ECC to improve compensation program

THE Employees’ Compensation Commission (ECC), an attached agency of the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), is planning to make some innovations to the employees’ compensation program (ECP).

The agency is working towards expanding the coverage of the program and increasing its benefits and services, according to ECC Executive Director Stella Zipagan-Banawis.

The ECP provides a compensation package to public and private employees or their dependents in the event of work-related sickness, injury or death. It covers government sector employees who are members of the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) and private sector workers who are compulsory members of the SSS.

She said they are eyeing to give EC coverage to voluntary and self-employed members of the Social Security System (SSS) under the phase one of the program coverage expansion.

"Eventually, we would also like the other informal sector to be included in the coverage but we are still studying the mechanisms on how it will be implemented," she added.

Aside from the coverage and benefits, Banawis said ECC is also making improvements in the system to fast-track the processing of EC claims in GSIS and SSS.

She said all the innovations that they are doing are part of the instructions of President Benigno S. Aquino III to improve the social protection of the citizenry, adding further that ECP is a social protection program that needs to be enhanced to serve the citizenry better. (PR)