adminEmployees injured at work or someone acting on their behalf lodges a claim for compensation under the Workers’ Compensation scheme by notifying the employer of the accident in writing. The employer is then responsible for notifying NSSA.
Part VI of Statutory Instrument 68 of 1990, which governs the operation of the National Social Security Authority Accident Prevention and Workers’ Compensation Scheme, sets out the procedure for obtaining compensation.
Section 47(1)(a) of the statutory instrument states: “Written notice of the accident causing disablement or death of a worker shall be given by or on behalf of the worker as soon as reasonably possible after the accident occurred to the employer and such notice shall constitute a claim for compensation.”
The employer has an obligation to inform NSSA of such accidents, if he is aware of them, whether or not such notice has been given to him.
Failure to provide such notice to the employer does not prevent compensation being paid if it is proved that the employer knew of the accident from any other source at the time it occurred or soon afterwards but failed to report the accident to NSSA. Every accident arising out of and in the course of employment must be reported to NSSA.
Although the regulations specify that the employer should be notified in writing of the accident as soon as reasonably possible, they permit claims to be accepted within 12 months after the accident.
Claims may be accepted even later than that if the NSSA general manager considers that neither the Workers’ Compensation Insurance Fund nor the employer would be seriously prejudiced or if the failure to give notice or any inaccuracy in the notice was due to a mistake, absence from Zimbabwe or any other reasonable cause.
The employer is required within three working days of an accident in which a worker is disabled, or so injured as to be certified unfit to work for a day or more, to make a record of the name and address of the worker, date and time of the accident, nature of the accident, place where the accident happened, the worker’s earnings at the time of the accident and any other relevant particulars concerning the accident or claim for compensation.
The employer is required to notify NSSA in writing of the accident within 14 days of it happening, failing which a penalty determined by the NSSA general manager is levied on the employer. The written notice should be submitted on form WCIF 14 to the nearest NSSA office.
If the accident is serious or fatal, the employer should contact the nearest NSSA office and the police within 24 hours.
The WCIF 14 form has three sections. Section A is to be completed by the employer. It gives details of the employer, the injured worker and members of the worker’s family, the employee’s monthly earnings, the job he performs and details of the accident, as well as the period the worker was incapacitated.
Section B is a signed declaration by the worker or the worker’s representative that he or she agrees with the statements by the employer in Section A. Section C is for compensation payment instructions and should be signed by the worker.
The injured worker should, when submitting his claim to the employer, furnish a certificate from a medical practitioner or dental surgeon showing the nature and extent of the injury or illness, whether or not he is fit for work and, if not, the reason for the unfitness and the period of likely temporary disablement.
If the injured worker is unable to return to work, he should furnish NSSA, through his employer, with a medical certificate confirming the off duty period.
Where the period of temporary disablement has ended and the worker is still suffering disablement, he should provide a certificate from a doctor or dental surgeon confirming that and stating the assessed degree of disability.
When an accident is reported to NSSA or comes to NSSA’s attention, an inquiry is initiated or other steps taken to enable it to decide on any claim or liability under the Workers’ Compensation scheme.
Civil servants and domestic workers are not currently covered by the NSSA Workers’ Compensation scheme.
If a worker has been temporarily disabled for three months from the date of the accident, NSSA may require him to submit himself for examination by a medical practitioner.
The medical practitioner may recommend that the worker undergoes further or a different course of treatment, certify the worker is fit to return to work or indicate what work he is fit to perform or certify that he is permanently disabled and award a degree of disability.
NSSA pays all the worker’s medical expenses related to a work injury or ailment. It guarantees the injured worker’s normal monthly pay for the first 30 days after the accident and a percentage thereafter.
If the injury results in permanent disability the worker is paid a lump sum if the disability is 30 percent or less. If the disability is more than 30 percent then a monthly pension is paid.
The pension includes allowances for children up to the age of 19.
If a worker dies as the result of a work-related accident, the surviving spouse receives two-thirds of the pension the deceased person would have been entitled to. If there is more than one wife, the amount is shared equally among them. The children also receive allowances.
If the surviving spouse remarries, then a lump sum equivalent to 24 months pension is paid and the pension is terminated, The children’s allowances remain the same.
If an unmarried person dies as a result of a work-related accident, any dependants, who could be parents or sisters or brothers, receive an allowance, provided their dependency on the deceased person can be established beyond reasonable doubt.
NSSA provides full rehabilitation services for seriously injured workers at its Workers’ Compensation Rehabilitation Centre in Bulawayo.
Talking Social Security is published weekly by the National Social Security Authority as a public service. There is also a weekly radio programme on social security, PaMhepo neNssa/Emoyeni leNSSA, at 6.50PM every Thursday on Radio Zimbabwe and Friday on National FM. There is another social security programme on Star FM on Wednesdays at 5.30PM. Readers can e-mail issues they would like dealt with in this column to [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> or text them to 0772-307913. Those with individual queries should contact their local NSSA office or telephone NSSA on (04) 706523/5, 706545/9, or 799030/1.
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