OFWO President urges employers to stop victimising expat employees
Joanna Gaskin, President of the Overseas Filipino Workers Organization (OFWO), is calling on employers in the Virgin Islands to stop pocketing statutory contributions deducted from their expat employees’ salary and to ensure that contributions are paid directly to the Social Security Board (SSB) and National Health Insurance (NHI) where they rightfully belong.
But Gaskin, who is now a BVI citizen, has highlighted that this practice has been ongoing since 2002, when she first arrived in the Territory as an overseas worker. Speaking recently on another media platform, she explained that members of the OFWO continue to face this issue, leaving them vulnerable to high medical bills if they fall ill or suffer injuries.
“When they get sick, who are they going to depend on? The little contribution that we can give from the organization is not going to be enough,” Gaskin said.
She explained that employers are deducting the required contributions from employees’ wages but failing to pay them into the relevant agencies, leading to a lack of coverage for workers when they need it most.
“We’re having this issue where the employers are deducting the dues or the contributions, but yet it wasn’t paid,” Gaskin continued. “I am really pleading, I’m calling out to all the employers because at the end of the day, you never know what will happen.”
Gaskin described the practice as a form of victimization, believing that some employers take advantage of the expat community’s fear of losing employment and being set back home, knowing that many workers may hesitate to speak out.
“My heart aches when I see some of these people could get a broken leg and they can’t go to the clinic because their NHI is not active,” she added.
She believes that now is the time to make a positive change, urging employers to consider their workers’ well-being. “I believe this is the opportunity to make a difference in their lives because you want your company to grow, so you have to take care of your employees,” Gaskin commented.
While Gaskin expressed her confidence in the law, she emphasized that the issues must be voiced in order for meaningful change to occur. She also appealed to employers to show more compassion towards their employees, acknowledging that many workers have families to support.
The SSB mandates that employers deduct and pay contributions on your behalf. Persons privately employed are required by law to 8.5 percent of insurable earnings, with employees contributing four percent and employers contributing the remaining 4.5 percent.
The OFWO, founded by Gaskin in 2023, is a community of approximately 4,000 people in the BVI.
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Has always been and will continue because there is no penalty for the “special “ employers who do not pay in contributions deducted from employees.
Wow. Arrived in 2002, formed an org in 2003. Now a citizen. Now this. More power to you Mrs. Gaskin.Das Democracy.
can’t you read? arrived in 2002, form org on 2023 not 2003.
read before you react.
This is a dirty practice that has been going on before the 2000’s. Social Security knows which employers that are delinquent. A Employee shouldn’t have to call Social Security to check if a Employer isn’t paying. That government body should be DOING THEIR JOBS!!!! And the employers should have been penalised.We all know that nothing will happen to their politician friends or the Prominent Locals/Residents.
The only thing that government body does is allow politicians to use your Social Security funds as a Piggy Bank.
I will keep saying it.
Some only want the big job, the big title, the big salary and the ‘honor’ they think it bestows upon them without question.
You are right what is social security doing to delinquent businesses? Some talk about legacy of leaders. Which leader takes responsibility for this legacy at social security? A lady was there 30yrs and one right on her heels yet this legacy issues seems to persist from director to director. What about those charged with enforcing collections, how many raises in pay have they received for “outstanding performance” since being on the job?
Best believe they are calling and visiting the small businesses every chance they get if they are a month or two behind.
BVI apartheid in action!
It is not lawful for the NHI or the SSB to deny benefits because employers have not paid required contributions.
We small business owners need to hire less and layoff more instead of trying to help the unfortunates
Some of the businesses cannot do better because they have been bankrupt since hurricane Irma. Can’t close because you owe, holding on praying they will leave and become somebody else’s problem.
She just come and already is a belonger
ayo so bad mind, in the whole article, that is all you picked out?
The employers who do this should be prosecuted for theft. Send some to jail and the practice will change.
It is common and a disgrace. Look how fast the law was changed when many locals could not get Good Standings.
I will add, when people like me could not get a good standing earnings certificate when covid hit to renew my work permit, I was forced to leave even though I had all my payslips that the good for nothing employer deducted my money for years and did not pay a dime, tax, social security or NHI. All them years I would not even get my benefits for as I approach 65, just gone down the drain. Nobody to complain to in Tortola about this injustice. None of the evil employers are made to comply and there is no enforcement or punishment, so they know they can keep doing their thiefery. Time longer than twine and God be mercy on them when they day reach.
We came the same year and imagine she’s a citizen and I’m told that according to the law I have to wait another year. These people in this place are not fair. There are also immigration personnel and politicians helping friends and giving people with less time Citizenship. I guess it’s no law but who you know.
Did you marry a Virgin Islander?
a pity some of you miss the whole boat. The woman should not have put anything about her personal life in the article or to the journalist. She don’t know that every single thing she said will be held against her in the court of social media
Fole a complaint with the Governor and also the,United Nations.
I much appreciate your presence here in these VI.
As one of the many immigrant workforce group, you are exemplary as workers and as part of our community. Your children are great examples of your civility and intelligence.
Thank You!
WE CAN SEE THE EVIL RACIST MENTALITY IN YOU- JUDGE WIGGIE , YOU NEED TO STAY ON YOUR RACIST YELLO SITE , AND HOLLER OUT OUT AT YOURSELF , BLOGGING UNDER DIFFERENT NAMES AINT FOOLING US ANYMORE . AND YOU BANGING OFF YOUR MOUTH ON THE WHITE SLAVE MASTERS , YOU ARE SUCH A HYPOCRITE, / BUT YOU WANT TO BE OUR PREMIER , YOU BETTER WAKE UP FROM YOUR FANTASY DREAM , BEFORE YOU HURT YOURSELF
Go and tell Bong Bong to stop victimizing your people so you don’t have to leave the Philippines to come all the way here to our tiny nation to flood our workforce!
some of us here are so xenophobic, grow up people she is highlighting a serious problem that needs to be fixed, why have laws if we won’t follow them
There is no group of people in the BVI more xenophobic than Phillipinos! None!
NAME the businesses.
Put them on blast.
File a comp,ain’t with the United Nations and the UK.
Wow!
Too much phillipino in the BVI!! they are not nice ppl! Be warned Bvi! Be warned! Too late shall be the cry of this territory. They are selfish and evil on the jobs , alot of locals are loosing Jon’s because of them, they complain and cry about everything to the boss , these ppl are not good for the bvi but a 5 years ban on them! You see now she got papers she feel entitled to come out and speak, which Too Be honest, she is not wrong but this individual is obnoxious and loud on a daily basis. Too much phillipino in the bvi , do a survey to see how the phillipino behaves on the job sites, nothing nice to say about these racist, conniving ppl!!
You are 1000% correct. These people are so evil but most are too blind to recognise. They always have complain about something or someone to Management because they prefer that you lose your job inorder for you to be replaced by their own Countryman/woman.
I don’t find anything wrong with what Mrs Gaskin has stated. I do recall having to check SS and NHI to ensure my employer was making the payments as they initially had not been doing it. I had to confront them with a lawsuit inorder for them to take me seriously. This employer was robbing Peter to pay Paul. They had been skirting the law for so many years that when i started working with them, they were under the impression it would be easy to carry on as usual. I would definitely encourage employees to seek a different recourse if an employer refuses to pay the deductions into the various Government entities. Perhaps, a class action suit by the employees will make those theiving businesses such as Supermarkets, Stores, Bakeries, Law Firms, Contractors, etc change the way they treat their workers.
do your job right so no one will complain about you. maybe on your mind you are working, but in the world standard, you are lazy. that is the reason why they are here, they work better than any of us.
Speak for your damn self. They may work better thank you, but you don’t speak for me and many others.
What they do is accept smaller salaries, probably because $2U U.S Dollars equals over 1,000 Philliipne Peso The cost of living is so low in Phillipines that they can go home after just a few years and be comfortable. That $20 can pay rent, buy food and support a small family for a month. So like everybody else they are seeking a better life, but if they have to be mean to others to get there, wrong alley. They better get to stepping.
Go back where you come from and you wouldn’t have to deal with our baaaaad little country! Surely the Philippines is far better than here and you have no issues like this in your homeland! Go back home where it is better than here please!
Aren’t Unions illegal here? This isn’t a social club or organization that they have. They are actually wielding power and lobbying government and threatening local employers now! To the point that they feel they can jump on the local media! Just 20 years and they already dominate the workforce here. But my weak vision less people don’t see the problem. We just turn a blind eye and allow other people to make us feel guilty. We have a serious problem on our hands but no one there to defend us, like how these phillipinnos come here and defend each other!
Where are the champions for Virgin Islanders! Who is standing up for us in our own home?
Just so it’s clear you think it’s acceptable behaviour to deduct employee contributions from your workers and pocket the money? Don’t you see that is a clear form of theft? Are you saying that BVIslanders are entitled to flout the laws of these islands and steal and have some sort of moral or cultural entitlement to do so? Maybe you need to bring Jesus into your life and read your Bible? I will pray for your wicked ways to change.
Institutionalized theft from expats after IRMA AND COVID deliberately expelling workers from many nations , paid for the cash payments to many belongers with the added corrupt benefit of setting back to zero all the NHI & SS payments for both the workers (forced instead to reapply rather than renew work permits) in doing so allowed the erasure of historic nonpayment of contributions made by employers with the full backing of the Government department whose actual job is to in theory police these payments. Like the tax on defenseless expat Western Union customers who were desperate to send home monies to their needy families. A deliberate theft by many corrupt employers but more astonishingly 100% aided and abetted by Labour/ immigration & SS Government departments who have conspired to claim they had no records of said payments for previous employees returning to the same pay but higher rent and living expenses.
do your fact-checking, there are not even 1,000 filipinos in the island. go to the statistics office, confirm your data.
the gaskin lady is married to local. she is not even a respected figure in the philipino community. she just wants her own org that she can control. everything that her new org do even if meaningless, she broadcast it. she wants to be a star and needs attention.
The situation extends beyond the Filipino and Spanish communities; it also affects local and foreign workers here. As British people, we are grappling with the same predicament that has persisted for over 10 years. We have not been compensated for the mandatory government expenses. Our employers deduct from our salaries monthly, and they are also doing the same to local workers in the British Virgin Islands. While they seek to employ skilled individuals in various fields, they are unable to provide for their employees. This situation is deeply concerning and demands immediate attention.
Indeed, foreign workers are hired because they are known to perform their jobs diligently and consistently. They are professionals, and this is not limited to a specific country.
The Human Rights Bill of the Virgin Islands Constitution allows freedom of association which is applicable to all people or groups regardless of race, nationality etc. The other expat workers who are suffering from the same problem can also get themselves organized in a workers union. It’s not rocket science. When you organize yourselves you will have the same power as the Filipinos. As a matter of fact, all who were here before them should have already invested in a union to lobby for their rights. It’s a shame that they did not see the value of unionization when Donald de Castro and others were trying to help in this regard.