Section fourteen of the same act is further amended to read as follows: "SEC. 14. Sickness benefit.
Section 7
Sec. 7. Section fourteen of the same act is further amended to read as follows: "SEC. 14. Sickness benefit.— (a) under such rules and regulations as the Commission may prescribe, any covered employee under this Act who has paid at least twelve monthly contributions and who, on account of sickness or bodily injury is confined for more than five days in a hospital, or elsewhere with the Commission's approval shall, for each day of such confinement, or fraction thereof, be paid by his employer, or by the System if such person is unemployed or is a voluntary member, an allowance equivalent to seventy per cent of the average daily salary credit if he has at least one defendent, otherwise, forty per cent of the average daily salary credit, but in no case shall the total amount of such daily allowance, if any, be less than two pesos and fifty centavos nor exceed eight pesos nor paid for a period longer than one hundred twenty clays in one calendar year; nor shall any unused portion of the one hundred twenty days sickness benefits granted under this section be carried forward and added to the total period allowable in the subsequent year: Provided, That such allowance shall begin only after all current sick leaves of absence with full pay, if any, to the credit of the employee shall have been exhausted: Provided, further, That payment of such allowances shall be promptly made by the employer every regular pay day, or on the fifteenth and last day of each month in the case of direct payment by the System, for as long as such allowances are due and payable. "(b) One hundred per cent of the daily benefits provided in the preceding paragraph shall be reimbursed by the System to said employer upon receipt of satisfactory proof of such payment and legality thereof: Provided, however, That the claim for reimbursement shall be adjudicated by the System within a period of two months from receipt thereof: Provided, further, That should no payment be received by the employer within one month after the period prescribed herein for adjudication, the reimbursement shall thereafter earn simple interest of one per-cent per month until paid. "