of persons receiving invalidity benefits/pensions while being gainfully employed.

Delivering the Astor B. Watts lunchtime lecture on Friday, Retired Employee of the NIS Stephen Strickland outlined that throughout the years, the NIS has received many reports of such and warned that these instances were looked into.

He made it clear that when an employed person was deemed medically unfit to work by a doctor and collected invalidity benefits/pensions, they were not supposed to attain employment elsewhere for financial gain.

“Once that person is issued an invalidity claim, then that person should not be gainfully employed and I say should not because unfortunately the National Insurance would have had many reports of individuals who are in receipt of an invalidity benefit/pension who we found to be very gainfully employed.

“So what National Insurance does is with the very limited resources and manpower that they do have, they seek to find those persons, having received information that those persons are in receipt of an invalidity pension,” he stated.

Strickland further explained, “For invalidity pensions, those persons are not supposed to be gainfully employed or in other words, working for an income of $21 or more a week, whether self-employed or employed with some person”.

Questioned by a member of the audience on the financial footing of the fund, Strickland expressed his personal belief that it was “very sound”.

“Based on the actuarial projections, based on the investments that National Insurance has, I believe that the National Insurance fund is very safe, because there are actuaries employees as staff of the NIS, and there is an investment department…There will always be challenges to the scheme but based on the 52 years it has existed, the development of the fund, the National Insurance fund is very, very sound,” he asserted. (JMB)