Japan accepted over 10,000 COVID-19 staff’ compensation circumstances since March 2020

This photo from July 12, 2021 shows people commuting to work in front of the Yaesu exit of Tokyo station. (Mainichi / Naoaki Hasegawa)

TOKYO – Workers’ Compensation Insurance disbursements for people infected with coronavirus and medically treated has exceeded 10,000 in Japan, with over 70% of payment claims being granted under the Department of Labor’s policy of flexible handling of self-undetectable cases.

According to the Department of Health, Labor and Social Affairs, the cumulative total claims for workers compensation related to COVID-19 were 16,493 on August 13. Payment was granted in 12,005 cases. The inquiries have risen steadily since the first coronavirus-related application in March 2020. Since January 2021, when infections increased, particularly in the Tokyo metropolitan area, the monthly totals have fluctuated between 1,000 and 2,000 and more.

The majority of the approved payments are intended for employees in the medical and nursing professions, of which 6,339 cases are for medical personnel and 2,820 cases are for employees in social security, social assistance and nursing services. If you take into account all employees in medical and nursing facilities, including the commercial staff, they make up over 80% of compensation cases. Another 322 cases were in the transport and postal sectors, 206 in the manufacturing sector and 182 in the wholesale and retail sectors.

Workers’ compensation insurance is a system whereby workers receive a payment to cover medical expenses or loss of earnings if they are injured, sick, disabled, or died in an accident while at work or on the way to or from work. If their condition does not improve and becomes permanent after treatment, they will receive disability benefits from the compensation insurance.

Employers are responsible for paying insurance premiums. In the 2020 financial year, a total of 3,607,947 cases of sick pay were approved and 689,469 cases of loss of earnings were granted during parental leave.

With the medical knowledge about COVID-19 not yet clear, the Ministry of Labor decided to approve workers’ compensation for COVID-19 cases as much as possible. For example, while only about 30% of cases of brain or heart disease are approved, over 70% of COVID-19 cases have been granted compensation.

However, the extraordinary measures taken to treat the new disease have messed up some aspects of the surgery. According to Osamu Amano, secretariat of the Tokyo Occupational Health and Safety Center, there have been prolonged cases of COVID-19 treatment with labor inspectors suspending payments for several months in the name of “review” while workers are diagnosed with various illnesses have been or are being treated in other medical departments.

Amano says labor inspectors should not suspend compensation payments without careful consideration and that the system “should be operated so that workers can relax”.

He also noted that certain sectors receive disproportionate payments, adding: “Workers and companies alike do not have a sufficient understanding of the insurance system and how it works varies from one labor inspection agency to another. It is crucial to actively raise awareness of the system.”

(Japanese original by Satoko Nakagawa, Lifestyle and Medical News Department)