Scheme going after change in status

The board of the National Insurance Scheme (NIS) is making moves to become a statutory body.

This was revealed by chairman of the NIS board, Queen’s Counsel Leslie Haynes, who said the board had already submitted its request to the Ministry of Finance and was awaiting a decision.

“The NIS board is a unique board. It is the only board of a department of Central Government, so that it is in a strange position that you have a board which sets policy yet the staff essentially reports directly to the Ministry of Finance. This COVID has made us realize that in order to better improve efficiencies at the NIS, the board resolved that we should transition to a statutory body,” Haynes said during a press conference tonight.

“The board paper was sent to the Ministry of Finance within the last week and we could only hope that the Ministry of Finance after reviewing the paper would approve the Board’s request to transition to a statutory board and take it from there.”

Haynes said the move would provide certain advantages, such as allowing the NIS to have more control over its operations.

He said it would also improve the organisation’s efficiency and enable it to become a more “comprehensive unit”.

Additionally, he pointed out that as a statutory body, the NIS would not have to worry about losing staff members to other Government departments.

“One major advantage will be that the staff of the NIS is now staff of Central Government. If the Ministry of Finance and Cabinet approves the decision to a statutory body, the staff of the NIS, those who accept the positions, will now fall under the Employment Rights Act. Of course, they will still be employed under the same terms and conditions as before and there are certain different changes.

“What that means is that the NIS board would then have a little bit more control and a firmer hand with respect to the NIS staff working in the areas in which they are best suited,” the Queen’s Counsel pointed out.

“We would become a more comprehensive unit, a more efficient unit.”

Haynes said the NIS would not be looking to shake up the current construct of the board.

He said currently the board comprises the Chief Labour Officer, a representative from the Barbados Employers’ Confederation, representatives from the Barbados Workers’ Union, the National Union of Public Workers’, the Barbados Hotel and Tourism Association and three members who were appointed by the Prime Minister.

“The NIS board is a reflection of the Social Partnership…and in the transition, it is our proposal that the board remains the same, so that the representation of the Social Partnership continues on the proposed statutory body,” Haynes said. (RB)