Employee compensation or benefits are available to workers who fall ill or die of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) due to their work, in the face of the increasing number of workers affected by the disease.
This is after including COVID-19 in the list of occupational and work-related diseases.
This was done with the effect of a new resolution issued by the Employees Compensation Commission (ECC) that officially included COVID-19 as an occupational and work-related disease.
This covers those who fall ill or die with COVID-19, not only those in high-risk occupations such as health workers and contact tracers, but also jobs that involve interactions with other people.
This also includes incidents where the worker became infected with the disease in the office or even while on the way to or from here.
“Kung lumabas kayo sa gate niyo, papunta sa opisina at along the way nag-commute kayo, naglakad at na-infect ng COVID, compensable ‘yon; ganu’n din pag-uwi niyo,” said ECC Executive Director Stella Zipagan-Banawis.
Employees who acquire COVID-19 at work to receive benefits
Possible benefits include a sickness benefit of P480 per day; the medical benefit or reimbursement of 40 percent or up to 60 percent out-of-pocket expense, or patient bill after deducting the PhilHealth and health card payment; fixed funeral benefit of P30,000, and death benefit whose amount depends on the duration of the contribution.
Those covered can claim the benefit for up to three years.
“Kung halimbawa for COVID-19, 1 million (pesos) ‘yung kanyang bill, ‘di po ba ang maximum ng PhilHealth is P700,000 so sabihin na nating P700,000, so P300,000 na lang, kung ang HMO niya nagbayad din ng P100,000, P200,000 ‘yung kanyang out of pocket expense. ‘Yun ang babayaran under the EC program,” said Zipagan-Banawis.
The Social Security System (SSS) or Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) provides employee compensation benefit.
The document to be submitted must include the certificate of employment as proof of employment; company logbook as proof of illness, and medical findings such as RT-PCR test results and hospital records.
The death certificate must be submitted to get death and funeral benefits.
At present, work-from-home employees are not eligible for sickness benefit claims because the ECC is still studying them.
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