1,392 employers keep 1,009 million colones from their employees contributions.
The information was confirmed by Luis Diego Calderón, Director of Collections of the Costa Rican Social Security Fund (CCSS).
According to Calderón, during the first six months of 2016, employees filed complaints to the Public Ministry against all employers who withheld workers contributions.
In addition, the Director of Collections explained that wrongful retention is an offense under Article 45 of the Constitutive Act of the CCSS and includes a prison sentence that goes from two months to 10 years, as regulated in Article 216 of the Penal Code.
The CCSS is studying the cases to identify potential offenders and to file the corresponding complaints in the Public Ministry, which is the institution in charge of the penal accusation against the alleged perpetrators,
stated Calderón.
The CCSS calls on all employers to pay workers comtributions in a timely manner and thus contribute to Social Security. In addition, by doing it, legal procedures that may end with imprisonment could be avoided.