If you do not pay the funds withheld from your employee for Costa Rica Social Security you could end up in jail. As an Employer it is your obligation to withhold the employee contribution to Social Security and to pay that to the Costa Rican Social Security Administration. In Costa Rica there are court decisions that have been upheld sending an Employer to jail for failure to pay the employee payments that were withheld.
In this particular case the Employer deducted from the Employee the corresponding percentage due to the CCSS from the Employee paycheck. The Employer then failed to pay those funds to the CCSS as required by law. As a result the local CCSS office filed a criminal complaint against the Employer for unlawful detention of funds. The case went to trial, the Employer failed to show up to the trial and the Judge ordered that he be detained and placed in jail as a preventive detention measure. Although the Social Security Administration files many of these cases per year this is the first time that an Employer is sent to jail. The Social Security Administration (CCSS) hopes this measure sets a precedent and the Employers understand the risks of violating the law.
