Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2011, published 101st ILC session (2012)

Employment Injury Benefits Convention, 1964 [Schedule I amended in 1980] (No. 121) - Chile (Ratification: 1999)

Article 3 of the Convention. Coverage of seafarers and civil servants. The Government indicates in its report of 2008 that the categories of workers envisaged by this provision of the Convention, i.e. the seafarers and civil servants, are protected by special schemes which provide benefits equivalent to those provided to other workers. The Committee also notes that Act No. 19.345 of 1994 extended to certain categories of civil servants the application of Act No. 16.744 of 1968 on employment injuries. The Government is invited to specify which protection schemes apply to seafarers and to the categories of civil servants to whom Act No. 16.744 has not been extended so far and to provide the corresponding legal texts.

Article 14(3). Level of periodical payments in case of permanent partial invalidity. Section 38 of Act No. 16.744 provides that in case of permanent partial invalidity, where the assessed degree of disability is between 40 and 69 per cent, the monthly pension represents 35 per cent of the base salary as opposed to 70 per cent in case of total disability (article 39). The Committee recalls that, according to this provision of the Convention, the amount of the partial disability pension shall represent a suitable proportion of the total disability pension. It invites the Government to explain how the national legislation gives effect to this provision considering that a person with assessed 69 per cent of disability is granted half of the pension of a person with 70 per cent disability.

Article 14(4). Permanent partial loss of earning capacity which is not substantial. In accordance with section 35 of Act No. 16.744, in case of loss of earning capacity of 15 to 39 per cent, the victim of employment injury receives a global compensation in the form of a lump sum which may not exceed 15 months of base salary. The Committee invites the Government to explain what types of injuries are deemed to cause 15 to 39 per cent loss of earning capacity, bearing in mind that, in accordance with Article 14(4) of the Convention, lump sum payments are, in principle, only authorized for cases of permanent partial loss of earning capacity which is not substantial.

Article 24. Participation of representatives of the insured persons in the management of employment injury insurance. In accordance with section 8 of Act No. 16.744, the administration of employment injury insurance is the responsibility of the Social Insurance Office, the National Health Service, the pension funds and the mutual employer funds. The Committee requests the Government to specify the mechanisms prescribed by national legislation ensuring that the representatives of the insured persons are consulted or participate in the management of the different employment injury insurance institutions.

Follow-up of the 2007 observation. The Committee notes that the information provided by the Government in its last report does not reply to its previous observation of 2007, in which it asked the Government to provide additional information on the measures taken to address the issues raised in 2006 by the Autonomous Confederation of Workers of Chile (CAT), the Latin American Central of Workers (CLAT) and the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC). The Committee requests that the Government provide this information with its next regular report to be submitted in 2012.