NIGERIAN BAPTIST CONVENTION WORKERS RETIREMENT BENEFITS SCHEME RULES AND REGULATIONS

Transcription

1 NIGERIAN BAPTIST CONVENTION WORKERS RETIREMENT BENEFITS SCHEME RULES AND REGULATIONS

2 CONTENTS 1. Preamble Definition of Terms Names Scope Administration Entry Formalities Entry Age Retirement Age Contribution Stabilization Fund Gross Salary Scheme Year Years of Service, Gratuity and Annual Death Notice of Death Notice of Retirement Payment of Gratuity Withdrawals Defaulters Further Studies Secondment Leave of Absence Pastors Serving Abroad Late Remittance of Contribution Pastors whose churches pay retirement benefits contribution but not Convention dues: Pension Reform Act (2004) Correspondence... 19

3 NIGERIAN BAPTIST CONVENTION WORKERS RETIREMENT BENEFITS SCHEME RULES AND REGULATIONS 1. Preamble: As far back as the 1940 s the Nigerian Baptist Convention had operated a retirement scheme for her workers. Initially the Scheme, was made to accomodate WMU field workers as well. Other categories of workers were covered by the National Provident Fund. It follows therefore that efforts of the Convention at providing some form of retirement benefits of some sort is over half a century. In 1972, due to perceived inadequacies of the existing retirement benefits scheme, the Convention, through the assistance of Deacon V. A. Dawodu, started a new scheme with Great Nigeria Assurance Company Limited that was both group life insurance and pension. This was at a time when group life Insurance and Pension was becoming popular in Nigeria. From 1972 Retirees were paid from current budgets of the Convention and not from any investible fund since none existed. It was not until 1983 that all Convention Workers, other than Pastors were allowed to join the Pension Scheme. The effect was that retirees experienced delays in the settlement of their gratuities. Arising out of this experience, in response to a memorandum from the elsewhile Convention Treasurer, Dn. V. O. Durodola in 1988, the Convention Executive Committee set up a task force of experts to evaluate the Treasurer s proposals which enjoyed the support of many including the then General Secretary, Rev. Dr. Ola Fadeji. In April 1989, the Convention-in- Session at Sapele approved the esatablishment of a new self administered pension scheme with its own investible funds under the management and administration of the Pension Board. The new scheme thus effectively subsumed the two previous schemes. The first edition of the Rules and Regulations of the self-administered pension scheme was Published in March Between then and now, however, there had been policy changes and improvements in the benefits of workers, which necessitated a revised edition of the booklet.the fundamental change made in year 2000 is the adoption of gross salary instead of basic salary. This was done by the Board in order to better motivate workers and enhance the terminal benefits of members of the scheme.

4 This recently reviewed booklet of Rules and Regulations of the self-administered Retirement Benefit Scheme coordinated by Rev. M. B. Adebayo is hereby approved for our use. Please study every aspect very well and ask questions when in doubt as to anything. The Lord bless you all as you prepare for Retirement. Rev. M. B. Adebayo Chairman Workers Retirement Benefit Scheme Nigerian Baptist Convention President Nigerian Baptist Convention 2. Definition of Terms Trustees: Those empowered by the Convention to administer the Retirement Benefits Scheme. Gross Salary: This means Basic Salary, Housing Allowance and Transport Allowance Stabilization Fund: This is the fund meant to sustain the Retirement Benefits Scheme for going concern/continuity purpose. 3. Name The name of the Convention self administered Retirement Benefits Scheme, shall be NIGERIAN BAPTIST CONVENTION WORKERS RETIREMENT BENEFITS SCHEME. 4. Scope The following categories of Convention employees shall be covered under the scheme if they properly apply as in rule 4: (a) Pastor serving in Churches, Associations, Conferences, Institutions and Convention. (b) All Baptist Building Staff and Field Workers of all Convention departments. (c) All Staff of Convention Theological Institutions. (d) All Staff of WMU of Nigeria. (e) Staff of the Baptist Press Nigeria Limited, Nigerian Baptist Bookstores Limited and those that may be approved by the Trustees of the Nigerian Baptist Convention Workers Retirement Benefit Scheme. (f) It is to be noted that entry into the scheme is voluntary and shall not be deemed automatic. Every interested worker must apply.

5 (g) There shall be Scheme B of this policy which shall cover non-ministerial church workers, indigent Pastors and Convention approved Baptist Evangelists 5. Administration The Scheme shall be administered by the Trustees representing the various interest groups. Membership shall be drawn from people who are knowledgeable in Life and Retirement Benefits, Finance and Accountancy, Administration, etc. Membership shall be for a period of 3 years in the first instance, renewable once. Pastors representatives 3 General workers representatives 1 WMU workers representatives 1 Actuary/Insurance Experts 3 An Accountant 1 A person versed in Mgt or Business 1 Retirement Benefits Manager 1 VP Admin. & Personnel 1 VP Finance& Investment (Chairman) 1 13 The President shall be an ex-officio member. The Trustees of the Retirement Benefits Scheme shall: (i) be responsible for the formulation of broad policy guidelines and rules to effectively manage the scheme. (ii) ensure receipt of funds into the Scheme from the Convention. (iii) manage the funds of the scheme including Investments. (iv) give periodic reports and accounts of the Scheme to the Convention. (v) formulate investment policy and strategy (vi) arrange for periodic actuarial valuation of the Scheme. (vii) develop an organogram, ensure adequate staff are recruited and retained, design and implement effective training programmes for staff, members and board as required. (viii) ensure adequate safety of the Scheme s Financial and Physical Assets. (ix) To report and obtain approval from the Convention Executive Committee on any acquisition or disposal of assets of the scheme. Each member shall serve for a term of 3 years renewable once, except members by office or in very special cases. 6. Entry Formalities: Every prospective member shall be required to: (a) Complete an application form obtainable from the Retirement Benefits office in Ibadan.

6 (b) Submit his age confirmation documents and letter of appointment to the Trustees of the Retirement Benefits Scheme (e.g. birth certificate or sworn affidavit). (c) Sign an undertaking and acknowledgement that the Trustees of the Retirement Benefits Scheme reserves the right to cross-check from any source (including his almamater), the veracity of the information supplied. (d) Pay the contribution due while submitting the application form. (e) Be in full-time employment Applications that fail to comply with all the above shall not be processed. 7. Entry Age: Maximum age at entry into the Scheme shall be 50 years. No member of the Scheme shall contribute beyond age Retirement Age: The compulsory age of retirement shall be 65 years. Service beyond age 65 shall not count for gratuity and Pension purposes. 9. Contribution: The Scheme shall be contributory as follows Direct Employer 25% of gross salary Employee 2.5% of gross salary Convention 5% of gross salary Total 32.5% of gross salary Direct employer could be a Church, Association, Conference, Institution, WMU or even the Convention in the case of Baptist Building Workers. Contributions made beyond age 65 shall not count for Benefits purposes but is eligible for refund. Method of payment Churches and other direct employers should note that money meant for retirement benefits contribution of their Pastors and other workers should be paid DIRECTLY to the Retirement Benefits Scheme. 10. Stabilization Fund: The Convention shall contribute additional 5% of the gross salary of every member of the Scheme into a stabilization fund. This is different from and it is in addition to the 5% contributory fund. 11. Gross Salary: means basic salary plus Housing allowance plus Transport allowance. No other allowance shall count. Where a worker does not receive either housing allowance or transport allowance on account of official provision, the Convention allowance for both housing and transport relative to the Worker s salary shall be used in arriving at gross salary. 12. Scheme Year: The scheme year shall be the normal calendar year of January to December which shall also be the Accounting year. New members can join the Scheme only in January of every year. There is no room for joining the scheme at

7 any other time of the year. Where a worker starts work late than January, he shall wait till the following January, before being eligible to join the scheme. 13. Years of Service, Gratuity and Annual Benefits Rates: Years of service of retirement benefits service shall be working years for which full contributions have been made to the Scheme. (a) General Workers i. Those who had been in the service of the Convention for long but due to no fault of theirs were not enrolled in the scheme, will be treated on the numbers of years they have contributed to the scheme, but each individual worker in this category will be treated on his/her merit at the time of retirement. The Trustees may decide on appropriate additional honorarium payable to such a worker which shall be made personal to him/her. ii. iii. For those workers who did not join the scheme immediately the veil was lifted in 1983, the number of years of contribution shall apply strictly. The same thing goes for the Pastors who had opportunity to join the Scheme in the past but did not. They shall not expect to be allowed to pay the arrears covering the periods they were not originally in the scheme. (b) Retirement Benefits Schedule Years of qualifying Gratuity as % Annual service of terminal Benefits % of (contribution) Salary terminal salary 3 40% Nil 4 50% Nil 5 60% Nil 6 70% Nil 7 80% Nil 8 90% Nil 9 100% Nil 10 80% 20% 11 85% 24% 12 90% 26% 13 95% 28% % 30% % 32% % 34% % 36% % 38% % 40% % 42% % 44% % 46% % 48%

8 24 195% 50% % 52% % 54% % 56% % 58% % 60% % 62% % 64% % 66% % 68% % 70% % 72% (c) Terminal Salary: Terminal salary shall be the final salary earned by the member in the year of retirement or withdrawal from the scheme subject to the following: (i) The Trustees shall have the right to determine a terminal salary that is equitable in case of suspected unusual salary increase in anticipation of retirement. (ii) In suspected cases as described above, the Trustees has the right to use the average of at least 5 years salary in arriving at terminal salary. (iii) Any salary increase must be communica-ted to both the Retirement Benefits office and the Vice President Finance & Investment. (iv) Irrespective of a member s salary the maximum salary that can be used in calculating terminal benefits is the highest amount on the Convention salary scale. This does not in any way discourage direct employers from paying any amount as salary to their workers. (v) Salary: means gross salary. (vi) Contribution on terminal salary should have been paid as and when due for a period of two years preceding retirement for it to be used to calculate annual benefits and gratuity payable. For avoidance of doubt, this will also affect Convention approved salary increases. In the case of Convention approved general salary increases, the new salary must have been in use and contribution paid on same for at least one year before it can be admissible to qualify as terminal salary. This is to allow for stability in Retirement Benefits Funds. 14. Death: For death in service, the death gratuity payable shall be twice the terminal salary or the gratuity due under the table above (which ever is higher). In addition, two years annual benefits due dates shall be guaranteed and payable to the family of a retiree who dies within the first two years of retirement. Family here shall mean surviving spouse and biological children. Where deceased has no family as described above the next of kin ascertained and approved by the Trustees shall be paid the benefits. Where the deceased has a valid will, the payment shall be made to the persons named in the will. The

9 family shall submit the originals of the following documents in order to possess a death claim. a. Death Certificate b. Birth Certificate/sworn declaration of age. c. Burial Certificate issued by the pastor who did the committal to earth. 15. Notice of death Notice of a member s death must be given to the Trustees within one month. Death documents as prescribed above should then follow, also to the Trustees within a reasonable time. No death benefit can be paid unless and until the above is complied with fully. 16. Notice of Retirement A minimum of one year s notice is required from a worker going on retirement expect in sudden requirements on account of ill health. A worker who give a shorter notice may not expect to be paid his/her retirement benefits before one year from the date the notice was given. This shall be at the discretion of the Trustees every worker going on retirement must complete the retirement form (in triplicate) obtainable from the Retirement Benefit s Office in Ibadan. 17. Payment of gratuity a. Gratuities shall be due only on actual retirement and cannot be paid in advance or traded in. b. Payment of Annual Benefits: Annual Benefits allowance is due in the month following retirement, subject to rule 14a above. The minimum age to receive pension shall be 45 years. Thus notwithstanding that a contributor is eligible (i.e. qualifies) for pension, he shall not receive it until he attains Withdrawals (a) A worker shall be free to withdraw from the scheme if he/she resigns from service of the Convention and shall claim on the contribution of his direct employer if he has been in the scheme for less than 3 years and above, the benefits upon withdrawal shall be in accordance with the gratuity and annual benefits scale in Article 10(b). (b) However, a worker shall not be allowed to withdrawal from the scheme, and claim previous contributions paid by his church/direct employer, when he hopes to return to serve Convention in the future. (c) Where a persons resigns or is requested to resign or is dismissed from the service of the Convention, withdrawal shall be automatic. The Convention or direct employer shall inform the Trustees of such dismissal, resignation or forced

10 resignation and shall not commit the Trustees as to the gratuity, if any, that shall be paid to such employee. Upon receiving such notification the Trustees shall consider what is payable to such an employee less the deductions for necessary administrative actions and indebtedness due for settlement to the employer or to third parties. 19. Defaulters (a) A scheme member becomes a defaulter when retirement benefits contribution is not paid for a period of 3 months or more. Normally, defaulters shall have their names removed from the scheme. (b) However, where a defaulter is allowed to continue, he shall pay contribution for the period of default at the prevailing percentage during the period of default, together with the percentage which the Convention ought to have contributed at that period. That is, the defaulter will contribute, in addition to interest at compound rates, as penalty: 37.5% of gross salary. The Convention shall not make contribution for defaulters. (c) A defaulter at the time of retirement or death should not enjoy the full benefit as stated in the rules and regulation. However benefits will accrue up to date of the last payment and become payable from date of retirement. Alternatively, unpaid contributions accumulated till retirement date shall attract compound interest at rate(s) to be determined by the Trustees. (d) The payment of retirement benefits of a defaulter will take effect from the first day of the following month, after he completes all the documentation for retirement subject to the following conditions: i. The benefits would be based on the contributions made by the defaulter as at the date of the last payment. For example, if a member stopped payment at age 47 and retired at age of 53, his benefits would be based on his salary as at age 47 payable from age of 53. ii. The defaulter can normalise his retirement benefits described in (i) above by paying up the arrears of contribution with compound interest, as may be determined by the Trustees. As in the above example, the defaulter can exercise the option of paying the arrears of six years plus interest at compound interest rate. 20. Further Studies: Where a member of the scheme proceed on study leave, his membership is terminated automatically unless he continue to fulfil his obligation. Note: Otherwise, the period of absence will not count at retirement.

11 21. Secondment: For members on approved secondment to other Christian Bodies, they shall be entitled to continue in the scheme subject to the fulfilment of their obligations. 22. Leave of Absence: A member proceeding on leave of absence is deemed to have ceased from the membership of the scheme. 23. Pastors serving abroad: Pastors serving in other Baptist Churches outside Nigeria are allowed to join, or continue their membership of the scheme. However, contribution to the scheme and terminal benefits will be calculated on the basis of salaries they would have received if they were serving in Nigeria in accordance with the Convention salary scale. They shall contribute 37.5% of the assumed gross salary. 24. Late Remittance of Contribution: The Trustees reserves the right to charge interest on late remittance of contribution. Payment is regarded as late when paid after 3 months of due dates. 25. Pastors whose churches pay retirement benefits contribution but not Convention dues: Payment of Convention s 10% matching contributions and other retirement benefits attributable thereto shall be contingent upon the churches meeting their full financial commitment to the Convention Fund. 26. Pension Reform Act (2004): In view of the provision of the Pension Reform Act (PFA), All Baptist staff, WMU, Baptist Press, Bookstores, etc must join the PFA of their choice. 27. Correspondence: All correspondence relating to the scheme and retirement matters should be addressed to: Retirement Benefits Office Baptist Building PMB 5113 Ibadan Oyo State, Nigeria