‘Evasion of social security subscriptions a major problem in restaurant sector’

AMMAN — The Social Security Corporation (SSC) will soon launch the second phase of its awareness campaign to expand insurance coverage for workers in restaurants and sweets shops, according to an official.

The campaign will include field visits to work sites where SSC teams will receive feedback from employers and employees on insurance evasion, Musa Sbeihi, head of the corporation’s media office, said Tuesday.

“We want to know if workers are familiar with their rights… Does insurance evasion happen due to resistance from employers? Or do workers reject deductions from their salaries for the SSC subscriptions? Is it because workers are below the legal working age?” Sbeihi said, highlighting some of the questions that the second phase seeks answers to.

Furthermore, stricter penalties are to be imposed on violating institutions, including retroactive subscriptions and fines, according to the official, who said institutions that show willingness to cooperate might be exempted from additional fees.    

The sector “suffers high insurance evasion rates that cover around 70 per cent of all workers at restaurants and sweets shops”, Sbeihi added, noting that only 35,000 of the 120,000 sector workers are covered under social security insurance.

Only 7,000 out of some 20,000 restaurants operating in the Kingdom have subscribed their employees to the SSC, he said, adding that Jordanians constitute around 60 per cent of subscribers, while women comprise 6 per cent of the total.

Sbeihi noted that the restaurant sector is “difficult to regulate” because of its high job rotation and with many small restaurants spread around the Kingdom.

Under the Social Security Law employers must pay 13.25 per cent of the employees’ basic salary to the SSC, while workers pay 7 per cent. 

Sbeihi said the sector employs guest workers with no work permits, which does not allow them to subscribe to social security insurance, calling for “further cooperation” with related associations and unions.

In addition, the field is one of the “most dangerous”, as 71 out of every 1,000 workers in restaurants and hotels were injured at work in 2013, the official said, noting that insurance covers workplace injuries, retirement, disabilities and natural death, in addition to maternity leave for female workers.

Meanwhile, Labour Ministry Secretary General Hamada Abu Nijmeh said the ministry does not have the “legal authority” to enforce the Social Security Law or to penalise violating institutions as its role is limited to reporting violations during day-to-day inspections.

“The ministry’s inspection teams notify the SSC of institutions that do not subscribe their employees to social security insurance through the electronic networking system,” Abu Nijmeh told The Jordan Times over the phone on Wednesday.

The ministry’s inspection teams organised 88,000 field visits last year.

Khaled Abu Marjoub, president of the General Trade Union for Workers in General Services and Free Vocations, said the major violations of social security insurance are in restaurants and beauty salons, adding that the union is also concerned about the rights of workers in telecom, hotels and night clubs.

Abu Marjoub attributed the “wide scale insurance evasion” to employers’ unwillingness to pay the subscriptions due to the large number of guest workers in the field, noting that “around 90 per cent of workers in all restaurants are Syrians and Egyptians.”

“The union calls for stricter SSC and Labour Ministry inspection campaigns accompanied with stiff penalties,” he told The Jordan Times, adding that employers circumvent the law by subscribing guest workers when they start working to get their work permits, but suspend their subscriptions shortly afterwards.

“Our role is to fight for workers’ rights… our first demand is including employees in the SSC insurance due to several benefits in case of work injuries, disability or death,” Abu Marjoub said.

Workers “would love to subscribe… but not all employers commit to the law”, he noted.