MONTEGO BAY, Jamaica, CMC-Tourism Minister Edmund Bartlett has called for delinquent employers to “honor their commitment to workers to match the 5 percent contribution” made by Tourism Workers Pension Scheme (TWPS) members.
He appealed at the TWPS’ first annual general meeting.
Bartlett noted that the membership enrollment for the TWPS, which was launched in January, now stood at 6214 with contributions totaling approximately $876 million Jamaica dollars (US$1 = JA$153.37).
As of January 1, 2023, the contribution rate for scheme members was increased from 3% to 5% of their earnings which is to be matched by a 5% contribution from their employers.
However, Minister Bartlett lamented that some employers are not paying their portion and must do the honorable thing.
He also suggested that employees could contribute a higher portion of their earnings, such as 10%, ensuring a pension more elevated than the $200,000 per year minimum benchmark.
The scheme is designed to cover all workers ages 18–59 years in the tourism sector, whether permanent, contract, or self-employed. It includes people employed in related industries, such as craft vendors, tour operators, red cap porters, contract carriage operators, and workers at attractions.
Benefits will be payable at the age of 65 or older.
The Government of Jamaica committed J$1 billion to seed the scheme so that immediate benefits can accrue to qualified pensioners, and the fund is managed and administrated by Sagicor Life Jamaica and Guardian Life Ltd., respectively.
Underscoring the importance of the Tourism Workers Pension Scheme, Mr. Bartlett said it had the potential for nearly 500,000 contributors in Jamaica alone, with the capacity of having trillions of dollars made available for investment in the economy.
This public savings, said Mr. Bartlett, “now becomes the pool of capital that is available for on-lending for infrastructural development and investment in commercial activities with high levels of appreciation, and the returns come back to build the fund and to strengthen the capacity of the country itself.”
He said the pension fund could also be accessed for investment in tourism as employers would, in time, be able to borrow for expansion and development, “and the good news is that the government has provided an opportunity for tax relief from that contribution.”
He also said plans were in the works for major public education programs targeting tourism workers at all levels and senior students in high schools “because this program is not just about providing a social safety net, but also building the culture of saving to create domestic savings.”
Minister Bartlett said the pension program was one element of a broader strategy aimed at “rolling out an architecture to create a labor market arrangement for tourism overall that makes our industry more attractive and workers feel more secure and that their future is also assured.”
The other two elements are training and certification of tourism workers and classification commensuration with remuneration.
He said what will eventually happen in the industry “is a new system of meritocracy with equity; you are trained, you qualify, you’re certified, you’re classified; you cannot be denied access.”
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