The insurance regime for workers who have accidents on the way to work is an issue of concern to many workers. According to current regulations, workers can simultaneously enjoy sickness and occupational accident benefits if they fully meet the conditions prescribed by law.
Answering questions related to occupational accident insurance regimes, Mr. Nguyen Quoc Thanh - Deputy Director of Ho Chi Minh City Social Insurance, said that according to the provisions of the Law on Social Insurance and the Law on Occupational Safety and Health, if a worker has an accident on the route from residence to workplace or from workplace to residence according to a reasonable route, they will be entitled to two regimes at the same time. Specifically, workers are entitled to sickness benefits according to point c, clause 1, Article 42 of the Law on Social Insurance and are also entitled to occupational accident benefits according to point c, clause 1, Article 45 of the Law on Occupational Safety and Health.
Mr. Nguyen Quoc Thanh said that these two regimes are not duplicated but are resolved in two different stages. During the time the employee takes leave for treatment, they will enjoy sickness benefits according to regulations. After the injury condition stabilizes, if the employee is assessed for the level of working capacity reduction, they will continue to be resolved for work accident benefits.
Ho Chi Minh City Social Insurance also said that for cases of accidents occurring on the way from residence to work or from work to residence, the important condition is that the accident must occur on the route and within a reasonable time.
For example, if the usual route to work is from home through Nguyen Thi Minh Khai street to Ton Duc Thang street, this is considered a reasonable route. However, if an accident occurs at a location outside that route, such as the Hang Xanh intersection area, it will not be identified as an accident on a reasonable route.
Similarly in terms of time, if a business finishes working hours at 5 pm but employees do not return home until 24 pm without a valid reason, it is also difficult to consider it a reasonable time.
Therefore, when an accident occurs, the enterprise is the first unit responsible for making a record and fully verifying the factors of time, location, and route to make a basis for determining whether this is a labor accident as prescribed or not.
In addition, Ms. Do Thi Thu Huong - Deputy Head of the Social Insurance Regime Department said that if a worker has a traffic accident while performing tasks assigned by the company, this case will be resolved for work accident benefits.
For dossiers to receive benefits, businesses should note that, in addition to the application form that businesses request to resolve benefits, there must be a confirmation that the unit assigned the worker to move on the route where the accident occurred, and at the same time a written confirmation from the police agency that a traffic accident occurred on the route at that time, along with medical examination results.
