Injury on Duty

How to Administrate and Injury on Duty

Step 1:

The moment an injury occurs, where an employee must get outside medical treatment, part A page 1 of the Employers Report of an Accident (W.Cl.2) form must be completed. Detach "Part B" (an automatic copy of “Part A” page 1) by tearing it at the perforation, hand “Part B” to the employee and request him/her to hand it to the doctor/hospital concerned. In serious cases, "Part B" must be handed to the emergency services personnel who have responded to the emergency call.

It makes sense to keep partially completed W.Cl2 forms and certified copies of all employee’s identity documents in the First Aid Box, so that they are readily available when needed.

Step 2:

Once the employee has been taken care of, the employer must obtain the First Medical report (W.Cl.4) from the Doctor, complete page 2 of the W.Cl.2 form and send the completed pages 1 and 2, together with the W.Cl. 4 form and a certified copy of the injured employee’s ID document to the Compensation Commissioner by fax to (012) 3244734 or post by registered post to The Compensation Commissioner to P.O. Box 955 Pretoria 0001 within 7 days of the incident occurring.

(Where the First Medical Report (W.CL.4) was not sent together with the employer's report of an occupational injury, it must be submitted to the Commissioner as soon as it is obtained.)

Step 3:

The Compensation Commissioner will send the employer a postcard (W.Cl.55), providing a claim number (reference number) which must be used on all correspondence relating to this matter.

Step 4:

Once the Compensation Commissioner has considered the claim and only when liability is accepted for payment of all medical expenses etc, will a postcard (W.Cl.56) be sent to the employer. Where a W.Cl.56 is not issued, it means that the Compensation Commissioner does not accept liability for any payment.

Step 5:

In cases of prolonged absence, a Progress Medical Report (W.Cl.5) form must be obtained monthly from the Doctor and submitted to the Commissioner as soon as it is obtained.

Step 6:

Once the Doctor handling the case is satisfied that the employee is fit for duty, the Doctor will issue a Final Medical Report (W.Cl.5), which must be sent to the Compensation Commissioner.

Please note that the Progress Report and Final Report are on the same form (W.Cl.5).

Step 7:

When the employee resumes work, a Resumption Report (W.Cl.6) must be completed and submitted to the Commissioner.

Only after every one of these forms has been submitted will the Compensation Commissioner make all of the payments and close the case.

Most problems that occur with the Compensation Fund is that the Employer does not send through the Progress, Final and Resumption Reports, therefore the Employer does not get the money from the Compensation Fund that was paid to the injured employee and the Doctors do not get paid.

Payments for IOD’s

If an employee is injured on duty and is sent to the doctor/hospital, one of the following three payment criteria comes into operation:

• If the employee is booked off due to an IOD for 3 days or less, the Compensation Fund does not pay a cent. Therefore, the employer does not need to pay the injured employee any payment.
• If the employee is booked off due to an IOD for 4 days or longer, but less than 3 months, the employer pays the injured employee at a rate of 75% of basic wages only, from day 1 until the employee returns to work.
• If the employee is booked off due to an IOD for longer than 3 months, the employer pays the injured employee at a rate of 75% of basic wages, from day 1 for 3 months and nothing thereafter. Once the 3-month period expires, the injured employee must claim his money from the Compensation Fund himself.
• It is important to remember that if the employer pays their employees in full for the IOD, the long-term cost to the company should be taken into consideration as it has been proved in practice, that where companies only pay as per regulations, their IOD rate is drastically reduced.

If you are unsure whether an incident is an IOD, submit your forms to the Commissioner and let them decide. The COID Act works on the proviso of “at the discretion of the Compensation Commissioner”.