Nicaragua orders employers to pay more for social safety net

Nicaragua's employers will contribute more to the social safety net starting next year, according to newly approved reform measures. According to Wednesday's Government Gazette, an employer's contribution to the Nicaraguan Institute of Social Security (INSS) will be raised by 3 precent over the next four years: One percent in each of 2014 and 2015 and 0.5 percent in each of 2016 and 2017. Employers can contribute from their income tax. The reforms, recently approved by the government, the unions and the employers'sector, also keep the retirement age at 60, and the period an employee in the social security system must work to qualify for a retirement pension at 750 weeks. Retirement pensions would still be based on average salary, not the minimum wage, Gustavo Porras, general secretary of the National Workers Front, told media. The average salary has been growing slower than the minimum wage. The government announced it would present a bill to the National Assembly to adjust it once a year, instead of six months.