SSS starts accepting online submission of sickness notifications by employers

Employers can now submit online sickness notifications of their employees to the Social Security System through the SSS Website (www.sss.gov.ph). This web-based facility aims to prevent late filing of notification which reduces the amount of sickness benefit reimbursement claimed from the SSS.

SSS Officer-in-Charge of Medical Services Division Dr. Brenda P. Viola said the online facility is expected to help reduce the number of cases of late filing by employers, who are required to notify the SSS of their workers’ illnesses within five days from receipt of their employees’ sickness notification form.

“Thousands of sickness notifications are belatedly being filed by employers every year. With the online submission of sickness notifications, we expect employers to be more prompt with notifying SSS of their employees’ illnesses, as the process now offers them more convenience and flexibility,” Viola said.

Sickness benefits are daily cash allowances given to qualified SSS members with a minimum of four straight days of illness under the regular Social Security (SS) program. For employed members, sickness benefits are granted as long as the member’s company sick leaves in a given year have been fully consumed.

Both employers and employees must comply with the 10-day notification period. Employees should notify their respective employers by submitting the prescribed CLD 9N form within five days from start of their home confinement, and employers should then notify the SSS manually or electronically within five days from receipt of the notification form.

“If the employee has informed the employer of the sickness on time, but the employer was late in filing the sickness notification with the SSS, the said worker would be entitled to the full amount of sickness benefit from the employer. However, the employer’s reimbursable amount from the SSS would be reduced as penalty for the late notification,” Viola said.

The employer must be a registered user of the SSS Website before it can access the online facility for the electronic submission of sickness notifications. Submission of sickness notifications are done through the E-Services Menu of the SSS Website.

In submitting the online notification, employers should provide the member’s SS number, confinement start date, type of claim whether SS and EC, confinement location whether hospital or home, number of days of illness, and the physician’s license number.

“The employer must submit within 30 days after online submission of sickness notifications, the system-generated transmittal list, hard copy of the Sickness Notification for each employee, and the supporting documents submitted by the employees,” Viola said.

Apart from sickness notifications, the SSS also observes prescriptive periods for filing of sickness benefit reimbursement claims. The prescriptive period is one year from date of discharge for illnesses with hospital confinement.