Time frame for providing a pension plan
I‘ve taken on a new employee who just arrived in Cayman. Do I need to start contributing to a pension plan for him right away?
Auntie’s answer: You asked this question at an interesting time because the National Pensions (Amendment) Law, 2016 just took effect 1 January. The changes in the law will not affect everything in the original regulations, however, and some sections are still to be instituted over the next few months.
In your case, though, the answer will be the same either way. The relevant part for your purposes is Section 25, which covers when an employer needs to provide a pension plan for an employee.
The amended law stipulates that employers are not required to provide a plan to employees who “have been working in the Islands for a continuous period of six months or less”, which cuts three months from the time frame set out in the previously enacted National Pensions Law (2012 Revision).
This means that you do not have to do anything with pension right now, but you better get that organised in six months because in February the amendment dealing with punishment kicks in. Upon summary conviction, the offender will then face significantly increased fines along with the newly added possibility of imprisonment.
The laws mentioned in this column can be found on the CNS Library
Category: Ask Auntie
