MP urges update to 60-year-old NISS law

Government MP Toni Moore has called for sweeping changes to the nearly 60-year-old Barbados National Insurance and Social Security (NISS) Act, saying the current system no longer reflects the realities of modern work.

Moore, the Barbados Workers’ Union General Secretary, recently tabled a resolution in the House of Assembly proposing a national portable benefits framework that would tie social protection to the worker rather than to a specific job title or contract.

The trade unionist argued that the world of work has undergone a “significant transformation”, with more Barbadians now earning a living through short-term contracts, subcontracting, platform work, and digital engagements.

“These workers contribute labour value and productivity to the development of Barbados yet remain exposed to insecurity because social protection is too often treated as attaching to a job title or contractual label rather than to the worker as a person,” the St George North MP explained.

The proposal focuses on the principle that “Social Security must follow the worker and not the job,” said Moore, which she described as “essential to ensuring fairness, resilience, and national social stability.”

Under the proposed system, every employer, digital platform, or agency would be required to make contributions for workers regardless of the duration or form of the engagement.

Moore said the reform must be national in reach, particularly for gig workers, construction labourers, domestic staff, and those in the creative and digital economies.

She warned that workers who rely on multiple income streams could face challenges in retirement.

Some, she said, could “reach pensionable age only to discover that years of labour did not translate into the contributions required for dignity in retirement.”

Moore argued that expanding participation would strengthen the National Insurance Social Security Service, “deepening compliance and closing long-standing loopholes that have nurtured a lack of accountability”.

She acknowledged that implementing the system would require administrative reforms, including “practical digital systems for payment, tracking, and reconciliation”.

Moore also called for “stronger inspection, monitoring and enforcement, and proportionate penalties for non-compliance”, along with public education so that both “workers and engagers alike understand their rights, duties, and responsibilities”.