Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2008, published 98th ILC session (2009)

Employment Injury Benefits Convention, 1964 [Schedule I amended in 1980] (No. 121) - Aruba

The Committee took note of the Government’s reports of 2003 and 2006 and asks it to supply additional information on the following points.

Article 8 of the Convention. The Committee notes that the Legislative Decree No. GT 6 of 1996 has not been amended to take account of the new diseases contained in the list of occupational diseases of the Convention, as amended in 1980, which has been accepted by Aruba. The Committee trusts that the Government would not fail to complete the national list of occupational diseases accordingly in the near future.

Article 10(1). The Committee notes that there are no laws in force which provide for medical care in the form of domiciliary visiting, but that such visits will be explicitly defined in the new contract between the Government and the general practitioners under the AZV. Please supply the text of the contract and indicate the relevant provisions.

Article 16. The Committee notes that in Aruba there are no provisions for increments in periodical payments or other supplementary or special benefits for injured persons requiring the constant help or attendance of another person. The Committee invites the Government to consider the possibility of introducing such provisions, subject to appropriate actuarial studies.

Article 17. The Committee notes that the policy of the Social Insurance Bank is that the insured person undergoes an assessment after one year to determine the degree of loss of earning capacity. Please indicate whether subsequent assessments may be requested and carried out in case there is a substantial change in the degree of loss of earning capacity of the person concerned.

Article 21. The Committee notes that there has been no indexing of cash benefits in relation to the cost of living. The Committee hopes that the Government will be able to conduct appropriate actuarial studies to determine the measures necessary to introduce the regular adjustment of the rates of employment injury cash benefits following substantial changes in the general level of earning and in the cost of living.

Article 22(1)(e). The Committee would be grateful if the Government would issue, in line with this provision of the Convention, appropriate instructions to the authority applying sanctions in case of serious negligence of the beneficiary under section 7, subsection 1(a), of the 1966 Disability Insurance Act No. GT 26, to authorise suspension of benefits only where the occupational accident or illness has been caused by such serious negligence, which may be qualified as wilful.

Article 26. The Committee notes that the Social Insurance Bank works closely with the worker and his employer to advance the reintegration, but that there are no laws providing for structural cooperation of the different Government departments and services concerned with the process of rehabilitation and reintegration of the disabled persons into suitable employment. All reintegration attempts thus far have been performed voluntarily and on individual departmental initiatives. The Committee invites the Government to consider the possibility of taking measures to institutionalise such cooperation with a view to providing better rehabilitation and placement services for the victims of employment injuries.