As an employer, what are your obligations in terms of reporting and/or claiming for an Injury on Duty (IOD) while an employee is on duty outside the Republic of South Africa?
Chapter IV Section 23 of the Compensation for Occupational Injuries and Diseases Act refers to Accidents outside the Republic of South Africa.
In the event that an employee, who ordinarily works within South Africa, has an injury on duty while on business in another country, that employee shall be entitled to compensation and therefore the employer must treat the IOD as per normal.
The RMA Guide for Employers covers this matter quite well:
“Employees who are usually employed within South Africa but who are injured while temporarily employed outside of the country, are covered.
The employee will be covered if:
- The injured employee was temporarily employed outside the country
- The injured employee was not working beyond the borders of South Africa for a continuous period of 12 months or more
- The company’s business operates chiefly in South Africa; and
- The employee is ordinarily employed in South Africa.
The compensation amount will be based on the earnings they would have received had they remained in South Africa.
As the employer, you will need to cover all medical costs incurred while the employee was outside of the country. These costs will be reimbursed at South African COIDA tariffs once we accept liability for the claim and receive proof of payment of these medical costs.
We request that you keep a record of all medical documents relating to an employee’s treatment.
As the employer you are expected to inform us when your employees work abroad. This can be done by completing a Record of Employee/s Working in a Foreign Country form https://randmutual.co.za/Downloads, which should be accompanied by a copy of their contract of employment, detailing the working arrangement whilst working outside the country.
Please inform us if you have taken out any additional occupational injury insurance cover. If so, please let us know:
- The name of the insurer
- Policy schedule; and
- Cover period.
Talk to us should you require cover for employees working abroad for longer than 12 months.”
If an employee is employed to work primarily outside of South Africa, then he or she would not be entitled to compensation unless the employer has previously agreed this with the Director-General.
We have also recently been asked about injury / death cover for employees working in South Africa but for an employer with no legal business entity or COID / RMA registration in South Africa. These employees would not be covered under these circumstances and the foreign employer would be encouraged to register a local entity with the CIPC and then with COID / RMA. The alternative would be to outsource such services to a company registered for COID in South Africa with a valid Letter of Good Standing.
More questions? Chat to Dave for further clarity if needed.