22 thousand organizations have signed up with the Private Organization Employees social security scheme announced the Private Organization Employees Social Security Agency.
The number of employees registered in the scheme is estimated to be more than 250 thousand according to Tesfaye Gashawe, Director of Public Relations and Communications with the agency.
The POESSA has been able to collect 550 million birr so far he added. The agency has plans to register 152 thousand more employees with the view of growing the fund to 1 billion birr in the new financial year said Tesfaye.
The agency has been able to open 28 branch offices at the regional and the federal levels with the plan to expand accessibility across the country.The social security program enables workers to be secure in their old age and when they encounter health problems or are victims of on the job accidents explained Tesfaye.
The scheme is designed to create a healthy relationship between employers and workers by establishing means of ensuring work place security and benefits to surviving family members in the case of untimely death he noted.
POESSA is working closely with the national Labor union and the Ethiopian Employers Federation as well as other relevant stakeholders added Tesfaye.
It is to be remembered that Ethiopia only offered social security to civil servants including members of the defense and police forces before the introduction of this scheme. The government put the new scheme into effect to increase the security of those employed by private and non governmental organizations concluded Tesfaye.
Source: Ethiopian News Agency
