In this section you will find all necessary information pertaining to registration as an employer, payment of contributions, and other general information that you may find useful.

The Social Security Act provides that within 7 days of employing his first employee, an employer shall complete and submit to the Director, an Employer Application for Registration form.

1. Where the employer is a registered Company, the employer shall present a copy of the following documents for Registration:
   • The Certificate of Incorporation
   • The Articles of Association
   • The Notice of Registered Office
2. Where the employer is operating under a Business Name, the official Documents for Registration stating the following must be presented:
   • The Business Name
   • The general nature of the business
   • The principal place of the business
   • The name(s) of the person(s) carrying on the business
3. Where the business is a Partnership, the Employer Application for Registration form must be signed by all the Partners.

Upon registration the employer will be issued with an Employer Registration Certificate stating his name and Registration Number. We wish to advise that the Number be kept handy when making any enquiries to our office.

1. The employer must ensure that every person in his employ is duly registered, and produces his Social Security card to the employer.
2. If a registered employee fails to produce his card to his employer within four days, it is the responsibility of the employer to take all necessary steps to ensure that the employee immediately obtains it.
3. If an employer employs a person who has not been previously registered, he must take steps to ensure that the person is registered immediately.
4. The continued employment or engagement of an unregistered employee constitutes an offence, which, on summary conviction, will result in a fine.
5. Every employer is required to keep business records of the start date of employment for each employee, their full name and Social Security number, the wages paid to them, the date on which such wages were paid etc.
6. Every employer is required to deduct 6.5% of the wages paid to each employee, and to remit these contributions, along with his (the Employer’s) Contribution to the Dominica Social Security on, or before, the 14th day following the month in respect of which it is due. Eg. Contributions in respect of the month of January should be paid no later than the 14th day of February. However, if the 14th day falls on a weekend or on a Public holiday, the deadline for payment is the first working day after the 14th. If contributions are paid after the deadline, the employer must add a 10% Late Fee as the late payment penalty.
7. If the employer fails to deduct the employee’s component of the contributions deductible, he then becomes personally liable for the payment of the total amount due.
8. Contribution payments must be accompanied by a duly completed Contribution Remittance Form (C8) listing the particulars of the employees in respect of whom the contributions are being paid. Electronic versions of the Contribution Remittance Form (C8) may be downloaded from this site.
9. Every employer must ensure that Benefit Application forms submitted by his employees are duly completed by him and submitted to the Social Security office within 4 days. Claims submitted after 4 days may be disallowed.
10. Instructions for Completing the Employer Certificate in respect of Short-Term benefit claims can be obtained by calling the Social Security Office.
11. It is the employer’s responsibility to inform the DSS of any change in his address, or if he ceases to be an employer.
12. Every employer must grant access to Social Security Inspectors conducting their inspections/investigations for the purpose of the Act.

The Employee Contribution Rates currently in effect are as follows:

If an employee covered by the Protection of Employment Act has been employed for no less than 3 years and is made Redundant by his employer, he may be entitled to Redundancy Benefit. It is important to note that Redundancy benefit falls under the ambit of the Protection of Employment Act. Although it is currently administered by the Dominica Social Security, Redundancy benefit is not a Social Security benefit.

Of the 7.50% payable by the employer on behalf of his employee, 0.25% is in respect of the Redundancy Benefit Fund established under the Protection of Employment Act.

The following categories of employees are not covered by the Protection of Employment Act, and are therefore not eligible for Redundancy Benefit. Employers are therefore required to contribute 7.25% in respect of those employees.

Employees not covered by the Protection of Employment Act are as follows:
Government workers

• Managerial staff (who have, and actually exercise authority to hire and fire employees)
• Stevedores, Long-shore men and Lighter men
• Domestic workers
• Any employee who is the father, mother, husband, wife, brother, sister, son or daughter of the employer

1. In the Employer Details section state:
   • Business Name
   • Employer’s Name
   • Address etc
2. In the “Employee Name” column please state the full Name of the employee (surname first, with a comma separating the surname from the name.
3. In the “Number” column, please state the Social Security Number of each employee. The Social Security Number is made up of four letters followed by nine numerals, i.e. a total of 13 characters.
4. In the “Pay Frequency” column, please state the Method of Payment of wages in respect of each employee i.e. “M”=Monthly paid; or “W”=Weekly paid.
5. In the Job Description section, please state the employees’ occupation.
6. In the section titled “Cont. Rate” please state the employees’ rate of contribution i.e. whether 13.75% (for Employees Without Redundancy) or 14% (for Employees With Redundancy).
7. In the column titled “Date of Comm/Term” please state the exact date on which the employee commenced employment, or the exact date on which the employee’s employment terminated if such Commencement or Termination occurred during the month in which the contributions are being paid. If the employees’ employment did not commence or end during the month in question, the section should be left blank. Note also, that a Date of Termination should be bracketed e.g. (28/10/07) whereas a date of Commencement of employment should not be bracketed e.g. 28/10/07.
8. In the “Gross Weekly Earnings” section please insert:
   In the “Date” section, insert the date on which the employees were paid.
   The weekly earnings received by Weekly paid employees must be recorded in the corresponding week in which the payment was made. Please use the DSS Calendar as a guide. The weekly wages recorded in columns 1 to 5 should be added, and the total derived should be entered in the “Total Wages” column.
   Earnings received by Monthly paid employees should be entered in the “Total Wages” column, and X’s placed in columns 1 to 5.
9. In the section titled “Contributions” enter the corresponding employees’ contributions (6.5% of employee’s wages) in the “Employee Due” section. The corresponding “Employer Due” (refer to #vi above) and “Total Due” contributions should be entered in the respective columns.
10. Add up the amounts in the “Total Due” column and enter total in the “Current Liability” section.
11. If the contributions are being paid late i.e. after the 14th, add 10% of the “Current Liability” amount, and enter the sum total in the “Total Liability” section.
12. The form should be duly signed, and the Total Liability immediately paid to the Social Security office.
13. Please note that the form should be completed in duplicate. Both copies should be brought to the Social Security office when making payment. The Cashier will keep the original copy, and stamp and return the duplicate to you.

Compliance Officers/Inspectors are duly authorized by Section 12 of the Social Security Act and Regulations to visit the employer’s premises, or any place where persons are employed, and to conduct the appropriate investigation and examination of employment related records, to ensure that the proper procedures are being followed, in keeping with the stipulations of the Social Security Act.

The Inspectors are trained professionals, and are quite resourceful in clarifying, assisting and rendering advice to stakeholders on Social Security related matters. It is an offence under the Act to obstruct, impede, hinder, molest, or otherwise refuse admission to these Inspectors, or to refuse to furnish them with any information or documents which are required for the purposes of their inspection or investigation.

1. The Board may designate such officers or employees in its service as it thinks fit to be Inspectors for the purpose of this Act.
2. Every Inspector shall be furnished with a certificate of his appointment and, on applying for admission to any premises or place for the purposes of this Act, shall produce the certificate.
3. The premises or places liable to inspection under this section shall include any premises or place where an inspector has reasonable cause to believe that any persons are employed, whether or not such premises or place is used exclusively for residential purposes.
4. An Inspector shall, for the purposes of this Act have power to enter at all reasonable times, any premises or place liable to inspection under this Act, and there, make any examination or enquiry necessary for the purposes of this Act, and to require the production of any documents relating to contributions or liability to contribute to the Fund, for inspection by him on the said premises or place, and to copy such documents or make extracts therefrom.
5. The occupier of any premises or place liable to inspection under this section, and any other person who is, or has been employing any person, and the servants or agents of any such occupier, or other person, shall furnish to an Inspector all such information, and shall produce for his inspection all such documents as the Inspector may reasonably require.
6. Any person who, without reasonable cause, obstructs, impedes, hinders, molests or refuses admission to an Inspector in the exercise of any of his powers under this section, or refuses or neglects to furnish any information, or produce any document when required to do so under this section, is liable on summary conviction to a fine of $1,000.00.