While performing work, employees may suffer an occupational injury or contract an occupational disease. In such cases, they are entitled not only to compensation for pain and suffering, but also to compensation for impaired social functioning.
What Is Compensation for Impaired Social Functioning?
This type of compensation is awarded in cases where the employee has sustained permanent damage to their health as a result of a work-related injury or occupational illness. These permanent consequences negatively impact the employee’s ability to participate in personal, professional, educational, or social life. Examples include permanent head trauma, being confined to bed or reliant on a wheelchair, or the permanent loss of certain physical or mental abilities.
Such consequences may prevent the employee from returning to their previous occupation, engaging in sports or leisure activities, starting a family, or living independently without external assistance.
Difference Between Compensation for Pain and Suffering and for Impaired Social Functioning
Pain and suffering compensation covers the direct physical or mental anguish resulting from an injury. It is typically assessed by a physician, who evaluates the injury and assigns it a points-based value. The employer must then pay the corresponding amount.
In contrast, compensation for impaired social functioning reflects the fact that certain injuries or occupational diseases result in lifelong limitations. These permanent consequences affect not only the employee’s ability to obtain new employment but also their everyday life. Therefore, the law entitles the employee to additional compensation for this long-term impact.
An employee may claim both types of compensation, provided the conditions for entitlement are met. The employer is legally obliged to pay both if the criteria are fulfilled.
When Is an Employee Entitled to Compensation?
A physician will generally assess and assign a points-based value to the impairment approximately one year after the injury or diagnosis of the occupational disease. This allows time for the condition to stabilize. If the physician concludes that the impairment is permanent and that no improvement can reasonably be expected, they will make a formal assessment.
In cases involving severe injuries (such as amputation or paralysis), the assessment may be conducted earlier. In more complex medical cases, the evaluation may take longer. From the moment the injury or disease occurs, the employee has three years to assert a claim for compensation for impaired social functioning.
The physician will assign a point value based on:
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the nature and extent of the impairment,
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prognosis for recovery,
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anatomical and functional limitations,
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and the impact on the employee’s ability to fulfill life, work, educational, and social needs.
If the employee’s condition deteriorates further, the physician may re-evaluate and issue a revised assessment, calculating the difference between the new and original point values.
Employee Rights
If an employee sustains an occupational injury or contracts an occupational disease with permanent consequences, they are entitled to compensation for impaired social functioning. The amount is determined by a physician in a formal medical report. This compensation may be adjusted over time in line with changes in the employee’s health condition.
