est. 2007

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Pensioning Off Our Senior Citizens, The Most Idiotic Decision Of The Year

The U.S. Department of the Treasury will pay all federal benefit and non-tax payments electronically. Benefit recipients can choose to receive their payments by direct deposit to a bank or credit union account or to a Direct Express® Debit MasterCard® card account. You must make the switch from paper federal benefit checks to electronic payments…

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Dr. Esther Byer-Suckoo, Minister of Labour and Social Security

The U.S. Department of the Treasury will pay all federal benefit and non-tax payments electronically. Benefit recipients can choose to receive their payments by direct deposit to a bank or credit union account or to a Direct Express® Debit MasterCard® card account. You must make the switch from paper federal benefit checks to electronic payments by March 1, 2013. Learn more or sign up now.

Source: www.godirect.org

The decision by the National Insurance Scheme (NIS) to retreat from distributing pensions to bank accounts only is the correct one. To inflict such hardship on our most senior of senior citizens reflects a level of uncouthness and inconsideration by those responsible. BU surmises that if Director of the NIS Ian Carrington recommended the change in policy, the Board headed by retired banker Tony Marshall – who reports to Minister Esther Byer-Suckoo – should have blocked the idiotic proposal. It has the smell of Tony Marshall, who possibly rammed it down Minister Suckoo’s throat. Whether it occurred as described or not, it demonstrates weak leadership on the part of the government and in particular Dr. Byer-Suckoo.

Did the NIS complete a benefit analysis which measured not only the financial impact but social as well? Barbados is a small island which is partly defined by its personable makeup. Would it not have made more sense to run a campaign to encourage pensioners with bank accounts who are receiving cheques to switch? Such an approach would have tested the appetite of the pensioners for making the change, sensitize pensioners to how NIS principals are thinking and intelligently inform the right decision. It is ironic that in the most impersonal of countries, the USA, the same same move is currently being processed but on a phased basis.

Why would a government about to enter general election mode try to rollout such a disruptive policy? Is our government so out of tune with the reality of the situation? Are they so driven by the economics of the decision that every other consideration becomes inconsequential? It challenges the perception that the DLP is more easily persuaded to implement more social programs compared to the BLP.

It is scary to contemplate that these are the people we are making decisions everyday which will impact our lives and those of our children now and the future.

  1. obediant Avatar
    obediant

    @Scout

    I am saying to you that you need to get your facts before you writ e so when your write it is from a position of current knowledge and not staleand outdated infrom ation, else you will continue to make your self an ass and come to the wrong conclusion. Come on, you have a politcal axe to grind, some of us try to disguis our preference but eventually it is shown, and your prefernece is ovious.

  2. Cleopatra Jones Avatar
    Cleopatra Jones

    The problem is not the postage. To cut cost they are looking at the wrong place. There is a lot of abuse going at NIS. First people to blame are doctors.
    I work for a company with 10 employees, on average we get 8 weeks of sick leave certified by dotors per year. NIS pays for that.

    One example:
    In April 2011, we hired a 24 years old, healthy new employee, a month later in May this new employee requested a vacation for 2 weeks in August to go to New York. Vacation was declined by management, as the employee is new and is still on training. Guess what happens next! In August on the exact dates of the vacation request, on Monday the employee did not show up to work, and later in the afternoon a friend delivered a 2 weeks doctor certified sick leave, and two weeks later on the day the employee is supposed to be back to work, we received another two weeks certified sick leave. In total this employee took 4 weeks sick leave for lower back pain. Now she is back. We believe she was vacationing in New York at the expense of NIS. Ofcourse company is hurting too.

    In January we had an employee who was on sick leave for almost 4 weeks for migraine. They are all receiving NIS.

    Doctors are depleting the pensions.

  3. Watching Avatar
    Watching

    @Cleopatra Jones
    How dare you question the integrity of the doctors? Obviously you never had lower back pain or a migraine before. Lower back pain can practically cripple you and those who suffer with migraine can tell you that a migraine headache can sometimes last for up to a week or more. What you should be concern with is the type of workstation your employees have to work at is the chair too narrow? Is the back rest supportive enough? Does the computer screen have a guard against the glare? Is the room well lit, especially over the employees work stations.
    You seem to jump to conclusions about staff too quickly maybe you are judging people on your own standards.
    Let tell you about a case with me, some years ago I took up a new job on the west coast within a short time I kept coming down with these coughing fits and nothing my doctor prescribed really help and he wanted to give me sick leave but I refused it. A young lady in the office (receptionist) always seemed to have laryngitis and was on sick leave often. The problem was there were bats living in the roof and the dander from the droppings was effecting us in the office.
    I would urge not to question doctors integrity too quickly they went to medical school not you and sometimes the reason staff fall ill is because the work environment is not healthy.

  4. Christopher Halsall Avatar
    Christopher Halsall

    @Cleopatra Jones: “In April 2011, we hired a 24 years old, healthy new employee, a month later in May this new employee requested a vacation for 2 weeks in August to go to New York. Vacation was declined by management, as the employee is new and is still on training. Guess what happens next! In August on the exact dates of the vacation request, on Monday the employee did not show up to work…

    So then guess what?

    You should have formally dismissed that employee immediately. Since they obviously did not care about the job and they were still on probation.

  5. The Scout Avatar
    The Scout

    Cleopatra Jones
    I agree with Christopher, that guy should have been removed since he was on probation. There are too many cases of employees going to their doctors and requesting time off from work for some strange ailment. When I was a junior in my work place, I would always hear guys say, “man test match coming up, I gine and tell my doctor I want two weeks.” this is nothing new. However, the depleting of the NIS funds is because of misuse by both governments. There was a time when banks were refusing money from the NIS because they could not lend it out fast enough, then government started dipping their hands in it and it felt good, so they dipped a little more then a little more until now they are beginning to see the bottom of the barrel

  6. balance Avatar
    balance

    i understand that there is a significant backlog of cases awaiting hearing by the appeals tribunals at nis. i understand that persons seeking to have their appeals heard by these tribunals sometimes have to wait in excess of two years for a hearing and then more for judgment. i would have thought that in the interest of justice the nis would bemore inclined to move speedily to put mechanisms in place to address thuis deficiency rather than trying to place an unnecessary burden on the bavks of already overburdened pensioners.over to you suckoo.

  7. Do Not Touch Our Blasted NIS Money! |

    […] the way has the CBC repaid that one million dollar loan yet? Did any heads roll as a result of the cockup with mailing old age pension […]

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