Fed govt starts online update of public servants on IPPIS

Head of Civil Service of the Federation, Mrs. Winifred Ekanem Oyo-Ita

The Federal Government has commenced online update of federal public servants in Ministries Departments and Agencies that are currently enrolled on the Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System.
The Assistant Director, Media Relations Office of the Head of Civil Service of the Federation, Mr Mohammed Manga, said this in a statement on Monday in Abuja.
He said the update was hinged on the successful pilot implementation of the human resource module of the IPPIS in the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation.
“The move to update workers record on the online IPPIS platform was hinged on the successful pilot implementation of the human resource module in OHCSF
“This is to be replicated in all the remaining MDAs of the federal government to pave way for the roll out of the module.”
He disclosed that the web address of the online portal was www.verification.gov.ng adding that it would be opened for access from Monday, April 10, to Tuesday, May 2, 2017.
He noted that only MDAs that have forwarded their structures such as departments, divisions, sections and units would have access to the portal.
Manga urged MDAs that have not forwarded their structures to OHCSF to do so urgently to enable their set up on the portal.
He added that the structures should be forwarded soonest so that they could be updated within the stipulated time frame.
Today News

Our perverse pension rules are driving our best workers out of the labour market -Ros Altmann

Doctors are quitting in their fifties thanks to a new reduction in the lifetime pension allowance Credit: Lynne Cameron/PA Wire

It is vital to take pension issues seriously – especially with our ageing population. This week’s Telegraph report about doctors quitting general practice in their fifties, partly because of new pension rules, is a stark reminder of the problems created by continued cuts in pension allowances.
With increasing numbers of older people in the country, the demand for medical staff is likely to increase sharply, and we need as many of our most experienced doctors to stay in practice as possible. Surely we actually want to incentivise them to keep working longer, not encourage them to retire early by imposing draconian taxes on their pensions.
Of course, this does not just apply to GPs. The latest reduction in the Lifetime Allowance – the amount the Inland Revenue allows you to have in  your pension scheme before triggering an extra tax – will affect thousands of long-serving staff across the public sector. Surgeons, senior police chiefs, firefighters and head teachers are similarly impacted. According to independent financial advisers, there are top people in their fifties across the country who may retire early to avoid this extra charge – which can be up to 55 per cent.

Watch | The NHS crisis in numbers 01:07

The shrinking Lifetime Allowance now functions as a stealth tax on the most senior personnel. There has been constant tinkering with pension rules, and they are complex. But continual reductions in the Allowance, the latest of which took effect this week, have lowered the threshold at which pensions are taxed from £1.8 million in 2012 to £1 million today. That may sound like a huge sum, but the new measure will actually hit vast numbers of long-serving senior and middle-ranking workers because of the crude way the threshold is calculated.

Essentially, the Treasury takes your projected annual pension at the time you begin receiving it and multiplies it by 20. If you are on course for a £50,000-a-year pension by the time you’re 60, you will know in advance that you will come in over the limit. In these circumstances, it makes sense to retire before you reach that point, which you can do at any age from 55, and take a reduced pension (the earlier you retire, the lower the pension).
This lets you avoid hitting the Lifetime Allowance, because the new rules don’t take into account that this lower pension would be paid for more years. They ignore the fact that you would probably receive the same amount – or even more – over your lifetime. By taking the lower pension, you can avoid the draconian pension tax, and still get the same expected pension payments in the end. This encourages GPs and senior workers to retire much younger than they otherwise might.

Telrgraph

Buhari releases N54b to clear arrears of pension

President Buhari: his government clears pension arrears from Jonathan years

Rachael Ishaya
The Muhammadu Buhari administration  has released N54 billion to clear part of the backlog of accrued pension rights  for the years 2014, 2015 and 2016.
The Director of Information, Ministry of Finance, Mr Salisu Danbatta said  on Wednesday that N41.5 billion has already been released to the National Pension Commission (PENCOM).
The amount released was for onward payment to those who retired under the Contributory Pension Scheme and who were yet to be paid.
Danbatta quoted the Minister of Finance, Mrs Kemi Adeosun as saying that  N12.5 billion,  being outstanding for January, February and March 2017, was also  released,  bringing the total to about N54 billion.
“Despite conflicting demands for available cash, President Muhammadu Buhari has always expressed concern over the plight of workers and pensioners.
“Consistent with this, we have released N41.5 billion which clears the arrears inherited from the previous administration relating to the period 2013-15 and underpayments in 2016.
“This will bring relief to thousands of our elders who have served and deserve to be paid their entitlements promptly and fully,” she said.
The minister said that the amount paid also included arrears of those who retired as far back as 2013 and had been unable to access their pension under the contributory scheme due to non-payment.
To avoid future accumulation of pension arrears, Adeosun said that henceforth “the monthly allocation to the PENCOM based on the appropriation of 2017 will regularly be paid along with monthly salaries of Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs).”
All Federal Government workers began  the monthly Contributory Pension Scheme in 2004, in line with the Pension Reform Act.
The money the Federal Government now owes its workers before the commencement of the act, is recognised in form of the issuance of Federal Government Retirement Benefits Bonds.
Upon retirement of an employee, the bonds are to be liquidated and added to the balance of the retirement savings account of an employee to get the amount  he or she is entitled.
To ensure that government settles backlog of accrued rights, Pension Fund Administrators are not allowed to grant retirees access to their retirement savings until the federal government releases the accrued rights component.
This means that a retiree cannot access his or her Retirement Savings Account (RSA) through the Pension Funds Administrators without the accrued pension rights component.
So for Public Service workers who migrate to the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS) in 2004, shortly before they retired, they are entitled to two components of retirement benefit.
That is the contributions accumulated in their RSA and their accrued right from the time they joined the service to the time they migrated to CPS.
The federal public servants who retired since January 2016, had staged a protest at the Federal Ministry of Finance headquarters in Abuja over their unpaid pension to the tune of N200 billion.
The retirees under the auspices of the League of Federal Service Contributory Pension Retirees led by the Coordinator, Mr Chike Ogbechie said that workers who have retired in the last 15 months were yet to receive their pension.
In reaction to the recent release, Mr Ogbechie when contacted by the News Agency of Nigeria said that the “N54 billion will clear much of the backlog of our pension, but not all. So the struggle still continues”.

Culled from NAN

"I handed my bank details over...then realised what I'd done" - Victim reveals moment he realised cold caller was stealing his identity-Emma Munbodh

Malcolm Richardson had just picked up the phone and was mid-chat when he realised hackers were trying to steal his life using a Euromillions ploy

Alarming: £19 million was lost to fraud between April 2015-2016 and hackers are becoming smarter by the day

Every year 250 million scam calls are made to UK consumers, that's eight every single SECOND of the day - and the threat is ever growing.
That's despite cold-call blocking services like the Telephone Preference Service - which is designed to block nuisance numbers.
Malcolm Richardson, a 35-year-old from London, was left at the mercy of telephone hackers after falling for a fraudulent phone call - which claimed to be from a reputable research company.
"I received a call from a woman claiming to be conducting a market research survey on behalf of several large companies - including Virgin Mobile and British Gas,” Malcolm told Mirror Money.
"The call came from an 0191 number based in North Shields - it wasn't 'unknown' and I had no reason to be sceptical of it.
"The caller explained that if I completed the survey, I'd receive 10 free Euromillions tickets and a free one month subscription for magazine of my choice. I chose National Geographic."

Read More

Giving the task little thought, Malcolm decided take up the incentive. He was not asked for any personal details, it seemed simple enough - he had nothing to lose.
"I was then asked a barrage of quite boring questions about five minutes. They asked me about my gas and electricity supplier, the type of TV I own, whether I had a pension and any outstanding debt.
"In hindsight, some of the questions were quite obscure, such as - if I won a holiday to Florida would I accept the holiday or cash?"
"I was then told someone would contact me in a few days to verify my details for the Euromillions tickets and the National Geographic. That was it."
The telephone number was 0191 640 7654 . It has now been reported dozens of times on consumer website Who-called.co.uk .

"I initially resisted" The trick - and how I fell for it

EuroMillions: Malcolm thought he was in with a winning chance (Photo: PA)

Malcolm received a follow up call exactly two days later. That's when he says alarm bells should have rung.
"I got a call from a man with a slight Indian or Pakistani accent. He mentioned the call on Wednesday. He confirmed my name and my address, he then asked for my date of birth."
The call was from the following telephone number: 020 3598 7260 - Malcolm's phone traced the call to London.
"He then proceeded to tell me that since the lotto increased its price from £2.00 to £2.50 they have suffered a loss in people buying tickets."
The conman offered Malcolm a 'limited three month offer' of 75 Euromillion lines a week for the price of four - £39 for three months.
"I agreed. He then said he needed my bank account number, sort code and email address to sign me up,

"I initially resisted, but he assured me he could not take money from my account with only these details. I was also assured that I could cancel the direct debit before it actually started.
"It seemed so genuine - he went on to read the 'legal terms' and then passed the phone to his line manager."

I handed my bank details over - then it got suspicious

Scammers are not just after your money - they may be after your identity too (Photo: Getty)

"It sounded like he actually handed the phone over, which is when I got very suspicious," Malcolm said.
"The 'line manager' went through the information I had given including my bank details again.
"He then also read out some disclaimers, and then asked me for five lottery numbers and two lucky star numbers.
"That's when my suspicions started to kick in. What was the need for the line manager? Why was he asking for numbers if it was a 'lucky dip'?
"I realised I'd fallen for a scam.
"I immediately searched the number online, which came up with a user comment based site with lots of people saying the number was part of a scam.
"I called my bank, deactivated my card, and and informed the fraud team of what happened."

Fishing - the art of stealing your information

Fraud is not a new phenomena - especially cold call hackers (Photo: Getty)

Phishing, vishing and smishing.
These three terms are all plays on the word 'fishing', in that the fraudsters fish for potential victims by sending emails, text messages or making phone calls with urgent messages in the hope of persuading someone to do something specific.
The aim is always to trick you into thinking you’re giving up personal information or making payments with someone you can trust.
The fraudsters will often use your details to steal your identity, or simply take the money you've paid and break all contact.
Action Fraud - the UK's security body - advises anyone suspicious to get in touch with the firm directly before handing over any information.
In this case, Malcolm could have got in touch with Euromillions to verify the offer before passing on any sensitive information.
Mirror Money asked Camelot - the firm behind Euromillions - about the "offer". A spokesman said: "This isn't anything to do with Camelot and we don't run promotions like this.
"However, we are aware that there are many organisations that attempt to obtain payment or personal details from people under a variety of pretexts.
"We'd urge readers to remember that, if something looks too good to be true, it probably is.
" Our website provides a wide range of advice to help people avoid lottery ‘scams’."
How to report it: Get in touch with Action Fraud as soon as possible or call 0300 123 2040.

How the criminals accessed Malcolm's number

Action Fraud is the UK’s national reporting centre for fraud and cyber crime

Mirror Money got in touch with deputy head of Action Fraud Steve Proffitt to find out exactly how this happenned.
"There is an increase in computers automatically dialling every available number in the phone book," Proffitt said.
"These are programmed to divert the call to a human if a voice is heard or move to the next number if not answered after a set number of rings.
"My first advice is to always allow your phone to ring a number of times before answering it.
"In a lot of cases, the computer will have hung up and dialled the next number.
"If you do answer and there is a pause, because the call is being routed to a human, just hang up.
"If you are in touch with a human, then as soon as you recognise this as a cold call, very politely hang up, do not engage with any conversation with them."

Mirror

10 Reasons Millions of Working-Age Men Are Giving up on Having a Career - Sam Becker

Jack Black in Orange County portrays a working-age man who desperately needs a career. | Paramount Pictures

Don’t want to work? Just want to bang on the drum all day? Even if you only have a Rockband drum handy, it might be more appealing than getting up early, putting on a uniform, and punching a clock. Some people choose to do just that — instead of going to school or working, they stay at home. This is perplexing to many, who need to work to put food on the table and pay rent. But millions of Americans have removed themselves from the labor force.
And increasingly, these people are coming from a single demographic: working-age men. Specifically, they’re men between the ages of 25 and 54, which we tend to think of as “prime” working years.
While the unemployment rate is in more or less solid shape, that rate is a measure of a subsection of the overall labor force. It’s the percentage of people who are out of work among the American population (over the age of 16) who are actively looking for work. If you aren’t looking for work or interested in having a job, you’re not technically counted as “unemployed.” With many men sitting out of the labor force, this can lead to confusion as to what the actual unemployment rate is.
President Donald Trump has sort of touched on this issue. And it’s a fairly serious one. Men aren’t working like they used to, and the reasons why are numerous and complicated. Let’s examine 10 of the primary factors that have led to millions of working-age men to forgo a career and stay home instead.

1. Wages are too low

Pamphlets sit on a table during a California job fair. | David McNew/Getty Images

Many men aren’t going to work because they don’t see how it’s worth it. Many jobs they might be able to get simply don’t pay enough. Employers are complaining they can’t find people to work — but the incentives are off. This is true in the construction industry and many others. If employers were paying more, it would probably attract more people back to the labor force.
You need skills …

2. Skills gap

An employer interviews a candidate. | Joe Raedle/Getty Images

Many workers lack the skills to compete in the modern economy. Yes, there are jobs that require little training and skill, but those jobs are becoming increasingly automated. And that’s set to continue. Recent surveys say as many as 33% of 848 small-business owners have open positions they can’t fill because applicants lack the necessary skill sets. For many out-of-work men, additional training might be a necessary step.
How important is education? A man with only a high school diploma is twice as likely to be out of work as a man who has …

3. Education gap

Job seekers look over job opening fliers. | David McNew/Getty Images

Education goes hand in hand with an expanded skill set. There is probably some overlap, in fact. But this is one of the more obvious hangups in the economy right now. Millions of men aren’t working because there’s an education barrier to well-paying, secure jobs. According to a report from the Brookings Institution, the less education you have, the slimmer your chances of climbing back into the labor force.
“A man with only a high school diploma is twice as likely to be out of work as a man who has a four-year college degree,” the brief said. “And, of the 9.3 million men between the ages of 25 and 50 who weren’t working last year, 1.7 million had a bachelor’s degree or higher, 2.3 million had some college or an associate’s degree, and 5.3 million had nothing beyond a high school degree.”

4. Unwilling to work in in-demand industries

A nurse takes a pulse. | iStock.com

Millions of men have been put out of work as the manufacturing sector has decayed over the years. In its place, other industries are growing. But evidently, working-age men aren’t interested in working them. Two examples would be the tech and health care industries, both of which are expanding and hiring workers left right. But these jobs require training and education. They also pay a lot more. So, what’s the problem?
One in 10 new nurses is male, according to industry figures. And it appears many men are unwilling to go into industries, such as nursing, (despite numerous opportunities and high pay) perhaps because they’re perceived as typically female roles.
Is Xbox to blame? …

5. Video games

A young man’s new tool: the Xbox controller | Microsoft

It might seem silly, but there’s a correlation between non-working men and the popularity of video games. Basically, many men are staying at home and playing Xbox rather than getting a job. Now, it’s hard to criticize somebody for wanting to play Battlefield rather than sitting in a cubicle (or doing anything else) all day, but it’s an issue. A full 22% of men between 21 and 30 didn’t work in the previous year, according to a recent study. And many say it’s because they’re playing video games instead.

6. Disability insurance

Doctor talks to a patient. | iStock.com

The expansion of social safety nets, including disability insurance, is another thing blamed for keeping men away from the workforce. The numbers make it pretty clear, too. Over the past couple of decades, reliance on disability insurance has risen drastically.
A recent story from the Washington Post reports that “between 1996 and 2015, the number of working-age adults receiving disability climbed from 7.7 million to 13 million. The federal government this year will spend an estimated $192 billion on disability payments, more than the combined total for food stamps, welfare, housing subsidies and unemployment assistance.”
This phenomenon is taking place in mostly — though not exclusively — rural, white communities.

7. Stay-at-home dads

A father walks his daughter to school. | iStock.com/Nadezhda1906

In a role-reversal from generations past, many men are now staying at home with kids while their wives become the breadwinner. This isn’t a bad thing. But there is a defining feature among the 2 million or so fathers who are staying at home: More than half of them are under the poverty line. According to a report from Pew Research Center, 23% of stay-at-home dads say they’re not working because they’re unable to find work, and 35% say it’s due to illness or disability.

8. Incarceration

A prison guard works inside of a jail. | Ian Waldie/Getty Images

The prison population and police state have expanded wildly over the years. And for those who have been caught up in the system, it’s keeping them out of the workforce. Millions of people have trouble getting jobs due to a criminal record, and many are missing out on jobs due to erroneous background checks. Ironically, this seems to be creating more crime than its preventing, as people who can’t find steady work turn to crime to put food on the table.

9. Poor health

A man fills a huge cup with soda. | Mario Tama/Getty Images

It’s been hinted at, but let’s call a spade a spade. Many men can’t work because they’re in such poor health. This isn’t exclusive to men, but it’s having a profound effect on the labor force participation rates among working-age men. According to Princeton economist Alan Krueger, health issues “are a substantial barrier to work that would have to be addressed to significantly reverse their downward trend in participation.”

10. Opioids

Oxycodone pain pills are prescribed for a patient with chronic pain. | John Moore/Getty Images

Drug use is another part of the puzzle. According to the Brookings Institution, “The use of pain medications, including opioids, among unemployed men is significantly higher than those who are employed. Forty percent of the men who aren’t working and aren’t actively looking for work report taking pain medication every day, compared to 20 percent of those in the workforce.”

Again, this isn’t something unique to men. But the opioid epidemic is hitting lower and middle-class whites (in economically devastated areas) harder than most.

Culled from Money & Career Cheat Sheet