C130 - Medical Care and Sickness Benefits Convention, 1969 (No. 130)

• Subject Matter: Social security,Sécurité sociale,Seguridad social
• Court: International Labour Organization

Preamble

The General Conference of the International Labour Organisation,

Having been convened at Geneva by the Governing Body of the International Labour Office, and having met in its Fifty-third Session on 4 June 1969, and

Having decided upon the adoption of certain proposals with regard to the revision of the Sickness Insurance (Industry) Convention, 1927, and the Sickness Insurance (Agriculture) Convention, 1927, which is the fifth item on the agenda of the session, and

Having determined that these proposals shall take the form of an international Convention,

adopts this twenty-fifth day of June of the year one thousand nine hundred and sixty-nine the following Convention, which may be cited as the Medical Care and Sickness Benefits Convention, 1969:

PART I. GENERAL PROVISIONS

Article 1

In this Convention--

• (a) the term legislation includes any social security rules as well as laws and regulations;
• (b) the term prescribed means determined by or in virtue of national legislation;
• (c) the term industrial undertaking includes all undertakings in the following branches of economic activity: mining and quarrying; manufacturing; construction; electricity, gas and water; and transport, storage and communication;
• (d) the term residence means ordinary residence in the territory of the Member and the term resident means a person ordinarily resident in the territory of the Member;
• (e) the term dependent refers to a state of dependency which is presumed to exist in prescribed cases;
• (f) the term wife means a wife who is dependent on her husband;
• (g) the term child covers--
  • (i) a child under school-leaving age or under 15 years of age whichever is the higher: Provided that a Member which has made a declaration under Article 2 may, while such declaration is in force, apply the Convention as if the term covered a child under school-leaving age or under 15 years of age; and
  • (ii) a child under a prescribed age higher than that specified in clause (i) of this subparagraph and who is an apprentice or student or has a chronic illness or infirmity disabling him for any gainful activity, under prescribed conditions: Provided that this requirement shall be deemed to be met where national legislation defines the term so as to cover any child under an age appreciably higher than that specified in clause (i) of this subparagraph;
• (h) the term standard beneficiary means a man with a wife and two children;
• (i) the term qualifying period means a period of contribution, or a period of employment, or a period of residence, or any combination thereof, as may be prescribed;
• (j) the term sickness means any morbid condition, whatever its cause;
• (k) the term medical care includes allied benefits.

Article 2

1. 1. A Member whose economy and medical facilities are insufficiently developed may avail itself, by a declaration accompanying its ratification, of the temporary exceptions provided for in Article 1 subparagraph (g), clause (i); Article 11; Article 14; Article 20; and Article 26, paragraph 2. Any such declaration shall state the reason for such exceptions.
2. 2. Each Member which has made a declaration under paragraph 1 of this Article shall include in its reports upon the application of this Convention submitted under article 22 of the Constitution of the International Labour Organisation a statement in respect of each exception of which it avails itself--
   • (a) that its reason for doing so subsists; or
   • (b) that it renounces its right to avail itself of the exception in question as from a stated date.
3. 3. Each Member which has made a declaration under paragraph 1 of this Article shall, as appropriate to the terms of such declaration and as circumstances permit--
   • (a) increase the number of persons protected;
   • (b) extend the range of medical care provided;
   • (c) extend the duration of sickness benefit.

Article 3

1. 1. Any Member whose legislation protects employees may, by a declaration accompanying its ratification, temporarily exclude from the application of this Convention the employees in the sector comprising agricultural occupations who, at the time of the ratification, are not yet protected by legislation which is in conformity with the standards of this Convention.
2. 2. Each Member which has made a declaration under paragraph 1 of this Article shall indicate in its reports upon the application of this Convention submitted under article 22 of the Constitution of the International Labour Organisation to what extent effect is given and what effect is proposed to be given to the provisions of the Convention in respect of the employees in the sector comprising agricultural occupations and any progress which may have been made with a view to the application of the Convention to such employees or, where there is no change to report, shall furnish all the appropriate explanations.
3. 3. Each Member which has made a declaration under paragraph 1 of this Article shall increase the number of employees protected in the sector comprising agricultural occupations to the extent and with the speed that the circumstances permit.

Article 4

1. 1. Any Member which ratifies this Convention may, by a declaration accompanying its ratification, exclude from the application of the Convention--
   • (a) seafarers, including sea fishermen,
   • (b) public servants,

where these categories are protected by special schemes which provide in the aggregate benefits at least equivalent to those required by this Convention.

1. 2. Where a declaration under paragraph 1 of this Article is in force, the Member may--
   • (a) exclude the persons belonging to the category or categories excluded from the application of the Convention from the number of persons taken into account when calculating the percentages specified in Article 5, subparagraph (c); Article 10 subparagraph (b); Article 11; Article 19, subparagraph (b); and Article 20;
   • (b) exclude the persons belonging to the category or categories excluded from the application of the Convention, as well as the wives and children of such persons, from the number of persons taken into account when calculating the percentage specified in Article 10, subparagraph (c).
2. 3. Any Member which has made a declaration under paragraph 1 of this Article may subsequently notify the Director-General of the International Labour Office that it accepts the obligations of this Convention in respect of a category or categories excluded at the time of its ratification.

Article 5

Any Member whose legislation protects employees may, as necessary, exclude from the application of this Convention--

• (a) persons whose employment is of a casual nature;
• (b) members of the employer's family living in his house, in respect of their work for him;
• (c) other categories of employees, which shall not exceed in number 10 per cent of all employees other than those excluded under subparagraphs (a) and (b) of this Article.

Article 6

For the purpose of compliance with this Convention, a Member may take account of protection effected by means of insurance which, although not made compulsory by its legislation at the time of ratification for the persons to be protected--

• (a) is supervised by the public authorities or administered, in accordance with prescribed standards, by joint operation of employers and workers;
• (b) covers a substantial proportion of the persons whose earnings do not exceed those of the skilled manual male employee defined in Article 22 paragraph 6; and
• (c) complies, in conjunction with other forms of protection, where appropriate, with the provisions of the Convention.

Article 7

The contingencies covered shall include--

• (a) need for medical care of a curative nature and, under prescribed conditions, need for medical care of a preventive nature;
• (b) incapacity for work resulting from sickness and involving suspension of earnings, as defined by national legislation.

PART II. MEDICAL CARE

Article 8

Each Member shall secure to the persons protected, subject to prescribed conditions, the provision of medical care of a curative or preventive nature in respect of the contingency referred to in subparagraph (a) of Article 7.

Article 9

The medical care referred to in Article 8 shall be afforded with a view to maintaining, restoring or improving the health of the person protected and his ability to work and to attend to his personal needs.

Article 10

The persons protected in respect of the contingency referred to in subparagraph (a) of Article 7 shall comprise--

• (a) all employees, including apprentices, and the wives and children of such employees; or
• (b) prescribed classes of the economically active population, constituting not less than 75 per cent of the whole economically active population, and the wives and children of persons in the said classes; or
• (c) prescribed classes of residents constituting not less than 75 per cent of all residents.

Article 11

Where a declaration made in virtue of Article 2 is in force, the persons protected in respect of the contingency referred...