The Affiliations in the Ecuadorian Institute of Social Security (IESS) grew by 105,686 in the period January 2021 to January 2022. According to figures from the social security entity, the increase is obtained by comparing the 3,551,061 affiliates in January 2021 with the 3,656,747 in January 2022. These figures are close, but do not yet reach the pre-pandemic amounts that In January 2019, there were 3,698,903 affiliates.
However, if the figures are compared with those of September 2020 (the worst result in affiliations so far), a greater recovery can be seen. It is that in September the affiliations in total were located at 3,437.4546, that is, there has been a recovery of about 219,201 affiliations, most of them in general insurance, while 29,000 were in voluntary insurance.
The increase of IESS affiliations is a key issue at a time when the delicate situation of the pension fund (disability, old age and death) is being discussed of the IESS, because according to the president of the IESS, Francisco Cepeda, and other experts, it is important in a pay-as-you-go system that there are more affiliates to be able to support the pension beneficiaries. Currently, the IESS only has 5.2 affiliates for each retiree, when the ideal figure would be 8 affiliates for each retiree.
Looking more closely at the 2022 data, it can be verified that between January 2021 and January 2022 the largest increases occurred in general insurance, which went from 2,990,383 to 3,078,122. In addition, there was an increase among voluntary affiliates, going from 184,311 to 206,557. However, there is a drop in the Peasant Social Security, which went from 376,267 affiliates to 372,068 (a reduction of 4,299).
According to IESS, the increase in members is due both to the economic reactivation of the country and to the strengthening of the verification and control processes due to the inspections carried out.
On the subject of reactivation, the National Institute of Statistics and Censuses (INEC) has announced an annual increase of 461,000 suitable jobs. This figure is well above the increase in the IESS. However, both figures are not comparable, since the INEC considers that people with full employment are those who receive labor income equal to or greater than the minimum wage, and also work equal to or more than 40 hours a week. This regardless of the desire and availability to work additional hours. For this reason, it may be that among the people who have adequate employment are people in the informal sector but with incomes greater than $425 and who work more than 40 hours a week.
Meanwhile, the IESS reported through the National Subdirectorate for Technical Control (SDNCT) that in 2021 it regularized 90,189 workers from different companies, who were in evasion and underreporting of affiliations. These inspection processes regularize the members of the Compulsory General Insurance, specifically workers under a dependency relationship.
“The execution of the controls allowed these workers to recover their social security rights and benefits, which means 104% compliance in relation to the goal set,” said the entity.
The IESS has carried out inspection actions, especially at night, joint controls with the Ministries of Labor and Government; inspections of productive activities, such as floriculture, construction, security, among others. Thus, during 2021, 4,255 companies were inspected, in different provinces. In Guayas, 39,215 workers were regularized; Imbabura, 8,688; Manabí, 5,039, who recovered their rights.
According to the entity, the inspection processes cover cases of underreporting and evasion of contributions. In this sense, of the people who have been regularized, one part corresponds to cases of evasion and the other to cases of underreporting. In the 2021 results, 14% of identified cases correspond to evasion, the additional to cases of underreporting.
Given these data, it can be concluded that in 2021 there were more than 105,000 new affiliations, but of these 12,626 were the result of IESS control actions. While the other 92,374 were due to the reactivation itself. On the other hand, there were 77,563 already existing affiliations that were regularized and will be declared on the totality of the values.
In accordance with Andrés Madero, former Minister of Labor, it is very important for the IESS to increase the number of contributors to Social Security, this even before thinking about any increase in the age or contributions of the affiliates. For Madero, the increase can be achieved with contracting facilities, with current, modern, innovative regulations. This must take into account digital tools, teleworking, for example, and respect the rights of workers both to affiliation and fair remuneration.
He believed that the role of entities such as the Ministry of Labor and the IESS itself is key in this context, to advise companies and generate more labor relations, avoiding evasions and underreporting.
Meanwhile, Madero commented that there is always a margin of difference, between the INEC figures that, in addition to being a survey, generate projections and the more specific figures that are those of affiliations. In this sense, he said that there may be many people who already have a suitable job, but who have not been formalized. Additionally, there are other cases of people who, being independent and earning above the basic salary and with an adequate number of hours, simply have not joined voluntarily. In the latter case, for example a taxi owner.
In both cases, Madero says, the IESS should generate the incentives for people to want to join. One formula for this is to make employers see that the affiliation of their employees allows them to enforce contracts and it is always better to comply with the law to avoid sanctions. On the other hand, in the taxi driver example, although he is not required to join, it would be very important for him to have a pension for his retirement, or health services for his future years. “The IESS must reinvent itself a bit,” he says.
Source: Eluniverso
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