Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2019, published 109th ILC session (2021)

Workmen's Compensation (Accidents) Convention, 1925 (No. 17) - Hungary (Ratification: 1928)

Other comments on C017

Observation

2019
2013

Direct Request

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Article 5 of the Convention. Conditions of eligibility – disability pension. In its previous comments, the Committee observed that some of the eligibility conditions for compensation in case of permanent incapacity laid down in Act No. LXXXIII of 1997 on mandatory healthcare benefits (Act No. LXXXIII of 1997) and Act No. CXCI of 2011 on benefits due to persons with reduced working capacities (Act No. CXCI of 2011) were not fully in line with the guiding principles contained in international standards on employment injury protection, including this Convention. Noting in particular the qualifying period of three years of insurance for entitlement to disability benefit set out in Act No. CXCI of 2011, the Committee asked the Government to indicate how it intended to give effect to the long established principle of international social security law, contained in this Convention, that benefits due in case of a work-related accident shall not be subjected to qualifying periods. In this respect, the Committee notes, as stated by the Government in its report, that injured workers who do not meet the conditions for eligibility to the disability pension are entitled to an accident allowance if they have a permanent health impairment of 13 per cent and over (section 57 of Act No. LXXXIII of 1997). The Committee further notes that the amount of accident allowance corresponds to 8, 10, 15 or 30 per cent of the monthly average income, depending on the degree of disablement of the injured worker (section 58(2) of Act No. LXXXIII of 1997), which is substantially lower than the amount of the disability pension, ranging from 40 to 70 per cent of the workers’ average monthly wage (section 12 of Act No. CXCI of 2011), depending on his/her degree of disability. The Committee recalls that the objective of the Convention is to ensure that workers who suffer personal injury due to an industrial accident receive compensation to make up for the resulting loss of earning capacity they incur, based on their former earnings and their degree of disability. For such purpose, the Workmen’s Compensation (Minimum Scale) Recommendation, 1925 (No. 22), Part I, calls for: (1) a periodical payment equivalent to two-thirds of the worker’s annual earnings to be paid in the case of permanent total incapacity; and (2) a proportion thereof to be paid in case of partial permanent incapacity, calculated in reference to the reduction of earning power caused by the injury. The Committee observes that, while the level of disability pension is in line with this provision, the level of accident allowance set out in Act No. LXXXIII of 1997 is far from the recommended levels, resulting in amounts of compensation that are significantly lower than the previous earnings of the injured worker, even in cases where the degree of incapacity is such as to prevent the worker from earning income on the labour market. The Committee considers that compensation for total or substantial permanent incapacity in an amount or at a level that is not sufficient to allow an injured worker and his/her family to enjoy standards of living comparable to those they would have enjoyed if the accident hadn’t occurred would not be in line with the objectives of the Convention. On this basis, the Committee requests the Government to take the necessary measures to ensure that injured workers who suffer a permanent incapacity, total or substantial, due to a work-related accident and who do not fulfil the three year qualifying period for entitlement to a disability pension are provided with compensation at a level that is sufficient to enable the injured worker to sustain him/herself and his/her family in conditions comparable to those they enjoyed prior to the accident, and in any event, comparable to that of the disability pension.

With respect to the condition that workers do not perform remunerated work, the Committee recalls that ILO standards do not preclude the victims of occupational accidents the possibility to use their remaining working capacity in order to complement their pensions with some earnings gained out of employment. Finally, with respect to the condition that prohibits the recipients of the employment injury benefit from receiving any other cash benefit, the Committee also recalls that the Convention permits the accumulation of employment injury benefits and other cash benefits. The Committee once again hopes that the Government will adjust the qualifying conditions for entitlement to disability benefit, where the disability is due to an employment injury, with a view to ensuring full compliance with the Convention and requests the Government to keep it informed of any measures taken to that effect.

The Committee has been informed that, based on the recommendations of the Standards Review Mechanism Tripartite Working Group (SRM tripartite working group), the Governing Body has decided that member States for which this Convention is in force should be encouraged to ratify the more recent Employment Injury Benefits Convention, 1964 [Schedule I amended in 1980] (No. 121), or the Social Security (Minimum Standards) Convention, 1952 (No. 102), accepting its Part VI (see GB.328/LILS/2/1). Conventions Nos 121 and 102 reflect the more modern approach to employment injury benefits. The Committee therefore encourages the Government to follow-up the Governing Body’s decision at its 328th Session (October–November 2016) approving the recommendations of the SRM tripartite working group and to consider ratifying Conventions Nos 121 or 102 (Part VI) as the most up-to-date instruments in this subject area.

The Committee is raising other matters in a request addressed directly to the Government.