Unions want workers represented on insurance and compensation fund boards
Labour federation Cosatu is pushing for 50% worker representation on boards of insurance and compensation funds to ensure that claims of employees injured at work are not rejected.
This is in line with the drive by unions for increased worker representation on the board of the Public Investment Corporation (PIC), the government’s pensions asset manager. The amendment act regulating PIC governance was signed into law in February.
This amendment introduced changes to the board’s composition, requiring inclusion of trade union representation.
Parliament conducted public hearings this week on the Compensation for Occupational Injuries and Diseases Amendment Bill to change the law governing compensation of workers who are injured or contract diseases while on duty.
The proposed changes include extending the rights of compensation to domestic workers.
Under present legislation, the Compensation Fund can provide compensation to employees who are injured or contract diseases in the line of duty. It provides for a system of no-fault compensation for employees, meaning that an aggrieved party is entitled to compensation without having to prove any other party was at fault for an accident.
According to the rules, employers make a monthly contribution to the Compensation Fund. Workers do not pay anything to the fund, and employers are not allowed to deduct money from workers’ wages for the contributions.
Cosatu pointed out that the proposed changes in the legislation will allow for the issuing of licences to carry on the business of the insurance of employers against their medical liabilities. Cosatu said that while this could reduce pressure on the Compensation Fund — which has been criticised for inefficiency in paying out claims — the amendment could create new problems for workers.
Matthew Parks, Cosatu’s parliamentary co-ordinator, said that the prospect will now arise that a wide range of organisations, including insurance companies, will apply for licences to insure employers in particular sectors of the economy.
“The experience of many workers is that insurance companies reject claims wherever possible, often on technicalities. Such an approach is incompatible with the administration of workers’ compensation, which is a remedial scheme,” Parks said.
The bill states that a licensee shall be accountable to the minister of employment and labour but it does not say how the operation of a licensee will be supervised to ensure that workers receive compensation and claims are not inappropriately rejected, he said.
Parks suggested that licences should be issued only to organisations subject to the control of a board consisting of an equal number of representatives of employers and registered trade unions.
“This would be in line with the composition of pension fund boards, and [the] bill needs to include provisions to ensure the awarding of claims is monitored and there are transparent and fair procedures for objections and appeals against the decisions of licensees,” Parks said.
In its submission earlier this week, the Minerals Council SA, a body representing the mining industry, said that it was also concerned about a proposed amendment empowering the minister to issue licences to insurance companies that insure employers against their medical liabilities incurred at the workplace.