CONVENTION No.56 Convention concerning Sickness Insurance for Sea-men

CONVENTION No.56 Convention concerning Sickness Insurance for Sea-men [Date of coming into force: 9 December 1949.] Whole document The General Conference of the International Labour Organization, Having been convened at Geneva by the Governing Body of the International Labour Office, and having met in its twenty-first Session on 6 October 1936, and Having decided upon the adoption of certain proposals with regard to sickness insurance for seamen, which is included in the second item on the agenda of the Session, and Having determined that these proposals shall take the form of an international Convention, adopts this twenty-fourth day of October of the year one thousand nine hundred and thirty-six the following Convention, which may be cited as the Sickness Insurance (Sea) Convention, 1936: Article 1 1. Every person employed as master or Member of the crew or otherwise in the service of the ship, on board any vessel, other than a ship of war, registered in a territory for which this Convention is in force and engaged in maritime navigation or sea-fishing, shall be insured under a compulsory sickness insurance scheme.

2. Provided that any Member of the International Labour Organization may in its national laws or regulations make such exceptions as it deems necessary in respect of (a) persons employed on board vessels of public authorities when such vessels are not engaged in trade; (b) persons whose wages or income exceed a prescribed amount; (c) persons who are not paid a money wage; (d) persons not resident in the territory of the Member; (e) persons below or above prescribed age-limits; (f) members of the employer's family; (g) pilots.

Article 2 1. An insured person who is rendered incapable of work and deprived of his wages by reason of sickness shall be entitled to a cash benefit for at least the first twenty-six weeks or one hundred and eighty days of incapacity from and including the first day for which benefit is payable.

2. The right to benefit may be made conditional upon the completion of a qualifying period and of a waiting period of a days to be counted from the beginning of the incapacity.

3. The cash benefit granted to the insured person shall never be fixed at a rate lower than that fixed by the general scheme of compulsory sickness insurance, where such a scheme exists but does not apply to seamen.

4. Cash benefit may be withheld (a) while the insured person is on board or abroad; (b) while the insured person is maintained by the insurance institution or from public funds. Provided that in such case it shall only partially be withheld when the insured person has family responsibilities; (c) while in respect of the same illness the insured person receives compensation from another source to which he is entitled by law, so however that in such case benefit shall only be wholly or partially withheld if and so far as such compensation is equal to or less than the amount of the benefit payable under the sickness insurance scheme.

5. Cash benefit may be reduced or refused in the case of sickness caused by the insured person's wilful misconduct.

Article 3 1. The insured person shall be entitled free of charge, as from the commencement of his illness and at least until the period prescribed for the grant of sickness benefit expires, to medical treatment by a fully qualified medical practitioner and to the supply of proper and sufficient medicines and appliances.

2. Provided that the insured person may be required to pay such part of the cost of medical benefit as may be prescribed by national laws or regulations.

3. Medical benefit may be withheld while the insured person is on board or abroad.

4. Whenever the circumstances so require, the insurance institution may provide for the treatment of the sick person in hospital and in such case shall grant him full maintenance together with the necessary medical attention and care.

Article 4 1. When the insured person is abroad and by reason of sickness has lost his right to wages, whether previously payable in whole or in part, the cash benefit to which he would have been entitled had he not been abroad shall be paid in whole or in part to his family until his return to the territory of the Member.

2. National laws or regulations may prescribe or authorise the provision of the following benefits: (a) when the insured person has family responsibilities, a cash benefit additional to that provided for in Article 2; (b) in case of the sickness of members of the insured person's family living in his home and dependent on him, aid in kind or in cash.

Article 5 1. National laws or regulations shall prescribe the conditions under which an insured woman, while in the territory of the Member, shall be entitled to maternity benefit.

2. National laws or regulations may prescribe the conditions under which the wife of an insured man, while in the territory of the Member, shall be entitled to maternity benefit Article 6 1. On the death of the insured person, a cash benefit of an amount prescribed by national laws or regulations shall be paid to the members of the family of the deceased or be applied for defraying the funeral expenses.

2. Where there is in force a pension scheme for the survivors of deceased seamen, the grant of the cash benefit provided for in the preceding paragraph shall not be compulsory.

Article 7 The right to insurance benefit shall continue even in respect of sickness occurring during a definite period after the termination of the last engagement, which period shall be fixed by national laws or regulations in such a way as to cover the normal interval between successive engagements.

Article 8 1. The insured persons and their employers shall share in providing the financial resources of the sickness insurance scheme.

2. National laws or regulations may provide for a financial contribution by the public authorities.

Article 9 1. Sickness insurance shall be administered by self-governing institutions, which shall be under the administrative and financial supervision of the public authorities and shall not be carried on with a view to profit.

2. Insured persons, and in the case of insurance institutions set up specially for seamen under laws or regulations the employers also, shall participate in the management of the institutions under such conditions as may be prescribed by national laws or regulations, which may also provide for the participation of other persons concerned.

3. Provided that the administration of sickness insurance may be undertaken directly by the State where and so long as its administration by self-governing institutions is rendered difficult or impossible by reason of national conditions.

Article 10 1. The insured person shall have a right of appeal in case of dispute concerning his right to benefit.

2. The procedure for dealing with disputes shall be rendered rapid and inexpensive for the insured person by means of special courts or any other method deemed appropriate under national laws or regulations.

Article 11 Nothing in this Convention shall affect any law, award, custom or agreement between shipowners and seamen which ensures more favourable conditions than those provided by this Convention.

Article 12 1. In respect of the territories referred to in article 35 of the Constitution of the International Labour Organization, each Member of the Organization which ratifies this Convention shall append to its ratification a declaration stating (a) the territories in respect of which it undertakes to apply the provisions of the Convention without modification; (b) the territories in respect of which it undertakes to apply the provisions of the Convention subject to modifications, together with details of the said modifications; (c) the territories in respect of which the Convention is inapplicable and in such cases the grounds on which it is inapplicable; (d) the territories in respect of which it reserves its decision.

2. The undertakings referred to in subparagraphs (a) and (b) of paragraph 1 of this Article shall be deemed to be an integral part of the ratification and shall have the force of ratification.

3. Any member may by a subsequent declaration cancel in whole or in part any reservations made in its original declaration in virtue of subparagraphs (b), (c) or (d) of paragraph 1 of this Article.

Article 13 The formal ratifications of this Convention shall be communicated to the Director-General of the International Labour Office for registrations.

Article 14 1. This Convention shall be binding only upon those Members of the International Labour Organization whose ratifications have been registered with the Director-General.

2. It shall come into force twelve months after the date on which the ratifications of two Members have been registered with the Director-General.

3. Thereafter, this Convention shall come into force for any Member twelve months after the date on which its ratification has been registered.

Article 15 As soon as the ratifications of two members of the International Labour Organization have been registered, the Director-General of the International Labour Office shall so notify all the Members of the International Labour Organization. He shall likewise notify them of the registration of ratifications which may be communicated subsequently by other Members of the Organization.

Article 16 1. A Member which has ratified this Convention may denounce it after the expiration of ten years from the date on which the Convention first comes into force, by an act communicated to the Director-General of the International Labour Office for registration. Such denunciation shall not take effect until one year after the date on which it is registered.

2. Each Member which has ratified this Convention and which does not, within the year following the expiration of the period of ten years mentioned in the preceding paragraph, exercise the right of denunciation provided for in this Article, will be bound for another period of ten years and, thereafter, may denounce this Convention at the expiration of each period of ten years under the terms provided for in this Article.

Article 17 At such times as it may consider necessary the Governing Body of the International Labour Office shall present to the General Conference a report on the working of this Convention and shall examine the desirability of placing on the agenda of the Conference the question of its revision in whole or in part.

Article 18 1. Should the Conference adopt a new Convention revising this Convention in whole or in part, then, unless the new Convention otherwise provides, (a) the ratification by a Member of the new revising Convention shall ipso jure involve the immediate denunciation of this Convention, notwithstanding the provisions of Article 16 above, if and when the new revising Convention shall have come into force; (b) as from the date when the new revising Convention comes into force, this Convention shall cease to the open to ratification by the Members.

2. This Convention shall in any case remain in force in its actual form and content for those Members which have ratified it but have not ratified the revising Convention.

Article 19 The French and English texts of this Convention shall both be authentic.

ssive engagements.

Article 8 1. The insured persons and their employers shall share in providing the financial resources of the sickness insurance scheme.

2. National laws or regulations may provide for a financial contribution by the public authorities.

Article 9 1. Sickness insurance shall be administered by self-governing institutions, which shall be under the administrative and financial supervision of the public authorities and shall not be carried on with a view to profit.

2. Insured persons, and in the case of insurance institutions set up specially for seamen under laws or regulations the employers also, shall participate in the management of the institutions under such conditions as may be prescribed by national laws or regulations, which may also provide for the participation of other persons concerned.

3. Provided that the administration of sickness insurance may be undertaken directly by the State where and so long as its administration by self-governing institutions is rendered difficult or impossible by reason of national conditions.

Article 10 1. The insured person shall have a right of appeal in case of dispute concerning his right to benefit.

2. The procedure for dealing with disputes shall be rendered rapid and inexpensive for the insured person by means of special courts or any other method deemed appropriate under national laws or regulations.

Article 11 Nothing in this Convention shall affect any law, award, custom or agreement between shipowners and seamen which ensures more favourable conditions than those provided by this Convention.

Article 12 1. In respect of the territories referred to in article 35 of the Constitution of the International Labour Organization, each Member of the Organization which ratifies this Convention shall append to its ratification a declaration stating (a) the territories in respect of which it undertakes to apply the provisions of the Convention without modification; (b) the territories in respect of which it undertakes to apply the provisions of the Convention subject to modifications, together with details of the said modifications; (c) the territories in respect of which the Convention is inapplicable and in such cases the grounds on which it is inapplicable; (d) the territories in respect of which it reserves its decision.

2. The undertakings referred to in subparagraphs (a) and (b) of paragraph 1 of this Article shall be deemed to be an integral part of the ratification and shall have the force of ratification.

3. Any member may by a subsequent declaration cancel in whole or in part any reservations made in its original declaration in virtue of subparagraphs (b), (c) or (d) of paragraph 1 of this Article.

Article 13 The formal ratifications of this Convention shall be communicated to the Director-General of the International Labour Office for registrations.

Article 14 1. This Convention shall be binding only upon those Members of the International Labour Organization whose ratifications have been registered with the Director-General.

2. It shall come into force twelve months after the date on which the ratifications of two Members have been registered with the Director-General.

3. Thereafter, this Convention shall come into force for any Member twelve months after the date on which its ratification has been registered.

Article 15 As soon as the ratifications of two members of the International Labour Organization have been registered, the Director-General of the International Labour Office shall so notify all the Members of the International Labour Organization. He shall likewise notify them of the registration of ratifications which may be communicated subsequently by other Members of the Organization.

Article 16 1. A Member which has ratified this Convention may denounce it after the expiration of ten years from the date on which the Convention first comes into force, by an act communicated to the Director-General of the International Labour Office for registration. Such denunciation shall not take effect until one year after the date on which it is registered.

2. Each Member which has ratified this Convention and which does not, within the year following the expiration of the period of ten years mentioned in the preceding paragraph, exercise the right of denunciation provided for in this Article, will be bound for another period of ten years and, thereafter, may denounce this Convention at the expiration of each period of ten years under the terms provided for in this Article.

Article 17 At such times as it may consider necessary the Governing Body of the International Labour Office shall present to the General Conference a report on the working of this Convention and shall examine the desirability of placing on the agenda of the Conference the question of its revision in whole or in part.

Article 18 1. Should the Conference adopt a new Convention revising this Convention in whole or in part, then, unless the new Convention otherwise provides, (a) the ratification by a Member of the new revising Convention shall ipso jure involve the immediate denunciation of this Convention, notwithstanding the provisions of Article 16 above, if and when the new revising Convention shall have come into force; (b) as from the date when the new revising Convention comes into force, this Convention shall cease to the open to ratification by the Members.

2. This Convention shall in any case remain in force in its actual form and content for those Members which have ratified it but have not ratified the revising Convention.

Article 19 The French and English texts of this Convention shall both be authentic.