What does COID stand for?
COID stands for Compensation for Occupational Injuries and Diseases (South Africa).
What is the purpose of COID?
Another word for COID is Workman's Compensation. Each company that has more than one employee should register their business for COID. COID is to provide compensation to cover employees who get injured on duty, disabled, or even death. In the case of death, COID will pay out a lump sum to the beneficiaries, which would be the employee's spouse, or children. COID also covers any diseases that the person might obtain from occupational injuries.
What is a CF registration number/ EE reference number for COID?
The registration number that you receive after applying for COID is also known as the CF number. The CF registration/ reference number starts with 990000 followed by 6 unique numbers.
What is the return of earnings for COID?
After you have received your COID registration number, you then need to lodge your return of earnings also known as ROE. ROE is a declaration on how much each employee earns, so they can work out how much needs to be paid annually by your company, in order to have your employees covered by COID.
What is letter of good standing for COID?
A letter of Good Standing is what you get for COID, after you have received your CF registration number and submitted your return of Earnings (ROE). The letter of Good Standing is a document issued by the Compensation Commissioner, which is an official document that shows that you meet the requirements of the Compensation Act. The letter of Good Standing allows you to claim from the Compensation Fund. When applying for tenders, most tenders want you to have a Letter of Good Standing for COID as one of their requirements. You cannot obtain a Letter of Good Standing if you don't apply for the CF registration number and submit your annual assessment first.
Do you have to apply for a Letter of Good Standing every year for COID?
Yes, the Letter of Good Standing is only valid for a year, and does expire each year. You have to apply for a letter of Good Standing annually, after submitting your return of earnings (ROE) which is also a yearly submission. A Letter of Good Standing for COID is to prove that you are up to date with your yearly ROE submissions, and that there are no outstanding payments on your yearly ROE submissions. You will not be able to apply for a new Letter of Good Standing for COID if your ROE yearly fees are not up to date.
When can you not apply for COID?
You cannot apply for COID if you do not have at least one employee who is not a Director or Shareholder of the company.
Your application to register for COID will also not be accepted if your Tax returns and Tax Clearance Certificate is not up to date.
How does COID / Workman's Compensation work?
It works basically the same as an Insurance which provides basic benefits namely:
- Medical care which will be paid for, by the employer to ensure that you get the care that you need to recover from an illness or injury caused by work.
- Loss of wages that will be paid out due to injury, during the time of recovery.
How do I claim from the compensation fund?
There are 3 steps to follow when you want to claim from the Compensation fund:
- The employee must report the injury to their direct line manager/ supervisor immediately. Workers must get the W.Cl.2 or W.Cl.1 form from their employer, and take it with them to the doctor. The form must be completed by the doctor and it must be handed back to the employer.
- Get all medical reports from the doctor.
- Keep in touch with your employee – The injured employee must let the employer know if they change their physical address, so that the employer knows where to get hold of them at all times, as the compensation will pay out the money and it will be sent directly to their employer's address. If the claim takes extremely long, the employee may contact the nearest Labour Department to enquire and to make sure that they employer has submitted the documents.
How long does it take to receive an offer of compensation?
They will make you an offer according to the medical reports and documentation that they have received from the doctor. If you accept the offer, your estimated waiting period for your COID pay-out should be within 14-28 days as from the date of settlement.
Can you lose your job while on COID/ Workers Compensation?
No, your contract of employment with your employer cannot be terminated due to you filing a COID claim for a work injury.
How do you calculate pain and suffering for COID claim?
In order to calculate pain and suffering, Insurance companies would multiply the amount of medical costs by a number between 1-5. The multiplier would be higher, the more serious the injury and how permanent the injury is.
What does COID/ workman's compensation cover?
COID covers both the employee and the employer, no matter whose fault it is. The employee cannot sue the employer as the COID/ workers compensation covers them both according to the Act, as the workers are covered for injuries.
How long can you be on COID/ workers compensation?
There is no length, nor limits when it comes to disability due to a work injury, however temporary benefits for injuries range from to 3-7 years. Depending on your age, some states can terminate weekly benefits if the employee reaches the age of 65.
Do you get paid while on COID/ workman's compensation?
You are entitled to get a weekly wage which is not a payment for wage loss, when you are injured and not working due to an injury on duty. If your average weekly wage is very high, you might be able to get the maximum benefit from COID.
How is COID/ workers compensation calculated?
COID is calculated on how dangerous the job is that you are doing, e.g. construction will be much higher than a general admin job. Upon the registration for COID, they will put you into a certain category which you will fall under, and a certain percentage will have to be paid yearly.
How are COID/ workers compensation wages calculated?
They take the total yearly wage of the injured employee, and divide it by the number of days they worked to get their daily wage, then they take the daily wage, multiply it by the average number of days per year which is 260 for an 5-day per week employee.
How long do you get to register an employee for COID?
You have to register an employee within 7 days after the day on which he employs his first employee. All employees' annual assessments must be paid, whether the employee is full time or part time employed.
Which employees are exempted from paying assessment fees for COID?
Sole owners or partners in a company (Directors), or farming operations, are not seen as employees, and there for their earnings are not included. Certain local authorities, national and provincial state departments, employees that are already insured by a company other than the compensation fund.
How much will the Annual Assessment fees be yearly for COID?
The amount is based on the employee's earnings and the risk associated with the type of work. Before 31 March yearly, all employers must submit a statement of earnings which was paid to all workers from 1 March to end February, which is Department of Labour's financial year end. If the employer's accident costs were higher than others in the same subclass, the yearly assessment fees may increase.
Do you have to register each company for COID, whether it's a branch of an existing company or a new company?
Yes, each company that has 1 or more employees must get registered for COID.
Each company would need to have its own registration number.
Who pays for COID/ workers compensation benefits?
The employers have to pay premiums. The Insurance company checks to see what benefits are owed as soon as a claim is lodged, and then the injured employee gets paid out the lump sum for COID.
What is included in COID/ workers compensation wages?
Bonuses, commissions, salaries, sick pay, holiday pay, overtime payments, cell phone allowances, the value of gifts, meals and lodging, e.g.
What is a COID Certificate?
All employees that have one or more employers are required to register for COID. You have to register each branch of a business for COID separately, so each company or branch will have its own unique registration number, unless you have arranged for the registration to be combined.
What is COIDA South Africa?
The COIDA Act is to provide compensation to employees that are injured, disabled, get diseases, or even die due to occupational injuries. This also protects the employer from being sued by the employer or family members of the employer.
How much does COID cost?
Doing the COID application directly with Department of Labour has no costs, however it is can be very time consuming.
How long does COID registration take?
Usually you can get your registration number for COID within 2-3 weeks if submitted manually to their office in Pretoria. If you submit the application manually to any of the satellite branches, then there are 3 people that physically come collect the documents end of month each month. Department of Labour has implemented a new system on the 1st April 2018, so if you do an online COID submission, you can get your COID number immediately, if their website does not give you any errors, as it currently does. The only way to get them to fix this problem is by submitting an email to the CF filing department with the company documents, id's of all Directors, and the Tax Clearance Certificate of the company. Currently they cannot give you a timeframe as to how long it will take to correct the error manually on their side. This is where the delay comes in, as the whole of South Africa has to follow this process if they get an online error while trying to get their COID registration number.
How long is a Letter of Good Standing for COID valid?
Each company or organization that requests the letter of Good Standing for COID has their own requirements as to how old the documents must be, for example, the banks might request that your Letter of Good Standing for COID must not be older than 30 days. So there is no expiration date on the certificate, however your annual assessment fees must be submitted each year. So each year you must renew your Letter of Good Standing for COID.
What is the Compensation Fund?
The Compensation Fund compensates your employees for occupational injuries, death, disablement, or diseases caused by the occupational injury. It does not matter if the injury was due to negligence, they still compensate the employee, and at the same time it protects the employer from being sued as well, no matter who's fault it was.
What form should be completed to register for COID?
The form to register for COID is called a W.As.2 which is the registration of an Employer with the Compensation Fund.
What form should be completed to submit the Return of Earnings (ROE) annually for COID?
The form to submit for the ROE for COID is called a WAS.8 form. This can be online on Department of Labour's website, after you have done the application for the COID number.
How do you apply for a Letter of Good Standing for COID?
After you have received your COID registration number, and you have submitted your annual assessment fees online on their website, Department of Labour will then send you an Invoice to make payment for the fees that need to be paid in order for your employees to be covered for COID. After you have paid the Invoice, you will then be able to go online and print your Letter Of Good Standing. You need to log into your online profile which you have created to submit your assessment fees. Follow the steps, click on link organisation, fill in your CF registration number, which is your COID registration number, click on get organisation, fill in the information, then click on link. After completing the information again, click on Home on the left hand side on top. It will take you to the online submissions home page, click on the dropdown, choose the company name, click on select organisation, accept the terms and conditions, and then click on Generate LOGS. You will then print your Letter of Good Standing certificate successfully.
Should the application for COID be done online?
In our experience with COID and dealing with Department of Labour, It is best to submit everything online, from the beginning of the application when you apply for the COID registration number and submitting your ROE submission, up until printing your Letter of Good standing for COID, otherwise you will have problems with obtaining your Letter of Good Standing for your COID application.
What are the benefits of having a letter of Good Standing for COID?
Most tenders require a Letter of Good Standing for COID; this is part of their requirements. If you do not have the Letter of Good Standing for COID, then they will not accept your tender application.
Having a Letter of Good Standing for COID will also allow your employees to claim for occupational injuries, death, or diseases caused by the injury, which will also protect you, as the employer, from lawsuits regarding any occupational injuries etc.
Who needs a Letter of Good Standing for COID?
A letter of Good Standing for COID is to prove that you are in good standing with COID, and that there are no outstanding yearly fees. If you do not register for COID and you do not pay your yearly fees, you will not be able to obtain a letter of Good Standing Certificate for COID.
Who do you contact if you have problems with your online submission for COID?
You can contact the CF Filing department on 086 099 5001, or email them on support@efiling.co.za if you have any problems with your online application.
How do you transfer a company from one Username onto another online?
If a company did the first part of the registration for you where they obtained your registration number for COID, and you now want to submit your annual assessment fees yourself online, you would need to send a request to support@cffiling.co.za to release the profile from username ….. onto username …..
Department of Labour is still currently working on a system where the clients can send a request to be released online, but for now, an email will be needed from you, and they will guide you from there.