PFAs pay 6,862 disengaged workers N3.6b

A report by The Nations has stated that a total of 6,862 workers with pension contributions under the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS), who lost their jobs, were paid 25 per cent of their contributions in the Second Quarter.

A report entitled: “Second Quarter, 2020 Summary Report by the National Pension Commission (PenCom)” stated that Pension Fund Administrators (PFAs) paid the disengaged workers N3.67 billion.

According to the commission, the disengaged employees are under 50 and were unable to secure another jobs within four months of disengagement.

The report reads: “Approval was granted for payment of N3.67 billion to 6,862 Retirement Savings Account (RSA) holders who were under the age of 50 years and were disengaged from work and unable to secure another job within four months of disengagement.

“The cumulative total number of RSA holders who were paid benefits for temporary loss of job was 331,003 and were paid a total of N116.88 billion being 25 per cent of the balances of their RSAs as prescribed by the Pension Reform Act

“A further analysis showed that the private sector accounted for 95.17 per cent of those who benefited from these payments while the public sector accounted for 4.83 per cent.”

Similarly, the commission approved N7.66 billion for the payment of death benefits to the beneficiaries of the 1,936 deceased employees during the quarter under review.

This brings the number of deceased employees from both public and private sectors to 59,057.

The amount paid during the quarter as death benefits is N186.21 billion.