The Department of Employment and Labour (DEL) actively runs nationwide awareness campaigns, stakeholder workshops, and open service days to educate citizens on the Compensation for Occupational Injuries and Diseases Act (COIDA).
The goal is to ensure employers register their workers and understand their duty to provide financial and medical relief in the event of workplace accidents or diseases.
The DEL’s ongoing public awareness drives and community training sessions focus on several critical areas:
Vulnerable Worker Inclusion: Campaigns specifically target previously excluded groups, such as domestic workers and farm workers, ensuring their employers know they are now legally mandated to provide COIDA coverage.
Employer Registration Obligations: Employers are informed that they must register with the Compensation Fund within 7 days of employing their first worker.
Return of Earnings (ROE): The department teaches employers how to accurately calculate and submit annual employee earnings to prevent non-compliance penalties.
Recent COIDA updates have been a major focus of these awareness initiatives. Key legislative changes employers and workers need to be aware of include:
Stricter Penalties: Employers failing to comply face hefty administrative penalties that can reach up to 10% of annual earnings or the full compensation amount owed.
Rehabilitation and Reintegration: New mandates require employers and the fund to assist injured workers in returning to work or recovering through formal rehabilitation programmes.
Compensation Adjustments: The definition of “earnings” has been fundamentally modernized, directly changing how compensation payouts are calculated.
BY LUCKY SEANEGO
