The Employees’ Compensation Program is a government program designed to provide a compensation package to public and private employees and/or their dependents in the event of work-related sickness, injury or death.
Private sector workers who are compulsory members of the Social Security System (SSS), including sea-based Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs), and “kasambahays”.
Employees are covered under the Employees’ Compensation Program starting from the first day of their employment.
The employers shall pay for the EC contribution of his/her employees.
A sickness is considered compensable if the same is included in the ECC’s List of Occupational Diseases and the conditions for its compensability are met. If the conditions were not satisfied and/or the claimed ailment is not included in the list, proof must be shown that the risk of contracting the disease is increased by the working conditions. This is known as the increased-risk theory.
An injury is considered compensable when the same takes place within the period of employment, at a place where the employee may reasonably be in the performance of his duties, and while he is fulfilling those duties or engaged in doing something incidental thereto, or where he is engaged in the furtherance of the employer’s business.
An accident may be considered to have risen out of and in the course of employment when it happened:
The benefits are the following:
A. Loss of income benefit or a cash benefit given to a worker to compensate for loss of income due to inability to work.
There are three types of loss of income benefits:
1. Temporary Total Disability (TTD). A total disability is temporary if as a result of the injury or sickness, the employee is unable to perform any gainful occupation for a continuous period not exceeding 120 days except where such injury or sickness still requires medical attendance beyond 120 days but not to exceed 240 days from onset of disability in which case benefit for temporary total disability shall be paid. (Rule VII, Sec. 2 (a) in relation to Rule X, Sec. 2 (a) Amended Rules on Employees’ Compensation)
2. Permanent Total Disability (PTD) means an incapacity to perform gainful work which is expected to be permanent. This status does not require a condition of complete helplessness, but means disablement of an employee to earn wages in the same kind of work, or work of a similar nature that he/she was trained for or accustomed to perform, or any kind of work which a person of his/her mentality and attainment could do.
The following disabilities shall also be deemed total and permanent:
a. Complete loss of sight of both eyes;
b. Loss of two limbs at or above the ankle or wrist;
c. Permanent complete paralysis of two limbs;
d. Brain injury resulting in incurable imbecility or insanity; and
e. Such cases as determined by the System and approved by the ECC.
3. Permanent Partial Disability (PPD) benefit is given to a worker who loses a body part and, consequently, the loss of the use of that body part.
B. Medical benefits - reimbursement of the cost of medicine for the illness or injury, payment to providers of medical care, hospital care, surgical expenses and the costs of appliances and supplies. The medical services are limited to ward services during confinement;
C. Rehabilitation Services - provision of remedial treatment, vocational assessment and preparation which is designed to meet the individual needs of each handicapped employee to restore him to suitable employment and to help each person with work-related disability (PWRD) to develop his/her mental, vocational or social potential.
a. Medical-surgical management;
b. Hospitalization;
c. Necessary appliances and supplies;
d. Physical restoration;
e. Psychosocial counseling;
f. Psychiatric evaluation;
g. Skills training;
h. Entrepreneur training;
i. Hearing impairment evaluation;
j. Visual impairment evaluation; and
k. Job referral.
D. Carer’s allowance is provided to an employee who suffers from a permanent partial or permanent total disability as a result of a work-related contingency arising out of employment; and
E. Death benefits which include funeral and EC death pension granted to beneficiaries of an employee who died as a result of compensable sickness or injury.
A. PRIMARY BENEFICIARIES
The following beneficiaries are considered primary:
B. SECONDARY BENEFICIARIES
The following beneficiaries are considered secondary:
Primary beneficiaries shall have priority claim to death benefits over secondary beneficiaries. Whenever there are primary beneficiaries, no death benefit shall be paid to his/her secondary beneficiaries.
No, there is no need to consume sick leave or other similar benefits before EC temporary or permanent disability can be filed. Considering that compulsory coverage of the employees starts on the first day of employment, EC claim may be filed regardless of the presence or absence of the sick-leave credits.
SSS branch nearest to the place of work or residence of the covered employee.
EC monthly pension is equivalent to 115% of the SS monthly pension for the same sickness or injury that is work-related.
The SS MP shall be the highest of the following:
Multiply the SS MP to 1.15 (1.15 X SS MP)
A funeral grant equivalent to twenty thousand pesos (Php 20,000)* shall be paid to help defray the cost of funeral expenses upon the death of a worker.
*(the approval of the increase of EC Funeral Benefits from P20,000 to 30,000 for public (ECC Board Resolution No. 16-07-28) and for private sectors (ECC Board Resolution No. 16-05-18) is being awaited from the Office of the President of the Republic of the Philippines)
