Adopted: 22 March 2018

Date Filed: 02 July 2018

To address the number of pending requests of financially distressed or impaired employers for relief on the settlement of their due but unremitted contributions and penalties, the Social Security Commission (SSC) in its Resolution No. 156- s.2018 approved the following additional guidelines, to wit:

I.    Coverage

All delinquent employers with contributions delinquency of at least one Hundred Thousand Pesos (P100,000.00) exclusive of penalty, with or without pending case before the Prosecutor's Office (Department of Justice), Courts and SSC, and with or without a subsisting approved settlement scheme, currently experiencing financial difficulties in complying with its statutory obligation to pay/remit due contributions, including penalties imposed thereon for late payments/remittances,  due  to  losses,  mismanagement  or  those  adversely affected by calamities such as natural or human-induced disasters, as evidenced by its current Audited Financial Statement.

II.   Additional Settlement Option

In addition to the installment payment scheme indicated in Circular No. 2011-002, SSS offers another payment scheme in which delinquent employers who have paid in full the principal obligations/unremitted contributions shall be entitled to a one-year period, from payment date of the principal contribution, to defer payment of its penalty liabilities. All existing settlement schemes/guidelines currently enforced and implemented in connection to, but not inconsistent with these Guidelines, shall continue to be applied and availed of as a settlement option, with the procedures and requirements thereon followed.

III.  Procedures

A.   The  employer  shall  secure  an  updated  and  consolidated  Statement  of Account (SOA) from the concerned Branch Office (BO)/Large Account Main Department (LAD) of its due but unpaid/unremitted contributions delinquencies, inclusive of the assessed penalties accruing therefrom.

B.   The employer shall submit to the servicing BO/LAD a letter-request offering to pay in full the amount of principal contribution delinquency per SOA for settlement of its outstanding delinquencies. The actual full payment made on the principal obligation due per SOA shall be without prejudice to the difference in amount, if any, that may have in the meantime become due or accrued thereafter.

C.   The principal contribution may be paid one time in full or within a reasonable period not to exceed ninety (90) days from the approval of the application and shall operate to stop further penalty accruals in case of full payment and provide the employer a period of one year from payment date within which to pay its subsisting penalty delinquencies per SOA, subject to the approved installment plan. However, if the payment is made within a period of ninety (90) days, the penalty of three percent (3%) per month shall continue to be imposed on the balance until the principal contribution is fully paid.

D.   The payment of the total penalty delinquency due from the employer after the period of one year from payment date may be in full or on a staggered/installment basis in accordance with the provisions of Section 5 of Circular No. 2011-002 on the schedule of monthly installment, subject to approval from the concerned authority for a longer period based on meritorious grounds and in the mode and manner of payment through post- dated  checks  (PDCs)  corresponding  to  the  months  covered  by  the installment.

E.  A legal interest of six percent (6%) per annum shall be imposed on the subsisting penalty delinquency upon payment either in full or on installment after the one-year deferment period.

F.   The foregoing settlement arrangement together with the other applicable terms and conditions under the Application for Installment Proposal (on Penalty) shall be processed by the Head, Accounts Management Section (AMS) of the servicing BO/LAD.

G.  The foregoing settlement arrangement shall be approved by the approving authorities below with corresponding threshold amount:

1.   BO/LAD Division Heads - P100,000.00 to P2,000,000.00
2.   BO/LAD Group Heads - P2,000,000.01 to P5,000,000.00
3.   BO/LAD Sector Heads - P5,000,000.01 and above

The threshold amount pertains only to the contribution delinquency excluding penalties and damages.

This provision expressly amends the first paragraph of Section 10 of Circular No. 2011-002.

H. No other documents in support of the letter-request and the approved application for installment shall be required of the employer except for a duly notarized Promissory Note/Undertaking and Collection Lists (SSS Form R3 or SSS Form ML2). The agent/representative of the employer must be duly authorized with a Special Power of Attorney (SPA) to bind the employer he/she represents and hold valid the agreement with SSS.

IV.  Creation of the Employer Delinquency Settlement Review Committee/ Secretariat
 
There shall be created an Employer Delinquency Settlement Review Committee (EDSRC) from the SSS Management that shall review all requests for reconsideration  of  denials  made  by  the  Heads  of  the  BO/LAD  involving settlement offers/proposals from delinquent employers under existing settlement schemes. After each review, the EDSRC shall make a recommendation to the President and CEO (PCEO) of the SSS whether to sustain or not to sustain the denials.

The approval or decision of the PCEO on all matters recommended to the latter by the EDSRC shall be valid and binding.

If the recommendation of the EDRSC to the PCEO is not unanimous, the same shall be elevated to the SSC for approval.

A quarterly report on all actions taken on matters referred to the EDSRC under this Guideline shall be submitted by the designated secretariat of the EDSRC, through the PCEO, to the SSC, for its information.

V.   The EDSRC Composition

The EDSRC shall be composed of the following:

Chairperson	:	Senior Vice-President/Chief Legal Counsel or Designated Officer-In-Charge (OIC) Legal and Enforcement Group
Members	:	Senior Vice-Presidents or Designated OICs NCR, Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao Groups and Account Management Group
		Senior Vice-President or Designated OIC Lending and Asset Management Group
		Vice-Presidents or Designated OICs Operations Legal Services Divisions I and II
		Assistant Vice-President or Designated OIC Commission Legal Department

VI.  Exception to the Membership in the EDSRC

The membership of the Senior Vice-President of the NCR, Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao Groups or the Account Management Group shall be rotational. They shall not participate in the deliberation of the EDSRC on matters concerning a delinquent employer under his/her jurisdiction.

VII. Amendatory Clause

Provisions of Circular No. 2011-002 dated 16 February 2011 and all other related/relevant circulars, orders, issuances or parts thereof, which are contrary to the foregoing are deemed superseded or modified accordingly.

This Circular likewise supersedes Circular No. 2017-009 dated 02 October 2017.
 
VIII. Effectivity

This Circular shall take effect immediately


(SGD) EMMANUEL F. DOOC
President and CEO