Self-employed unit expands reach to thousands – NISSS

More than 3 000 self-employed Barbadians have registered with the National Insurance and Social Security Service (NISSS) in just over a year, officials said Friday, as its outreach-driven unit reshapes how independent workers engage with social security and plan for long-term protection.

The Speightstown Esplanade served as the backdrop for a ceremony celebrating the rapid expansion of its Self-Employed Unit.

Alethea Thomas, the unit’s acting project manager, delivered a progress report touting a strategy built on boots-on-the-ground community engagement.

In its first year since its launch on March 17, 2025, the unit registered 3 039 new self-employed people. This figure has since been further boosted by a surge in activity last month.

“I received the totals for April 2026 just last month,” Thomas told the audience. “This lovely team completed a total of 678 registrations, comprising 543 new registrations and a whopping 135 reactivations. The cumulative effect of that work is an NISSS that is more present, more visible, and more trusted within the self-employed community than at any point in our history.”

The event also served as the launchpad for new payment flexibility designed to accommodate the often-fluctuating income of the self-employed.

The outreach has evolved beyond simple registration into a “relationship-building model”, the unit manager said. By conducting 28 interactive community sessions and workshops island-wide, the unit has moved away from the traditional bureaucratic setting to meet vendors, tradespeople, and creative professionals in their own environments.

“Ours is more than just an outreach model,” Thomas said. “We are measuring success in the growing number of self-employed Barbadians who have taken the step to register, contribute, and begin building the social security foundation that their lives deserve, with more joining us every single week.”

She praised the unit’s 15 dedicated field officers, who were intentionally recruited from the very communities they now serve.

“It is my true honour to lead the NISSS Self-Employed Unit, a team built from the ground up for a single purpose: to find every self-employed Barbadian, meet them where they are, and make sure they know that the National Insurance scheme works for them,” Thomas said.

Thomas hailed the self-employed workforce, declaring that their courage to “bet on themselves” deserved the same level of protection afforded to traditional employees.

“The self-employed persons of Barbados work hard, and they make the necessary sacrifices for themselves, living on their own terms through skill, labour, creativity, and courage that deserves to be honoured,” Thomas said. “What we are offering through the NISSS is the assurance that that hard work pays off, not just today, but for the rest of their lives — that the years of hard work and hustle will lead to somewhere safe, secure, and worry-free.”

She added: “Every Barbadian, whether employee or self-employed, deserves those golden years, and it is the mission of the Self-Employed Unit to assure this.”

As the ceremony concluded, NISSS field officers prepared to head into Six Men’s Bay and Mile-and-a-Quarter, St Peter to continue the registration drive.

(RR)