The Social Security Reform Commission has recommended that the government seek to make hotels pay National Insurance Board (NIB) contributions based on the gratuities earned by “tipped” employees, in addition to base pay, a move that many proerties are likely to resist.
The Commission’s report to the government on what the Bahamas must do to reform the NIB and its social security system is now being printed, but among the preliminary recommendations it has made are that the definition of ‘insurable wages’ for service sector workers be expanded to include tips and gratuities.
The initial findings noted that ‘tipped’ employees, sucha s waiters, croupiers and bus girls and boys “often take home wages well in excess of basic pay but receive NIB benefits only on their basic wage.”
Source: Neil Hartnell, The Tribune
