A6.
In the unfortunate circumstance where a person dies as a result of work-related injury and/or sickness, the Rosai can financially assist the bereaved family members with Survivors’ Compensation izoku hosho kyuufu and a contribution towards funeral expenses.
The type of Survivors’ Compensation depends on whether members of the late worker’s family were financially dependent upon the deceased at the time of the death. The two types of Survivors’ Compensation are: pension and lump sum.
- Survivors’ (Compensation) Pension
A Survivors’ Compensation Pension izoku (hosho) nenkin is paid to the eligible family member(s) that were financially dependent on a worker whose death resulted from a work-related accident and/or illness. There are three components to the Survivors’ (Compensation) Pension: a) a basic pension izoku (hosho) nenkin, b) a special pension izoku tokubetsu nenkin if it applies, and c) a special one-off allowance izoku tokubetsu shikyuukin.The basic pension is calculated from the worker’s basic daily benefit. It ranges from 153 days to 245 days in total depending on the number of people eligible to receive the payment. The special pension is determined from the calculated daily bonus-type benefit. The total amount of the one-off special allowance izoku tokubetsu shikyuukin is 3,000,000 yen.
- Survivors’ (Compensation) Lump Sum Payment
A lump sum (compensation) payment is paid to the bereaved family if there are no family members who have a right to receive the Survivors’ (Compensation) Pension at the time of the worker’s death.The payment is a total of 1000 days’ worth of basic daily benefit (average wage) as izoku (hosho) ichijikin, 1000 days’ worth of calculated daily bonus-type payments as izoku tokubetsu ichijikin, and a one-off special allowance of 3,000,000 yen izoku tokubetsu shikyuukin.
The possible recipients of survivors’ compensation include the deceased worker’s spouse, child(ren), parent(s), grandchild(ren), grandparent(s) and sibling(s). These relatives are ranked in priority order to determine who can become a recipient. Only the person(s) with the highest rank will be eligible to receive survivors’ compensation. The highest priority applies to either a wife irrespective of age, or a husband aged 60 or more, or a husband with a disability. Except for the case of a wife, the eligibility and the priority order of other surviving family members is affected by their age and disability status. There are rules which allow survivor compensation eligibility to be reassessed if the current recipient(s) become ineligible.
The pension system can switch to a lump sum payment when the pension is being paid but there are no family members remaining who are entitled to the pension. The switch only occurs if the total amount that has been paid as a pension has not reached 1000 days’ worth of basic daily benefit (average wage).
For an explanation of the basic daily benefit (average wage), see Q&A 8
For an explanation of the calculated daily bonus-type benefit, see Q&A 9