SSS mulls unemployment insurance benefits
State-run Social Security System (SSS) said it plans to provide unemployment insurance benefits to its 35 million active members as part of the proposed reforms in its Charter.
Social Security Commission (SSC) chairman Amado Valdez said the SSS is currently conducting a feasibility study on the proposed unemployment insurance benefit scheme.
“The partnership between private insurance companies and the SSS will ensure that SSS members who are unemployed, without fault on their own, will be given the necessary benefits to cover for situations where no employment is available,” Valdez said.
Under the proposed scheme, members who lose their jobs would be given benefits for a period of time, or until they find another employer.
Valdez added unemployed members would also be given enough funds for retraining or developing skills so they would be able to return to work eventually.
According to Valdez, the unemployment benefit scheme is part of the improved benefit package the SSS is planning to implement under the Social Security Reform Act of 2017.
He said SSS is pushing for this reform in preparation for the increasing use of artificial intelligence, which may lead to the rise in unemployment in the future.
“That’s the fear we have at SSS. What will happen to our fellow Filipinos if the robots are already present here?” he said. “We have to have an unemployment insurance so when you lose
your job because a robot will replace your work, you can be retrained to do other jobs.” he added.
The SSS said the International Labor Organization (ILO), Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) and Insurance Commission (IC) are supporting the proposed benefit program.
ILO representatives Hideki Kagohashi and Khalid Hassan said the SSS should look into areas — including coverage, qualifying conditions, duration, type and level of benefit, among others — to ensure efficient implementation of the program.
They said the SSS should also ensure the conduct of actuarial studies both for the state fund, and potential private insurance partners, if any.
Aside from the unemployment benefits, SSS president and CEO Emmanuel Dooc earlier said the state fund is also proposing for the enhancement of members’ maternity, sickness and funeral benefits.
Dooc had said these improved benefits would come along with the planned hike in SSS premium contributions, as well as the increase in the maximum salary credit (MSC) to P30,000 from the current P16,000.
The first tranche of the proposed adjustments in the monthly contribution rate of SSS members was deferred to 2018 instead of May along with the first tranche increase in the MSC.
Dooc said the state fund hopes to implement these reforms in time with the enactment of the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) Act and the Social Security Reform Act next year.