How to Apply for SSS Sickness Benefit

There is this additional discomfort other than the sickness or injury you are baring, its knowing that you won’t have any income since you are unable to work. The good news is, it is during these times that the SSS Sickness Benefit comes in. To provide you a financial assistance (daily allowance) when you are not capable of showing up to your workplace do your daily job.

As an employee, especially when your salary is just enough to cover up your daily expenses, it is of great demand that you need to work daily. That’s why, some who are absent for several days tend to look for a salary loan or borrow money from relatives when the paycheck falls short of budget.

However, if you are an active member of SSS, chances are, you can be covered with SSS sickness benefit. Do not assume that you can get this right away, there are qualifications that must be met as well as requirements to be submitted beforehand.

What is SSS Sickness Benefit?

A SSS Sickness Benefit is one of the advantages of being a member of Social Security System. It is a daily cash allowance given to the active members of SSS who are unable to work because of sickness or injury.

Who are qualified to avail the SSS Sickness Benefit?

These are the qualifications to be able to avail the SSS sickness benefit:

• Confined in hospital or home for at least 4 days due to sickness or injury.
• Used all the company’s allotted sick leave credits.
• Notified the employer about the sickness or the SSS directly.
• Paid at least 3 monthly contributions before the “semester” of sickness. (To be more familiar about this, you need to know How to Compute SSS Sickness Benefit)

How to Notify SSS about Sickness

So it is not as simple as getting the check or money right away after you have been healed from your sickness or injury. The first thing you have to do is to notify your employer about your sickness and inability to work if you are employed or the SSS directly if you are a voluntary or self-employed member.

These are the very important details you need to know about the required notification:

1. You must notify your employer within 5 days after the day of your confinement in home or hospital due to sickness or injury. If you are self-employed or voluntary member, you should notify SSS directly.
2. The employer then should notify SSS within 5 days after the day of receipt of notification requirements from the sick employee.

These are the notification requirements that should be submitted to SSS:

• SSS Sickness Notification Form
• SSS/UMID Card – in the absence of this ID, you may provide 1 primary ID or 2 secondary IDs.
• Medical Documents
• Other documents may also include:
  1. Work Related Claims:
     • Accident/Sickness Report from Employer
     • Police Report
     • Photocopy of Employer’s Logbook
  2. Prolonged Sickness or Confinement:
     • Laboratory, X-ray, ECG and other diagnostic results
     • Operating room/clinical records that will support diagnosis
  3. Additional documents if the sickness occurred during company strike or shutdown:
     • Certificate of Notice of Strike issued by DOLE
     • Certificate of Foreclosure
     • Certification from the DOLE that the employee or employer has a pending labor case
     • Certificate of Non-advancement of Payment from Employer

Note that failure to submit the notification requirements on the prescribed period of submission may result to the reduction or denial of SSS sickness benefit application.

SSS Sickness Benefit Requirements

• Approved Sickness Notification Form
• Duly-Accomplished SSS Benefit Application Form
• SSS/UMID Card or valid IDs
• Copy of page of Employer’s Logbook

How to Apply for SSS Sickness Benefit

For employees, the first thing you have to do a day after the you got sick is to notify your employer. Then by the time you are healed and ready to work again, the application for SSS sickness benefit shall be processed by your employer. But you don’t need to wait for it to be released, the SSS sickness benefit shall be advanced by your employer every payday. Your employer will just file a reimbursement to Social Security System for the released amount.

For voluntary and self-employed members, you need to bring your notification requirements to SSS the day after the confinement or ask someone to do it for you. Then you need to bring the sickness benefit requirements and submit it to SSS. Once your application got approved, the money shall be deposited to your savings/current/cash card/prepaid account in the SSS-accredited banks.

That was the general guide on how to apply for SSS sickness benefit for employed, self-employed and voluntary members. For more information regarding this, you may check out SSS Guidebook for Sickness Benefit. Let us know your thoughts in the comment section.