About claiming for occupational injuries or disease from the Compensation Fund

If you get injured, contract a disease or die while working, you or your dependants can claim from the Compensation Fund.

The fund pays compensation to permanent and casual workers, trainees and apprentices who are injured or contract a disease in the course of their work and lose income as a result.

You can claim if you are:

• permanently employed
• a domestic worker in a boarding house
• an apprentice or trainee farm worker
• a worker paid by a labour agency.
  

You cannot claim if you are:

• a domestic worker employed at a private home
• a member of the South African National Defence Force
• a member of the South African Police Services 
• a worker who doesn't work under the control of an employer
• a worker who works outside South Africa for more than 12 months at a time
• found guilty of willful misconduct, unless you are seriously disabled or killed.
  

Note: If you, as an employee, die from work related disease or injury, your dependants can claim from the fund.

A claim will not be paid if:

• it is reported more than 12 months after the accident or death, or after the disease is diagnosed
• you are off work for three days or less
• the accident resulted from your own negligence or wrong doing (unless you are seriously disabled or die in the accident, then the Fund will still pay compensation)
• you unreasonably refuse or willfully neglect to have medical treatment.
  

What you should do

• You must report the injury or disease to your supervisor or employer.
• The employer must:
• report an injury or disease to the Compensation Commissioner within 7 days or receiving notice of an accident.
• complete form W.C1.2 or W.Cl.1 and you must take it to the doctor.
• The doctor must complete W.C1.4 form and you must give it to your employer 
• if the injury takes long to heal, the doctor must send a progress report (WCL 5) to the Commissioner every month until you recover
• when you go back to work, your employer must send a resumption report (WCL6) to the Commissioner stating how much you will be compensated
• when the doctor's report has been submitted with the accident report, the Compensation Commissioner will make a decision 
• you will receive a claim number (reference number) 
• if you disagree with the doctor’s report, you can appeal within three months by submitting form W929 to the Commissioner
• to claim from the Compensation Fund for the death of a family member, you must bring certified copies of:
• marriage certificate, if applicable
• children's birth certificates,  if applicable
• death certificate 
• declaration by the spouse, if applicable
• the employer's incident report 
• the employer's report of the accident or disease.
• Certified copy of your ID as a claimant.
  

Timeframe

After receiving all documentation, the Compensation Fund will take about a month to process your claim.

How much does it cost

This service is free.

Forms to complete

(Forms are provided in PDF format. To open PDF documents, you need to have Adobe Acrobat Reader 4 or higher installed on your computer.)

• Employers report of Occupational Disease, Form W.Cl.1 (E)
• Employers report of an Accident , Form W.Cl.2 
• Resumption Report ,Form W.Cl.6 
• Progress report, (WCL 5)
  

Who to contact