MINISTER of Tourism Edmund Bartlett has urged delinquent employers in the tourism industry “to step up to the plate and honour their commitment to workers to match the five per cent contribution” made by members of the Tourism Workers Pension Scheme (TWPS).

The call came at the first annual general meeting of the scheme, held in hybrid form, at the Montego Bay Convention Centre in St James recently.

The TWPS was launched in January 2022, and Bartlett indicated that up to July 21 membership enrolment stood at 6,214, with contributions totalling approximately $876 million.

As of January 1, the contribution rate for members of the scheme was increased from three to five per cent of their earnings. This is to be matched by a five per cent contribution from their employers.

But Bartlett noted that some employers are not paying their matching portion and urged them to do the right thing.

Bartlett also suggested that tourism workers could contribute a higher portion of their earnings to ensure a pension higher than the $200,000 per year minimum benchmark.

The scheme is designed to cover all tourism workers between the ages of 18 and 59, whether they are permanently employed, contracted, or self-employed.

This includes hotel workers and people employed in related industries, such as craft vendors, tour operators, red cap porters, contract carriage operators, and workers at attractions. Benefits will be payable at age 65 or older.

The Government committed $1 billion to seed the scheme so that immediate benefits can accrue to qualified pensioners. Sagicor Life Jamaica manages the pension fund while Guardian Life is the administrator.

Underscoring the importance of the pension scheme, Bartlett said it has the potential for nearly 500,000 contributors in Jamaica, with the capacity of having trillions of dollars made available for investment in the economy.

“This public savings now becomes the pool of capital that is available for on-lending for infrastructural development and investment in commercial activities, with high levels of appreciation, and the returns come back to build the fund and to strengthen the capacity of the country itself,” said Bartlett.

He noted that the pension fund could also be accessed for investment in tourism as employers would, in time, be able to borrow for expansion and development “and the good news is that the Government has provided an opportunity for tax relief from that contribution”.

Bartlett added that plans were in the works for a major public education programme targeting tourism workers at all levels and senior students in high schools, “because this programme is not just about providing a social safety net but also building the culture of saving to create domestic savings”.

He said the pension programme is one element of a broader strategy aimed at rolling out architecture to create a labour market arrangement for tourism overall and make the industry more attractive and the workers feel more secure.

He said the second element is the training and certification of tourism workers, while the third is ensuring that classification is brought fully in line with remuneration.