Benefits for Workers Injured on the Job

Workers injured on the job are entitled to several benefits under the National Insurance Act.

Director of the National Insurance Scheme (NIS), Portia Magnus, told JIS News that the benefits are activated when employees sustain injuries or get ill while carrying out their duties.

Among the payable benefits are employment injury; employment injury death, and employment injury disablement pension.

“We have the cash award for medical treatment for persons granted one to three days’ sick leave. This is where we pay your medical expense, subject to the rate approved by the Ministry of Health. If you are granted sick leave from four days up to 52 weeks, then we will pay a cash award for that period of time. So, those are short-term payments,” the Director said.

On the employment injury disablement pension, Ms. Magnus noted that this can be paid for life.

To qualify for this, persons are required to have been paid the cash award for 52 weeks as well as receive a diagnosis of at least 10 per cent disability from a medical doctor.

Another benefit is the employment injury death, which speaks to loss of life as a result of the job.

“It means that they got a fatal injury while at work or arising from a disease attributable to the job. In this instance, we pay the employment injury death benefit,” she said.

The Act also provides for the invalid’s benefit, which is paid out to an employee who is diagnosed with a medical condition that renders him or her permanently incapable of working.

To qualify for this benefit, persons unable to return to work for a period of 26 weeks or more must present medical reports from a physician.

These reports are then reviewed by medical doctors employed by the NIS who will conduct examinations of the claimants on behalf of the National Insurance Scheme.

The NIS is financed through the National Insurance Fund and is the main contributory component of the country’s social protection system, providing a minimum guarantee for a large pool of workers, particularly those who do not participate in occupational pension schemes.