If an employee passes away from a work-related injury or disease, RMA will provide continued financial support to their dependants. Dependants are people who have been gaining financial support from the deceased employee.
These are the benefits that the beneficiaries will get:
Spouse’s lump sum payment
This is a once-off lump sum payment paid to the spouse. If there is more than one spouse and are married in terms of customary law, this payment will be shared between the spouses.
Spouse’s pension
This is a monthly benefit that is paid to the spouse at 40% of the pension the deceased was earning at the time of their death (bearing in mind that their pension was paid at 75% of their accident earnings). This pension will be paid out to the spouse for the rest of their life, regardless of whether they remarry.
Child pension
The child pension is a monthly benefit of 20% of the pension the employee was earning at death (bearing in mind that their pension was paid at 75% of their accident earnings). This benefit is payable to each of their minor children until the month in which they turn 18 years. If their child studies beyond 18 years old, they can apply to RMA for an extension.
Here’s an easy view of spouse and children pension
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Dependant
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% benefit of deceased’s pension
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Spouse/s
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40% of pension (or divided by number of spouses if more than one spouse)
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Child 1
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20% of pension
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Child 2
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20% of pension
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Child 3
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20% of pension
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If the employee had more than 3 children, the 60% of their 75% of accident earnings will be divided equally between them.
Funeral Benefit
Over and above the spouse and children benefits, the beneficiaries of the employee are also entitled to a funeral expense benefit payout of R18 251 to cover funeral expenses.
This benefit is paid out automatically to the spouse if they were married through Civil Marriage, Customary Marriage or Co-habitation with the deceased.
If the deceased was not married, the claiming beneficiary needs to provide RMA with all the funeral expense receipts. The amount that will be reimbursed is according to the proof of spending received, and it is paid up to the gazetted amount of R18 251. This amount is revised each year. The proof of spending will be collected by RMA during the document collection process.
Download our RMA Guide here for more information on how employees are covered under COIDA