In most countries provision for occupational injury is the oldest form of social security. The original German law of 1884 provided for workers to receive half pay for four weeks followed by two-thirds pay during temporary disability. In cases of permanent disability two-thirds of earnings from the year preceding the accident were paid out, with a proportion of this pension paid in cases of partial incapacity. Extra provision could be made for persons needing constant attention. The scheme was wholly financed by the employer, who paid insurance contributions, assessed on the degree of risk involved in the employeeâs occupation, to statutorily established associations. The associations then paid out any benefits.
The British law of 1897 made employers liable for compensation but did not require employers to insure against the risk. Compensation was half the basic pay for up to six months, at which point the claim could be settled by a lump sum. These two very different precedents influenced developments in other countries. Continental European countries tended to follow the German model and the Commonwealth and the United States that of the United Kingdom. An act modeled on the British law of 1897 was passed in India in 1923, though the coverage was small. Moreover, the Belgians, Dutch, and French as well as the British preferred to introduce in their colonies laws imposing liability on employers rather than funded insurance schemes. By the end of World War II most colonies had such laws. These laws were often later augmented or replaced by insurance schemes. Some Scandinavian countries require the employer to insure but allow him to choose his own insurer.
Under an act of 1946 the United Kingdom introduced compulsory insurance through a state scheme with the same rate of premium for all employers. Benefits for incapacity were at a flat rate followed by a disablement pension based on degree of disability to which were added other allowances depending on the situation of the pensioner, including the loss of earnings and need for attendance.
Insurance is now compulsory in most industrialized countries, but the use of private insurance continues in a few countries (e.g., Denmark and Finland) and the majority of U.S. states, while some countries give the employer the right to choose between a public or private insurer. Work-related injuries and an increasing number of occupational diseases lead in nearly all countries to higher benefits and more generous provision than are paid for sickness or injury not arising from work. For example, some countries in western and eastern Europe provide 100 percent of previous earnings as a temporary disability benefit. These benefits normally continue until recovery or the award of a long-term benefit. In most countries loss of earning capacity is a major consideration in the assessment of long-term benefits, and partial disability is more generously treated than in other social insurance programs. The long-term benefits in some countries can also amount to 100 percent of earnings. But the procedure of seeking lump-sum settlements from the courts still remains in some countries and some states of the United States, with all the associated costs, delays, and uncertainties and the difficulty of turning a lump sum into a secure income.
There are three special features of most occupational injury schemes that reflect their historical origins in the employerâs liability. First, schemes are normally financed solely by employersâ contributions. Second, the right to benefits operates from the very first day of employment. Third, a cash benefit is seen as compensation rather than income maintenance. For this reason dependentsâ benefits are not normally provided, but there is provision for surviving dependents. In addition, a compensatory benefit may sometimes be paid in addition to earnings or pensions. These features are found only in provisions for sickness or disability that are of occupational origin.
Both employers and employees normally contribute when the scheme is based on social insurance. Some minimum period or amount of contribution is generally required before there is entitlement to benefit. The amount of the benefit may depend on how long contributions have been paid, as for pensions, which is disadvantageous for those disabled early in working life. The main benefit is intended for income maintenance and thus cannot be drawn at the same time as other benefits or pensions with the same purpose. Finally, there is more likely to be provision for a dependent spouse.
There has been a tendency in the period since World War II to bring occupational injury schemes into a closer relation to other social security schemes. Switzerland has always covered work-related and other accidents in the same scheme, established in 1911; New Zealand later adopted the same practice. The separate provisions for occupational injury and other disability raise difficult problems in specifying the distinction. Occupational injury normally has to âarise out of and in the course of employment.â Some schemes allow travel to and from work to be considered within the âcourse of employment,â while others do not. There are considerable difficulties in identifying whether certain disabilities (e.g., deafness or arthritis) arise from work, and there are instances in which an injury is only partially attributable to the work situation. Part of the justification for combining the provisions for occupational injury and other disability is to eliminate such ambiguities. In addition there is the social argument that it is wrong to pay different benefits to different people, all of whom have the same degree of disability no matter how or when the respective conditions were caused. The Netherlands is the only country that has responded to this argument. From 1976, unified provision for disability has been made irrespective of cause. Costs of such a program can be substantial if all disability coverage is raised to a level approaching that of the previous, often considerably higher, occupational injury coverage.
In the case of sickness that is not associated with any occupational factors, most industrial countries pay a short-term benefit followed by a long-term pension after periods varying from about six months or less to a year or more. Some countries, such as Austria, Belgium, Germany, and the United Kingdom, place responsibility for paying a benefit on the employer for the early weeks of sickness (though he may be reimbursed), after which the social security fund assumes payment. In some countries benefits may not be payable for an instance of illness lasting less than, for example, three days. In longer periods payment for the first three âwaitingâ days may be included in the benefit. Doctorsâ certificates may not be required for short spells of sickness. Benefits may be as high as 100 percent of earnings (e.g., Austria and Belgium) in the early weeks of sickness or subject to a maximum, as in Norway, or for the full 52 weeks, as in Luxembourg. Or the rate may be 90 percent, subject to a maximum (Sweden and Denmark). Other countries normally pay only 50 or 60 percent (e.g., France, Canada, and Greece). The benefit is flat-rate with extra for dependents in Ireland and the United Kingdom (after the eight weeks paid by the employer). The benefit is also paid on this basis in Australia and New Zealand, but it is means-tested. The United States is the exception among highly industrialized societies in that in most states there is no provision for short-term sickness apart from a special scheme for railway employees and social assistance, or welfare. In practice, provision is left for bargaining between employersâ and employeesâ representatives.
Long-term invalidity pensions were included in the original 1889 German pension law (which was the first piece of legislation of this kind) for those who had lost two-thirds of their earning capacity. Many countries followed this model as part of (or as a later development of) their pension laws. In European countries invalidity pensions became payable after full short-term sickness benefit rights had been received. After World War II provisions were made in some countries for those who had considerable partial invalidity. Some countries require persons to have been insured for five or more years in order to be eligible for an invalidity pension, though generally there are means-tested pensions in industrialized countries for those who do not meet these requirements. In Australia and New Zealand those who meet residence requirements are eligible for income-tested pensions.
In countries with earnings-related pension schemes the invalidity pension is often calculated in the same way as the old-age pension. This means that the level depends on the number of years of contribution, though some countries have special concessions to enhance the pensions of those drawing them early in working life. Invalidity pensions may be supplemented by allowances for dependents and for constant attendance and other special needs.
Some countries make special provision for housewives who lack the contribution records that would qualify them for an invalidity pension. One such country is the United Kingdom, though the benefit is low and flat-rate. In Denmark a housewife can receive a substantial income-tested pension in her own right. Another group for which some countries have begun to make special provision is those who have been disabled from birth or before entering the labour market. These groups are provided for in the unified scheme of the Netherlands.
Most countries, however, are far from the position in the Netherlands, where all disabled persons are treated on a similar basis irrespective of the cause of disability. Those whose disability arises out of the work situation are generally most favourably treated; some countries provide full compensation for loss of earnings plus special allowances when required. Those who have paid contributions are generally treated better than those who have not, and often benefits depend on how long contributions have been paid.
