Technical Standards for the Collection and Crediting of Contributions to the Public Pension System

NSP-52
COTIZATIONS TO THE PUBLIC PENSION SYSTEM
Approval: 30/12/2022
Validity: 30/12/2022
THE COMMITTEE OF STANDARDS OF THE CENTRAL BANK OF RESERVE OF EL SALVADOR,

CONSIDERING:
I. That by Legislative Decree No. 614, dated December 20, 2022, published in Official Diary No. 241, Volume No. 437 on December 21, 2022, the Comprehensive Pension System Law was approved.
II. That Article 1 of the Comprehensive Pension System Law establishes that a pension system is created for workers in the private, public, and municipal sectors, which will be subject to the regulation, coordination, and management of the State, in accordance with the provisions of that Law.
III. That Article 16 of the Comprehensive Pension System Law establishes that employers and workers will contribute to the payment of contributions within the Pension System in the proportions established in the referenced Law.
IV. That in accordance with Article 21 of the Comprehensive Pension System Law, contributions must be declared and paid by the employer, the independent worker, or the entity paying subsidies for disability due to illness, as applicable.
V. That Article 159 of the Comprehensive Pension System Law establishes that the Central Bank of Reserve of El Salvador will issue the necessary Technical Standards to allow the development of what is established in the referenced Law.
THEREFORE, by virtue of the regulatory powers conferred by Article 99 of the Supervision and Regulation of the Financial System Law,

AGREES to issue the following:

TECHNICAL STANDARDS FOR THE COLLECTION AND CREDITING OF CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE PUBLIC PENSION SYSTEM

CHAPTER I
OBJECT, SUBJECTS, AND TERMS

Object
Art. 1.- The object of these Standards is to facilitate and ensure the application of the provisions of the Comprehensive Pension System Law, which regulate the collection of contributions from workers and contributions from employers to the Public Pension System, as well as to establish the procedure for crediting them, as part of the update of each affiliate's work history.

Subjects
Art. 2.- The subjects obligated to comply with the provisions established in these Standards are the Salvadoran Social Security Institute (ISSS) and the Salvadoran Pension Institute (ISP).

Terms
Art. 3.- For the purposes of these Standards, the terms indicated below have the following meaning:
a) Crediting: The process by which the Pension Institute performs the correct proportional assignment of contributions made to its affiliates in their work history; b) Pension Payroll Administrator: Person designated by the employer to manage and update employee information and create work centers in the Pension Payroll System; c) Affiliate: Any person who is insured in one of the disability, old age, and death programs administered by the Salvadoran Social Security Institute or the Salvadoran Pension Institute; d) AFP: Pension Fund Administrators; e) Central Bank: Central Bank of Reserve of El Salvador; f) Pension contributions: Employer contributions and employee contributions; g) Voluntary contributor: Affiliate who continues to contribute to the Salvadoran Social Security Institute or the Salvadoran Pension Institute, assuming full responsibility for pension contributions, in order to complete the minimum contribution time required to obtain a pension in the Public Pension System; h) Days: When used for a period, it shall be understood to refer to calendar days; i) Identity document: It may be the Unique Identity Document (DUI), Minor's Card, Passport, or Resident's Card, as applicable; j) DUI: Unique Identity Document; k) Payroll Administrator: Person designated by the employer to maintain employee information, prepare, and send contribution payrolls; l) IBC: Base Contribution Income; m) Pension Institute: The Salvadoran Social Security Institute and the Salvadoran Pension Institute shall be understood; n) ISP: Salvadoran Pension Institute; o) ISSS: Salvadoran Social Security Institute; p) Supervision Law: Law of Supervision and Regulation of the Financial System; q) SP Law: Comprehensive Pension System Law; r) Contribution Payment Payroll: Declaration form for contributions presented by employers; s) Summary Payroll: Document used to declare contributions by employers who submit pension payrolls in magnetic or electronic media; t) Backlog: Pension contributions of workers, paid to a pension institution different from the one to which they are affiliated, in the period corresponding to the contribution; u) SP: Pension System; v) Repealed. (2) w) SPP: Public Pension System; and x) Superintendence: Superintendence of the Financial System.

CHAPTER II
COLLECTION OF CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE PUBLIC PENSION SYSTEM

On Contributions
Art. 4.- While there is a labor dependency relationship, workers and their employers must make mandatory contributions monthly to the SPP, in accordance with what is established in Article 6 of these Standards.
Art. 5.- The obligation to contribute will cease when the affiliate retires due to old age or receives the old age benefit, in accordance with what is established in Article 13 of the SP Law.
Art. 6.- The contribution rate for those who remain affiliated with the ISSS or the ISP will be sixteen percent (16%) and distributed, in accordance with the proportions established in Article 16 of the SP Law.

On the Collection Service
Art. 7.- The operational procedure for the collection of mandatory and voluntary pension contributions of affiliates to the SPP will be carried out through financial institutions supervised by the Superintendence that are authorized by Law to carry out operations with checking accounts, that operate within the country, and that are duly registered in the Public Registry of the Superintendence, in accordance with what is established in the Supervision Law.

Collection Service Contract
Art. 8.- The pension institutes must sign a collection contract with the financial institutions referred to in the previous article. Prior to its signing, they must submit the contract project to the Superintendence, for the purpose that it approves or proposes modifications to it, for which it will have a period of three business days, from the date of its receipt. Subsequently, the ISSS or the ISP will proceed to sign said contract by public deed, and must send a copy of it to the Superintendence within the three business days following the signing.

In the event that the final contract does not coincide with the one previously approved by the Superintendence, the latter, following the procedure established in the Supervision Law, will apply the corresponding legal sanction.

Content of the Contract
Art. 9.- The collection service contract must specify the conditions and deadlines for its execution and must contain, at a minimum, the following clauses:
a) The services that financial institutions are obligated to provide to the pension institute, as well as the remuneration to be paid for them; b) The obligation on the part of financial institutions to pay the collected amount only into the account opened specifically for these purposes; c) The obligation on the part of financial institutions to open checking and savings accounts respectively in accordance with what is established in the "Accounting System for the Public Pension System"; d) The indication that the resources collected by financial institutions must be available to the pension institutes no later than the day following the collection, regardless of which agency, branch, or office of the collecting institution the payments were made in; e) The indication that the cost incurred for the execution of the obligations corresponding to the contract will be the exclusive responsibility of the pension institutes; f) The obligation of financial institutions not to require any additional information on the payment receipt referred to in Article 21 of these Standards, as proof of deposit made by the employer, voluntary SPP contributor, or independent worker; and g) The obligation on the part of financial institutions to send the Contribution Payment Payrolls and Summary Payrolls to the offices designated by the Pension Institutes within a period not exceeding three business days after the collection is made.

Base Contribution Income of Dependent Workers
Art. 10.- The IBC of dependent workers will be that indicated in Article 14 of the SP Law.
Art. 11.- Workers who have two or more jobs must contribute to the SPP for each of the jobs in question, applying the contribution rate, in accordance with what is stated in Article 16 of the SP Law.

Contribution Payroll
Art. 12.- All employers or entities paying subsidies for disability due to illness or maternity, as applicable, must prepare and send the contribution declaration payroll in accordance with what is established in the [Reference to previous norms, likely NSP-84 based on context "-84"], approved by the Central Bank through its Committee of Standards, to the corresponding Pension Institutions. For this, they must report all affiliates who are under a labor subordination relationship. (2)

On the Pension Payroll System
Art. 13.- Repealed. (2)
Art. 14.- Repealed. (2)

Art. 15.- Repealed. (2)
Art. 16.- Repealed. (2)

Art. 17.- Repealed. (2)

Art. 18.- Repealed. (2)

Payment of Contributions
Art. 19.- The payment of pension contributions must be made directly by the employer or the entity paying subsidies for disability due to illness or maternity, on account of the worker. Such payment, as well as that made by the voluntary contributor, must be made through financial institutions with which the pension institute has signed a collection contract.

Payment Deadline
Art. 20.- Employers and the entity paying subsidies for disability due to illness or maternity, once the amount of contributions for workers under their charge has been determined, must proceed to pay them within the first ten business days of the month following the withholding.

Payments made after the deadline mentioned above will be subject to what is provided in Article 24 of these Standards.

Means of Payment
Art. 21.- The payment of pension contributions may be made by the following means:
a) Cash: when paid in legal tender; b) Charge to account: when the payment is made directly from the employer's bank account; c) Check: when the payment is made by own, certified, or crossed check, Commercial Code; or d) Electronic: when the payment is made by digital means.

The teller of the collecting institution must sign and stamp "received and cancelled" the payment receipt when the employer or the delegate, if applicable, pays the pension contribution payroll. In the case where the employer makes the payment of contributions by electronic means, the financial institution must generate a reference number with which the employer can prove that their payment was effectively made.

Payment Declaration
Art. 22.- The declaration of contribution payment payrolls can be considered as:
a) Declaration and payment: when such payrolls are presented and paid within the first ten business days of the month following the withholding; or b) Declaration and non-payment: when such payrolls are presented, but the corresponding payment is not made.

Payment Procedure
Art. 23.- To make the payment of contributions, employers must comply with the following:
a) That the payments recorded in a payroll correspond to the withholdings of the same month of accrual; b) That the payroll is completed in its entirety by the payroll administrator, referred to in Article 15 of these Standards; c) That in cases where employers pay mandatory contributions corresponding to previous periods, they must fill out a separate payroll for each month; d) If the employer makes the payment at the counter of the collecting entity, they must attach the payment receipt for the pension payroll; e) Attach to the payment receipt, cash or certified check or crossed check, payable to the order of the ISSS Pension Unit or the ISP; and f) If the employer makes the payment by electronic means, they may do so through a fund transfer order or other existing electronic procedure.

Upon completing the transaction, the employer must print a payment receipt related to the corresponding payroll.

Late Payment of Contributions
Art. 24.- When employers incur in late payment of contributions, the ISSS or the ISP will be obligated to initiate actions aimed at the administrative collection of the owed contributions, late payment fines, and their late interest.

In the case of the Public Sector, the sanctions referred to in the previous clause will be applied in accordance with the administrative regimes of each Institution.

The ISSS and the ISP must communicate monthly to the Superintendence about the late payments incurred by employers and paymasters.

CHAPTER III
ON THE PAYMENT AND COLLECTION OF VOLUNTARY CONTRIBUTIONS

Voluntary Contributions
Art. 25.- Affiliates to the SPP who have ceased employment without having the right to an old age pension in the ISSS or the ISP may contribute voluntarily until completing the minimum years of contributions indicated in Article 97 of the SP Law.

Pensioners for disability due to common or professional risks who do not perform remunerated activity may contribute the percentage indicated in Article 16 of the SP Law, taking as IBC the pension they receive.

Requirements
Art. 26.- Affiliates to the SPP who wish to contribute voluntarily must prove twelve months or more of continuous or discontinuous contributions and submit to the following provisions:
a) Submit a request to the ISSS or the ISP, as applicable, in accordance with Annex No. 1 of these Standards, in order to complete the minimum time required by the SP Law to enjoy a benefit.

Such request must be submitted within the period of twelve months following the date of their cessation from remunerated employment, a period after which this right will expire.

The pension institute will have thirty business days from the receipt of the request to authorize or reject it, by issuing a resolution, which will be delivered to the affiliate on the day indicated when they present the request. The person responsible for receiving such requests must verify that the form contains all the required information to avoid rejection of requests due to lack of information.

When the Pension Institute authorizes the affiliate to contribute voluntarily, the notification must detail the amount of the IBC used to calculate the contribution, the amount of the contribution itself, and the declaration of compliance with the requirements established in these Standards to be able to contribute voluntarily.

In the case of the rejection of a request, the notification must detail the reason for the rejection; b) Once the previous procedure is completed, the voluntary contributor must cancel the accumulated contribution fees from the date the request was submitted, within the thirty days following the notification of the resolution approving said request; if they do not do so, they will lose the right; c) Voluntary contributing affiliates and those who wish to obtain this benefit must make monthly payments of the corresponding pension contributions, in accordance with the percentage indicated in Article 16 of the SP Law, within the first ten business days of each month; d) The status of voluntary contributor will be lost when the affiliate fails to pay twelve continuous monthly contributions or performs remunerated work, a condition that must be notified in the resolution.

When the pension institute is notified that an insured person has incorporated into a remunerated job, without abandoning their status as a voluntary SPP contributor in any of the pension institutes of the SPP, the institution that authorized them to incorporate as a voluntary SPP contributor must inform them that it is not possible to make further voluntary contributions to the SPP from the date they began to make them obligatorily. Once informed, the worker may request the return of voluntarily contributed amounts paid in error; and e) The payment of voluntary contributions must be made during the business days of the month to which they correspond, except those indicated in clause b) of this article. Repealed. (2)

Base Contribution Income of Voluntary Contributors Art. 27.- The IBC on which the amount of voluntary contributions will be determined will be the average of the last three calendar months contributed in full.

In the case that such average is less than the current minimum wage, the latter will be taken as IBC.

The voluntary SPP contributor may, once a year, increase the IBC of the contribution they are making, prior to authorization by the Pension Institute.

Form of Payment
Art. 28.- Affiliates who contribute voluntarily must make the payment of contributions at the collecting institution, by means of a pension contribution payment receipt, according to the format established in Annex No. 2 of these Standards, provided by the corresponding pension institute. (2)

The receipt referred to in the previous clause must be prepared in original and duplicate, and the distribution will be carried out as follows:
a) Original for the pension institute; and b) Duplicate for the Contributor.

The pension institute may add a copy in order to streamline its internal processes. The person responsible for receiving the voluntary pension contribution must sign and stamp as received the payment receipt.

CHAPTER IV
ON THE CREDITING OF CONTRIBUTIONS

Reconciliation
Art. 29.- Once the payments of contributions have been made, the following procedure will be carried out:
a) Financial institutions will send to the corresponding pension institute, the day after receiving the payments, a detail of them, indicating the date of receipt at the cashier and the receiving agency; b) Financial institutions will provide the corresponding pension institute with a copy of the payment receipts of voluntary contributors, within a period not exceeding three business days after receipt; and c) The pension institute, once receiving the information indicated in the previous clause, will proceed to verify the amounts deposited, and subsequently must carry out their reconciliation and crediting processes within a period not exceeding thirty business days, counted from the day following the expiration of the deadline for the payment of contributions.

Contribution Registry
Art. 30.- In order to continue the reconciliation and crediting process, the pension institutes will proceed to review the data recorded in the contribution payment payroll based on the following criteria:
a) In the case of mandatory contributions, they must verify the amount of them on the monthly IBC reported for each worker, based on the percentage established in Article 16 of the SP Law. If this result coincides with that shown in the pension contribution payment payroll, the contribution will be fully validated and assigned; otherwise, the Pension Institute must establish the amount of overpayment or underpayment, as applicable. If there is underpayment or overpayments, the pension institute must proceed in accordance with what is established in Chapter V of these Standards; and b) When it concerns voluntary contributors, before proceeding to credit the pension contributions, it must be reviewed that they correspond to the authorized IBC. If the amount paid is less, the affiliate will be notified to, within the period of eight days from their notification, make the adjustment in the payment. If the correct amount of contributions is not paid, they will not be credited to them, and the affiliate may demand their return.

If the declared amount is in excess, the Pension Institute will credit the amount corresponding to the authorized IBC, and must notify the affiliate to withdraw the excess, in accordance with what is established in Chapter V of these Standards.

NSP-52
COTIZATIONS TO THE PUBLIC PENSION SYSTEM
Approval: 30/12/2022
Validity: 30/12/2022

Accreditation
Art. 31.- The accreditation process is the responsibility of the Pension Institutes and consists of the correct identification and assignment of contributions made to their affiliates.

Art. 32.- The accreditation process of contributions involves determining the following situations:
a) Identified Contributions: These are deposits of pension contributions made to the collecting account of the Pension Institute, which have been fully identified as belonging to workers affiliated with said Institute; and b) Unidentified Contributions: These are deposits of pension contributions made to the collecting account of the Pension Institute, which have not been fully identified as belonging to workers affiliated with said Institute.

Art. 33.- In the case of unidentified contributions described in literal b) of article 32 of these Standards, they will be maintained in an account called "Deposits of Collections to be Liquidated," in which voluntary contributions paid inappropriately will also be registered, as well as all those contributions referred to in articles 35 and 38 of these Standards and other income from the contribution collection process whose destination is not identified.

Update of Work History
Art. 34.- If the situation described in literal a) of article 32 of these Standards occurs, the collected contributions will be assigned by updating the individual Work History of each affiliate, in accordance with the applicable regulations.

Contributions in Arrears
Art. 35.- When, in the reconciliation and accreditation process, the ISSS or the ISP determine situations of contribution collection corresponding to workers who are not their affiliates, the following procedure must be followed:
a) No later than the third business day after the conclusion of the reconciliation and accreditation process, the Pension Institute will communicate to the Superintendency, according to the applicable regulation, all cases of contributions paid inappropriately, providing the following information:
i. Business name of the employer or name of the Public Institution;
ii. Tax ID (NIT) of the employer;
iii. DUI or identity document of the worker;
iv. IBC (Base Contribution Income);
v. Subtotal of Contributions (according to payroll);
vi. Date of receipt of payment; and

NSP-52
COTIZATIONS TO THE PUBLIC PENSION SYSTEM
Approval: 30/12/2022
Validity: 30/12/2022
vii. Accrued Period.
b) With the information sent by the Pension Institute, the Superintendency will proceed to carry out a reconciliation process to identify the AFP or Pension Institute where the workers whose contributions were erroneously paid are affiliated; c) After the destination AFP or Pension Institute for the contributions has been identified, the Superintendency will have five business days to communicate to them the details of the affiliates whose contributions have been sent to another pension institution and those that it holds erroneously. This detail must contain the information indicated in literal a) of this article; d) Within the same period indicated in the previous literal, the Superintendency must communicate to the Pension Institute so that these, within a period of three business days, carry out all actions leading to the transfer of funds to the AFP or Pension Institute where the holder of the contributions in arrears is affiliated. Simultaneously with the transfer of funds, the Pension Institute must send to the respective AFPs a list of affiliates who have contributions in a state of arrears, according to the applicable regulation for the treatment of contributions in arrears in the PPS. If the cited period expires and the Pension Institute that maintains the contributions in a state of arrears has not made the transfer, the late charges referred to in article 24 of these Standards will be applied; and e) The Pension Institute, within the first three business days of detecting the error, must inform the employer about such situation.

CHAPTER V
ERRORS IN THE PAYROLL OF PENSION CONTRIBUTIONS

Time for Retention of Information
Art. 36.- When employers or persons responsible for preparing pension contribution payrolls make errors in preparing such payrolls, do not match the declared IBC according to the current percentages; or because the arithmetic operations of the rows or columns of such payrolls do not correspond to their respective totals, the provisions in this Chapter will be followed. For the purpose of determining the payment deficiencies and overpayments referred to in articles 37 and 38 of these Standards, the information of the declared IBC will be taken as certain data.

Payment Deficiency
Art. 37.- If, after the reconciliation referred to in article 29 of these Standards, differences due to payment deficiencies between the deposited amount and the result of the arithmetic operations of pension contributions in the corresponding payroll are determined, the following procedure must be followed:
a) The respective Pension Institute will proceed to accredit the corresponding contributions, in accordance with the provisions of these Standards; b) During the accreditation process mentioned in the previous literal, the Pension Institute must notify the employer of the error committed, within a period of eight business days counted from the day the error was detected, so that the latter makes the appropriate correction; and c) The employer who, having been notified of the error committed, does not remedy such situation within a period of fifteen days counted from the day following the aforementioned notification, will be sanctioned in accordance with what is established in article 145, numeral two, of the SP Law; constituting the difference due to payment deficiency as a delinquency for the employer, which, when cancelled, must be accredited to the affiliate to update their work history.

Overpayments
Art. 38.- An overpayment is considered when the employer declares contributions above the corresponding amount; these can be both the employer's and the affiliate's.
When overpayments are declared, the Pension Institute will proceed to accredit the correct value and the excess will be registered in the account "Deposits of Collections to be Liquidated"; likewise, it must communicate via simple letter to the employer and the affiliate, as appropriate, about the overpayment so that they request its return.

Request for Return of Overpayments
Art. 39.- The request referred to in the last paragraph of the previous article must be presented by the employer in the following manner:
a) Original and duplicate for the corresponding pension institute; and b) Triplicate for the employer.
The request for the return of overpayments must be attached with the letter referred to in the second paragraph of the previous article.
In those cases where the same employer notes having committed the error of excess before the Pension Institute notifies them, they must attach to the return request a photocopy of the pension contribution payroll or the summary payroll of the period in question, duly stamped by the receiving bank. When the declared excess involves the affiliate's contributions, the employer must attach to their request another form signed by each of the involved affiliates.

NSP-52
COTIZATIONS TO THE PUBLIC PENSION SYSTEM
Approval: 30/12/2022
Validity: 30/12/2022

Acceptance of the Request
Art. 40.- The Pension Institute will communicate to the address indicated by the applicant within fifteen business days following the receipt of the request, informing them about the resolution thereof.

Obligation of Information
Art. 41.- The Pension Institutes will submit a monthly report to the Superintendency on all situations indicated in this Chapter.

CHAPTER VI
OTHER PROVISIONS AND VALIDITY

Time for Retention of Information
Art. 42.- The information held by the Pension Institutes must be preserved in accordance with the legal framework applicable to them.
The Pension Institutes must make the affiliate's information available to the Superintendency, either by allowing real-time access to their information or by means of electronic data transmission.

Transitory
Art. 43.- The Pension Institutes will have a period of 90 days to make the corresponding adjustments related to the substitution of the Unique Pension Number by the Identity Document Number in Systems, forms, or others where such change applies.

Sanctions
Art. 44.- Non-compliance with the provisions contained in these Standards will be sanctioned in accordance with what is established in the Law of Supervision and Regulation of the Financial System.

Repeal
Art. 45.- These Standards repeal the Technical Standards for the Collection and Accreditation of Contributions to the Public Pension System (NSP-15) approved on December seventeen, two thousand eighteen, by the Standards Committee of the Central Bank of Reserve of El Salvador.

Unforeseen Aspects
Art. 46.- Aspects not provided for in regulatory matters in these Standards will be resolved by the Central Bank of Reserve of El Salvador through its Standards Committee.

NSP-52
COTIZATIONS TO THE PUBLIC PENSION SYSTEM
Approval: 30/12/2022
Validity: 30/12/2022

Validity
Art. 47.- These Standards will enter into force from December thirty, two thousand twenty-two.

MODIFICATIONS:
(1) Modification in Annex No. 1, approved by the Central Bank through its Standards Committee, in Session No. CN-10/2023, of November twenty-eight, two thousand twenty-three, with validity from May one, two thousand twenty-four, due to the approval of Legislative Decree No. 762 containing the Special Law for Municipal Restructuring.

(2) Modifications in articles 3, 12, 26, and 28 and repeal of articles 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, and 18, approved by the Central Bank through its Standards Committee, in Session No. CN-08/2025, of September thirty, two thousand twenty-five, with validity from October fifteen, two thousand twenty-five.

NSP-52
COTIZATIONS TO THE PUBLIC PENSION SYSTEM
Approval: 30/12/2022
Validity: 30/12/2022

Annex No. 1
REQUEST TO CONTINUE VOLUNTARILY CONTRIBUTING TO THE PUBLIC PENSION SYSTEM

I, ______________________, of _____ years of age, with DUI or identity document ___________________, residing in _____________________, District of __________________, Municipality of _____________________, of the Department of _____________, by this means communicate to the Institute _________________, that I have been unemployed since the ______________________, of 20, for which reason I request that you allow me to contribute voluntarily, in order to fulfill the minimum time required by the Integral Law of the Pension System, to enjoy a pension for old age in the Public Pension System. (1)

Signature of the Affiliate
LOGO OF THE
INSTITUTION
No.
CORRELATIVE
PRINTED

NSP-52
COTIZATIONS TO THE PUBLIC PENSION SYSTEM
Approval: 30/12/2022
Validity: 30/12/2022

Annex No. 2
PROOF OF PAYMENT OF VOLUNTARY PENSION CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE PUBLIC PENSION SYSTEM

Identity document ________________________
For $: ___________
We have received from Mr. (a) _______________________, who is a voluntary contributor to the Institute (ISSS or ISP), since _____________, the amount of ___________, which corresponds in concept of voluntary contribution for the month of ____________ of 20, calculated on a Base Contribution Income of $ _____. San Salvador, _______________ of ____________ of 20. SIGNATURE OF THE AFFILIATE OR AUTHORIZED PERSON STAMP OF THE BANK OR INSTITUTION No. CORRELATIVE PRINTED