By JONATHAN WALTON
If you are a registered security guard and employed by a registered security company, your employer must register you as a member of the Private Security Sector Provident Fund (PSSPF).
The Basic Conditions of Employment Act (1997), Sectoral Determination 6, Private Security Sector as amended, legalises the PSSPF as a condition of service.
The Department of Labour’s inspection and enforcement officers are responsible for ensuring that all security companies (employers) are complying with Sectoral Determination 6. Equally, security guards (employees) and trade union representatives must ensure that they are registered with the PSSPF.
Importantly, security guards must ensure that employers regularly deduct monthly contributions and regularly pay the contributions to the provident fund administrator.
For example, Sectoral Determination 6 says that:
“The employer shall each month deduct the earnings of each employee in respect of each month, or part thereof, an amount equal to 7.5% of the employee’s Fund Salary, being contributions to the provident fund, and employers shall make an equal contribution to the provident fund.”
Furthermore, Section 13A of the Pension Funds Act sets out two separate responsibilities in relation to the payment of contributions for an employer who participates in a retirement fund.
The responsibilities are (a) a participating employer is obliged to pay contributions in terms of the rules of the Fund into the Fund’s bank account not later than seven days after the end of the month for which such contributions are payable; and (b) a participating employer further has to provide contribution schedules to the Fund not later than 15 days after the end of the month in respect of which the payment was made to ensure that the contributions are allocated to the correct members.
When claiming provident fund benefits, the member must submit the following required documents:
- Fully completed claim form, signed and stamped by the
employer and pay slip; - Member’s ID copy and SARS Tax number; and
- Member’s bank statement;
If your employer did not deduct contributions, deducted contributions but did not pay them to the Fund or did not submit schedules to the Fund, the member can contact the Private Security Sector Provident Fund at:
Cell Number 082 053 0245
WhatsApp Line 082 053 0245
Fax Number 086 613 1901
Email: psspf.queries@salteb.co.za
Alternatively, the member can seek assistance from the Office of the Pension Funds Adjudicator (012 346 1738, 012 748 4000 / Fax 086 693 7472 / email: enquiries@pfa.org.za) or Black Sash’s Help-Line (072 663 3739) email: help@blacksash.org.za
