Cap. 318 Art. 8Contributions by employed persons and employers. (Class One contributions).

(1) The employer shall, in the first instance, be liable to pay both the contribution payable by himself and also, on behalf of and to the exclusion of the employed person, the contribution payable by that person and, for the purposes of this Act, contributions paid by the employer on behalf of the employed person shall be deemed to be contributions paid by the employed person.

(2) Notwithstanding any contract or agreement to the contrary, an employer shall not be entitled to deduct from the wages or other remuneration of any person employed by him, or otherwise to recover from such a person the contribution payable by him in respect of that person; and any employer who deducts or attempts to deduct the whole or any part of the contribution payable by him in respect of any such person from the wages or other remuneration of that person, shall be guilty of an offence under this Act and shall be liable, on conviction in respect of each such offence, to a fine (multa).

(3) Where an employed person receives any wages or other pecuniary remuneration from his employer, the amount of any contribution paid by the employer on behalf of the employed person shall, notwithstanding the provisions of any law or any contract or agreement to the contrary, be recoverable by means of deductions from the wages of that person or from any other remuneration due from the employer to that person and not otherwise:

Provided that no such deduction may be made from any wages or remuneration other than such as are paid wholly or partly in respect of the contribution week or part of the contribution week for which the contribution is payable.

(4) Where an employed person does not receive any wages or other pecuniary remuneration from his employer but receives such remuneration from some other person, the amount of any contribution paid by the employer on behalf of the employed person shall (without prejudice to any other means of recovery) be recoverable by the said employer as a civil debt from the other person from whom the employed person was receiving his wages or other pecuniary remuneration provided proceedings for this purpose are instituted within twelve months from the date on which the contribution was payable.

(5) Notwithstanding the foregoing provisions of this article, where an employer has failed or neglected to pay any Class One contributions which he is liable to pay under this Act, upon the lapse of the ten days referred to in article 116(2), and if the employer concerned is still failing or neglecting to pay any current contributions due under this Act, the Director may, by notice served on the employer, and on any person employed by such employer, direct that the contributions payable by such employed person shall not, from such date as may be indicated in the notice, be withheld and paid by the employer, and that thereupon such contributions due after that date shall be payable directly by such employed person to the Director in such manner and at such times as the Director may determine.

(6) When the Court is acting in accordance with its powers conferred to it by articles 54(5) and 59 of the Civil Code, it may order or empower, as the case may be, that part of the contributions paid by an insured person be transferred to the person indicated by the said Court, and such contributions are to be considered, for the purposes of this Act, as having been paid as an employed person by the person to whom they are transferred.