by Linda Straker
- Definition more precise by removing ‘include’ and substituting ‘means’
- Amendment raises age to 18
- Amendment goes into effect on 1 August 2023
Members in the Lower House of Parliament approved changing the definition of a child, and the age of a child, as well as increasing the fine for employers and other individuals who fail to comply with some regulations of the National Insurance Scheme (NIS).
Hon Phillip Telesford, Leader of Government Business, explained to members that currently, a child in relation to an insured individual includes a stepchild, an adopted child, and any other child, whether born in or out of wedlock under the age of 16, living at the home of an insured person and wholly or partly maintained by him or her. The amendment will widen that definition.
“This particular definition, in its current construct, poses certain challenges for potential beneficiaries, so this new definition seeks to overcome these challenges or problems within the current definition and set in order a new definition that is much clear and prevents the exclusion of a child,” said Telesford, currently the Minister responsible for Social Security.
The new definition will mean a biological child or a person declared or presumed to be a biological child; a step-child; an adopted child; or a person expressly acknowledged by the insured person as a biological child or step-child under the age of 18.
“This amendment aims to make the definition more precise by removing the word include and substituting it to means; so child means as opposed to child includes. This precision in the meaning of a child removes uncertainty and adds clarity as to who qualifies as a child as who should receive NIS benefits on the passing of an insured person,” Telesford said.
Grenada is a signatory to the UN Convention on the Rights of a Child, and raising the age of a child to 18 brings the NIS law into harmony with other legislation where the term child is used or referred.
The amendment to the legislation, which goes into effect on 1 August 2023, also provides for the court to increase the fine it can impose on employers and individuals who violate Section 56 of the NIS Act. Offences under that section include failing to pay deducted contributions and making false statements to the NIS office. That fine will increase to EC$5,000. Violators of Section 64 of the Act will now face a EC$2,000 fine. An offence under this section includes receiving payment for a person or beneficiary where payment of a benefit has been suspended and providing false documents to the NIS to claim a benefit such as a widow or a widower entitlement.
