THE UNIVERSITY STAFF OCCUPATIONAL PENSION SCHEME
About the Scheme
The Vice Chancellors Ghana (VCG), the plan sponsor, established the Universities Staff Occupational Pension Scheme (USOPS) in 2016. The USOPS scheme is a second-tier pension scheme registered and regulated by the National Pensions Regulatory Authority (NPRA) under the Pensions Act, 2008 (ACT 766), as amended.
The Scheme is managed by the Board of Trustees, which consists of seventeen (17) members, of which ten (10) are representatives of various Unions and Associations in the public Universities, five (5) are representatives of the VCG and an Independent Trustee.
USOPS’s membership is drawn from the workforces of all the public universities in the country, as it receives and invests the 5% basic salary monthly contributions remitted on behalf of the workers and pays out benefits to members upon retirement.
Objectives
i. To receive and record members' contributions appropriately.
ii. To judiciously invest the funds of the scheme
iii. To offer adequate contribution data to members
iv. To pay out retirement benefits to members and their beneficiaries promptly.
HISTORY OF SCHEME
Our Story
Passage of the Bill
Passage of the Bill
Establishing the three-tier pension scheme in Ghana birthed the Universities Staff Occupational Pension Scheme (USOPS). Pension administration was solely managed and controlled by the Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) until 2010. Following the agitations and protests from the Ghanaian workforce for better retirement benefits, the then President, J. A. Kuffour, inaugurated a Commission, led by Mr. T. A. Bediako to offer recommendations for a new pension scheme.
With extensive research and public engagement, the Bediako Commission suggested the three-tier pension scheme to provide retirement income security for all employees.
Passage of the Bill
Passage of the Bill
Passage of the Bill
In December 2008, the National Pensions Act (Act 766) was passed to authorise the establishment of the contributory three-tier pension scheme implemented in January 2010 and overseen by the National Pensions Regulatory Authority (NPRA). The pension scheme consists of two mandatory schemes and one voluntary scheme managed by SSNIT and privately approved trustees.
The first tier is the mandatory basic pension scheme managed exclusively by SSNIT with 13.5% basic salary monthly contributions, of which 2.5% is given to NHIS. On the other hand, the second tier (mandatory) and the third tier (voluntary scheme) were directed to be managed privately by NPRA-licensed Trustees.
INSTITUTIONS ENROLLED
22
MEMBERS ENROLLED
16,011
USOPS Ghana
Vice Chancellors Office Complex, 3RD Floor IPS Road. GPS: G4-546-7165
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