Pension
The National Insurance Retirement Benefit is designed to supplement the income of individuals after retirement. Every employee who has paid National Insurance contributions is entitled to a Retirement Benefit. They qualify for the benefit at any time between the ages of 60 and 65 if they are retired or at age 65 whether they retire or not. Insured members who have paid at least 750 contributions are entitled to a retirement pension. Those who have paid less than 750 contributions are entitled to the Retirement Grant, paid as a one-time lump sum amount.
Retirement pension is calculated according to the earnings class of the employee, based on the contributions paid. A basic pension is paid to those who have made 750 contributions. Those who have paid more than 750 contributions get an increment for each block of additional 25 contributions. The weekly basic pension ranges from TTD 130.78 (Trinidad and Tobago Dollar) to TTD 941.40, and the monthly basic pension ranges from TTD 566.72 to TTD 4,079.40.
A retirement grant is paid as a lump sum equal to thrice the total value of contributions made, subject to a minimum of TTD 3,000.
Dependents/Survivors Benefits
The National Insurance Board of Trinidad and Tobago provides pension benefits to dependents of insured members who die of reasons other than occupational injury. Eligible dependents include spouses, common law partners, children, step-children, adopted children, and dependent parents. The deceased member must have paid at least 50 contributions. Survivors must apply for the benefit within 12 months of the death of the insured member.
The rate of survivor benefit paid based on the death of an insured person will be determined by the earnings class of the average of all the contributions paid by the insured person. This benefit rate is shared between all the survivors in a ratio established in the regulations as follows – 60 % for the surviving spouse, and the rest is shared among any dependent children and/or parents. Benefits are paid to the surviving spouse for life or until they remarry, and children are paid until the age of 19.
In case of death of an employee due to occupational injury or disease, their dependents receive death benefits. The amount of benefits is determined by the rate of contribution paid by the deceased member in the week of their death arising out of the injury on the job or to the rate of Employment Injury Benefit that they were receiving.
Invalidity Benefits
In Trinidad and Tobago, insured members who are under the age of 60 and are medically certified as invalids are entitled to invalidity benefits from the National Insurance Board (NIB). To be eligible for benefits, they must have made at least 150 contributions, 50 of which must be made during the 3 years immediately preceding the start of invalidity, or 250 contributions in the immediately preceding 7 years, or 750 contributions or more in total. Insured persons must apply for the benefit within 13 weeks of the beginning of their invalidity. If the claim is made more than 12 months after the start of their illness or loss of earnings, the benefit shall be forfeited.
The amount of benefit depends on the average rate of all the contributions they have paid. Those who have paid more than 750 contributions get an increment for each block of additional 25 contributions.
In case of disability due to workplace injury or occupational disease, employees receive reimbursement for their medical expenses up to a maximum of TTD 28,125 per injury. In case of temporary incapacity to work, an injury benefit is paid for a maximum of 52 weeks. In case of permanent disability, a disability pension is paid until the disability ceases.