COID stands for Compensation For Occupational Injuries and Disease. Through the COID Act (COIDA), a system was put in place by government to compensate employees for injuries or disease contracted in the course of performing their work or employment duties. Dependants of the employees can also get compensated if the employee dies as a result of the injurty or disease contracted at work.

COID or COIDA to simply put it is administered by the Compensation Fund. The Compensation Fund is a trust fund that is controlled by the Compensation Commissioner and employers contributes to the Compensation Fund. The Commissioner is appointed to administer the Fund and approve claims lodge by employees or their dependants. This means that the Fund will compensate the employee or their dependants and not the employer. An employer is required to register for  COID with the Compensation Fund within 7 days from the date from which it employs its first employee whether the employee is full time or part time. Upon Registration, the employer is required to pay an annual assessment fee. The Annual assessment fee is based on the employees’ earnings  and the risk associated with the industry under which the employer operates. The Employer is required to submit a Return of Earnings (ROE) during which it would declare the number of employees it has and their total earnings. After the ROE has been submitted, an assessment fee is generated and once the fee is paid, the employer is able to obtain a Letter of Good Standing.

The Employer is required to submit a Return of Earnings  every year (ROE) during which it would declare the number of employees it has and their total earnings. After the ROE has been submitted, an annual assessment fee is generated and once the fee is paid, the employer is able to obtain a Letter of Good Standing. It is impossible to generate a Letter of Good Standing if you owe an assessment fee.  So to put it in layman’s terms , A Letter of Good Standing is a Document that verifies that the Compensation Fund  cover an employer in the event of any work-related injuries or disease that the employees may suffer. The letter also shows an employer’s good faith to clients in a contract that they will not be liable to pay for medical expenses or life covers for the employees working in their premises in the event of an accident at work or illness. Finaly, the letter is proof that one has no pending debts with the Compensation Fund.

1. The Letter of good Standing Expires on April of Every year irrespective of when you obtained it. Say you obtained it in March of a particular year, it would expire in April of that year. A new ROE would need to be submitted in May of Every year
2. Employers that are registered for COID and have a valid Letter of Good Standing  are protected against civil claims by their employees for work related injuries, disease or death. The COIDA basically prevents employees covered by the act from suing their employers for damages in terms of common law.
3. Employees who are injured or contract a disease while on duty can claim compensation for temporary or permanent disablement. These claims will be awarded according to the degree of disablement or death by the Department of Labour. The employees would also be covered for reasonable medical expenses arising out of an injury or desease on duty. You can claim compensation for temporary disability for 1 year. This can be extended to 2 years, after which the Commissioner may decide that the condition is permanent and grant compensation on the basis of permanent disability.
4. Separate registration must be completed for each separate branch of a business, unless an arrangement for combined registration has been made in advance at the Compensation Commissioner.
5. Contractors and sub-contractors must register with the Compensation Fund and pay  their respective annual assessments;
   Failure to register for COID by a sub-contractor will make the main contractor to be responsible for any claims from the sub-contractor’s employees. The contractor may recover any such payments directly from the sub-contractor.
6. The amount of compensation that an employee would receive will largely depend on the employee’s income before the incident, the nature of the injury and in the case of death, Whether the deceased person was the breadwinner of the  family. If an employee stopped working before the diagnosis of a disease, the Commissioner will use the remuneration before the employee stopped working as a reference.

REGISTER FOR COID AND OBTAIN YOUR LETTER OF GOOD STANDING IN RECORD TIME. SIMPLY COMPLETE THE FORM BELOW AND A LABOUR PRACTITIONER WOULD ASSIST YOU SPEEDILY