The Employees’ Compensation Commission (ECC) has lifted the suspension of the 3-year prescriptive period of filing for Employees’ Compensation (EC) claims with the Social Security System (SSS) and Government Service Insurance System (GSIS)—ECC’s administering agencies in the private and public sectors, respectively.
Pursuant to ECC Board Resolution 24-01-02, the lifting of the suspension of the 3-year prescriptive period took effect on January 18, 2024.
Because of the above-mentioned resolution, the 3-year prescriptive period for all EC claims applications is now reinstated. This means that the running of the period for the filing of claims for compensation due to work-related contingencies such as sickness, injury, or death, has resumed.
Under Presidential Decree No. 626, as amended, the law that created the ECC, claimants are given three (3) years from the time the cause of action accrued to file their applications for EC claims with the SSS and GSIS.
The law further explains that in case of sickness, the counting of three (3) years shall start from the last date of confinement, whether singular or multiple confinements. In case of accident and death, counting starts from the date of the accident or death.
While the law provides for a period within which applications for EC claims shall be filed, the “deemed filed” rule becomes applicable when a claimant has filed for a sickness/disability or death benefit under the SSS Law and GSIS Law. In this case, the prescriptive period for the filing of claims for sickness, disability or death benefits is deemed tolled.
During the pandemic, it may be recalled that the ECC interrupted the prescriptive period pursuant to Presidential Proclamation No. 922, which declared a state of public health emergency throughout the country. And, on July 21, 2023, pursuant to Proclamation No. 297, President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. has formally lifted the said State of Public Health Emergency due to COVID-19.
ECC is an attached agency of the Department of Labor and Employment that provides benefits to workers in the event of work-related sickness or injury which resulted in disability or death.
C. Katigbak – CO