Are you covered if your employees are injured at work?

As an employer, you’d have heard about the Compensation for Occupational Injuries and Diseases Act (COIDA), more commonly known as Workmen’s Compensation. COIDA is compulsory insurance that benefits both the injured employee and you as the employer. Its purpose is to give employees guaranteed benefits and it protects employers against claims for on-duty injuries and occupational diseases.

All employers in South Africa must be registered with the Compensation Fund if they employ one or more staff members. It excludes domestic households.

The COID Act provides for compensation to employees, or their dependents, in the case of death or disablement caused by occupational injuries and diseases, sustained or contracted by employees in the course of their employment, or death resulting from these injuries and diseases, and provides for related matters. 

Why you need to be registered

It’s the law

The Labour Department requires any employer with one or more employees to register for Workman’s Compensation.

It can save you from bankruptcy

Large, unexpected medical bills can easily sink a small business because hospital fees and ongoing medical costs will quickly mount up. 

It helps with tender applications

Tender applications usually require a Letter of Good Standing. As the law requires employers to register for Workman’s Compensation, you can only get a Letter of Good standing if your Workman’s Compensation payments are up to date.

Annual assessments

The Compensation Fund’s annual assessments are payable annually and based on the nature of work undertaken by your business – which is what determines the risk of work-related incidents. The total employee earnings for that year of assessment are also taken into account when calculating the assessment. 

It’s important to use the correct ‘nature of your business’ when registering otherwise you could face penalties for under-reporting, or end up paying inflated assessments.

It can be time-consuming to register with COIDA for Workman’s Compensation, and complicated to ensure your assessments are correct.