COID Registration

COID (Compensation for Occupational Injuries and Diseases).

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.

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.

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 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 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.

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.