The Compensation Fund and the law

Workers who are injured or contract a disease through their work can claim money from the government’s Compensation Fund.

Source:   HER LAW - Making the law work for you by M. Nagtegaal
Workers who are injured or contract a disease through their work can claim money from the government’s Compensation Fund. The Fund exists to provide compensation to employees who are disabled as a result of occupational injuries or diseases that they sustain or contract in the course of their employment. It also provides families with compensation if their breadwinner dies as a result of a work-related disease or injury.
The Compensation Fund is regulated by the Compensation for Occupational Injuries and Diseases Act, 1993 (COIDA) and the Compensation for Occupational Injuries and Diseases Amendment Act, 1997. The rules and laws that we refer to in this chapter are based on these acts.
COIDA now covers employees regardless of what they earn, except for the following employees:
  • A domestic worker employed at a private home
  • A member of the South African National Defence Force (because there’s a separate fund for you); also anyone receiving military training
  • A member of the South African Police Services, because there’s also a separate fund
  • A worker who doesn’t work under the control of an employer
  • A worker who works outside South Africa for more than 12 months at a time
  • Workers working mainly outside South Africa and who are only temporarily employed in this country
  • A worker who is totally or partially disabled for less than three days; (this may be covered by a medical aid or sick fund)
  • Any worker guilty of wilful misconduct, unless they are seriously disabled or killed; in other words, if the accident resulted from your own wrong-doing, you will not be able to claim, unless you are seriously disabled or die in the accident, in which case the Fund will pay compensation
  • Workers who unreasonably refuse to have medical treatment; so if you’re lying on the floor with blood flowing everywhere and you refuse to be bandaged, then you must suffer.
It’s not necessary for an employee to prove that the employer’s negligence caused the injury or disease. You can get compensation even if your employer is not to blame at all. All that’s required is that the accident took place in the course and scope of employment. In other words, it must have happened while on duty and while performing your work. You don’t have to go to court to claim compensation; it’s paid through the Compensation Commissioner.
A Compensation Commissioner is appointed to administer the Compensation Fund and approve workers’ claims. A worker gets compensation from this Fund and not directly from the employer. This means that the employer doesn’t have to worry about expensive legal claims.
Who can claim compensation?
You can claim from the Compensation Fund if you’re injured in an accident that happened ‘in the course and scope of duty’, in other words, while you were doing your work. You can also claim if you get an occupational disease, which means a disease caused by your work.
It is, furthermore, possible for your dependants to claim if you die from the accident or disease.
It makes no difference whether it’s casual or permanent work, whether you’re a trainee, are completing an apprenticeship, or are a full-time employee. All these types of workers can claim. You can also claim if you’re a domestic worker in a boarding house, an apprentice or trainee farm worker, or a worker paid by a labour agency.