As we go into the extended working environment under level 3, the claims against the Compensation Commission for those who contract Covid-19 will be starting to flow in. The worry is that many businesses will be unable to pay the salaries of employees who are sick beyond the first two weeks. The legislation makes it clear that employers must pay for the first three months and claim back from the Compensation Fund. Many employers just don’t have the liquidity to do this.
The fund will take many months, if not years, to repay this money. It has been useless for more than two decades. A court judgment against the fund for non-payment of medical costs summed up its behaviour: “This persistence in raising defences which were adjudicated upon by previous courts in this division is a textbook example of an abuse of the court process and warrants a punitive costs order on a scale of attorney and own client against the defendants.”
In that particular case against the Compensation Fund, it had to pay an enormous amount, running into tens of millions of rand, and legal fees in excess of R9m. There are also still about 34 active cases running against the fund with a combined value of more than R200m.
The fund has failed SA, and we are looking at a drastic explosion when illness contracted at work can’t be paid for by the fund.
We now have some time to look for solutions before the virus spreads at the workplace. One of these could be that the fund looks to co-operate with one of the large insurance or medical aid companies in the private sector.
Michael Bagraim, MP, Via e-mail
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