Changes In Social Security Legislation Require Companies To Adapt

Law no. 11,430, in effect as of December 26, 2006, added new provisions to Law no. 8,213/91. One of the more significant changes made by Law 11,430/2006 is found in article 21-A, which provides that an occupational disease related to business activities can be treated as a work-related accident. As a result, the causal nexus (or NTEP - Nexo Técnico Epidemiológico Previdenciário - to use the terminology of the social security regulations) between an occupational disease and the employer's activities can now be established by reference to schedules II and V of Decree 3048/99, which link diseases to work activities. In other words, the relationship of cause and effect in occupational diseases is now presumed.

This change in the law will certainly improve the efficiency of the National Social Security Institute's physicians, and consequently reduce the amount of time beneficiaries must wait before receiving benefits. On the other hand, the change may also result in a substantial increase in the number of occupational sickness and accident benefits.

At the same time, article 21-A does allow employers to request that the NTEP schedules not apply to determine whether the employee is entitled to social security benefits. In this case, the employer must submit to the National Social Security Institute data and information to support the conclusion that the disease and the employer's activities are unrelated. In effect, therefore, the legislator has transferred to employers the burden of proving the absence of cause and effect between the employee's work activities and the disease.

The possibility of contributing to the medical assessment of applicants for social security benefits may represent a reduction in benefits, which have long been granted without...