Employee compensation scheme: NSITF laments non-compliance by states

The Managing Director of the Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF), Barrister Oluwaseun Faleye, has lamented the low level of compliance by state governments in enrolling their workers in the Employee Compensation Scheme (ECS).

Barrister Faleye made this remark during a visit to the President of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) at the NLC headquarters in Abuja on Tuesday.

He noted that the non-compliance “speaks to the vulnerability of the workers if some of the key protection mechanisms provided for them are not being utilized for one reason or another.”

Speaking further, Barrister Faleye debunked the idea of the Fund as a revenue-generating agency, explaining that the primary purpose of the NSITF is to promote workers’ welfare and safety through compensation and rehabilitation in cases of work-related injuries, diseases, or death, as well as to promote workplace safety and health.

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He clarified that investments undertaken by the Fund are primarily for sustainability, not profit.

Barrister Faleye sought a partnership between the NLC and the NSITF, with the aim of leveraging the apex labour union’s reach and influence to enhance enrollment into the Scheme.

He reminded the labour leadership of its role as a critical stakeholder in the Fund, with representation on the Fund’s Management Board. He appealed to the shared interest of both organizations—workers’ welfare—as the overriding concern.

The visit was part of Barrister Faleye’s ongoing efforts to expand enrollment into the ECS through stakeholder engagement, sensitization, and inter-agency collaboration.

The Employee Compensation scheme, which establishes the Scheme, mandates employers of labour in both the public and private sectors to contribute 1% of workers’ salaries to the Fund.

The NSITF is mandated to indemnify, compensate, and rehabilitate workers affected by workplace injuries, diseases, and deaths.

In his response, the NLC President, Comrade Joe Ajaero, pledged to work with the NSITF to ensure compliance with the ECS.

He described the scheme as a laudable initiative aimed at improving the welfare of the working class and expressed enthusiasm about having the NSITF fully in charge of social security in the country.

Ajaero also pledged organized labour’s support for the Fund’s awareness campaign geared towards improving ECS compliance across the country.

NIGERIAN TRIBUNE