Welfare laws of the Benacian Union

Union-State policies

The official policy of the Benacian Union is that every subject should be enrolled into a guild specific to their profession and it is the Guilds of Benacia which must accordingly provide for the health, social, and welfare needs of the subject. However even the Benacian Union, however grudgingly, concedes a measure of obligation and responsibility towards those of its subjects who are in its direct employ.

Similarly the three grand stakeholders of the Union-State, the military, the Honourable Company, and the Nationalist & Humanist Party, make their own direct provisions for those who serve in their cadres.

Healthcare

The Benacian Union prides itself on the cleanliness and good order of its Guild Hospitals.

Charitable hospitals for Subjects without Merit include facilities, such as operating theatres, previously unavailable to the unlawful poor when the continent was dominated by Shireroth.

Healthcare in the Benacian Union is defined by three acts brought to the Chamber of Guilds and Corporations in 1715 AN, these being the following:

1. 1715 Act Relating to Public Health in the Benacian Union‎‎;
2. 1715 Act for the Administration of Guild Hospitals‎‎;
3. 1715 Act for the Exclusion of Subjects Without Merit from Guild Hospitals‎.

The practical effect of these acts was to see healthcare divided into two broad categories: care for meritorious subjects and public employees, and care for subjects without merit. Meritorious subjects and public employees are entitled to healthcare services at Guild Hospitals, which are funded by membership fees and contributions from enrolled guild members and public employees, as well as by the Civil Executives of the realms. Subjects without merit, on the other hand, are excluded from receiving care at Guild Hospitals, except in cases of emergency. They may seek healthcare services from the United Ecclesiastical Corporation of Benacia or other charitable organisations, or may seek treatment at hospitals operated by the municipal corporations of their bailiwicks. The provision of healthcare for subjects without merit is funded by the charity of the United Ecclesiastical Corporation, as well as by a poor rate paid by the bailiwicks on a voluntary basis, and a punitive tax on subjects deemed to have indulged in unhealthy or unproductive lifestyles.

Nutrition

State policy in the Benacian Union, set by the High Presidium of the Benacian Union, mandated a policy national food security and the provision of adequate nutrition for all citizens on a prioritised basis determined by an individual recipients overall utility. In addition to foodstuffs available in the open market the UGB also maintains a comprehensive system of rationing supplemented with subsidised canteens for key workers.

The allocation of food rations came into effect from 01.IV.1673 with the rationing of essential foodstuffs and strategic materials introduced throughout the Unified Governorates. After 1.VIII.1706 AN the rationing policy was expanded and standardised across the entirety of the Union State. As noted, the rationing of foodstuffs was implemented in tiers broadly aligned to status and utility:

1. Basic Ration:– milk (4l), eggs (6x), meat (150g), butter (50g), margarine (50g), edible oil, tea, cheese (30g), sugar (100g), jam (50g). Available via weekly allocations to all subjects in amounts specified, subject to availability.
   1. Children's Supplementary Ration:– milk (1l), fruit, cod liver oil. Supplementary daily ration issued to children under the age of seven.
   2. Protected Persons Ration: Set at three-quarters of the level of the available Basic Ration. Allocated via weekly allocations, apportioned for issue daily by Protected Persons Camp administration. Meat and alcohol-free version of Field & Industrial Service Ration to be issued as a daily supplementary ration for those Protected Persons engaged in useful service at the direction of higher authority.
2. Government & Guild Service Ration:– bread (800g), eggs (1x), meat (230g), butter (50g), margarine (50g), edible oil, coffee, cheese (50g), sugar (225g), jam (60g). Supplementary weekly ration available to employees of the High Presidium of the Benacian Union, the Benacian Union Defence Force, and the civil executives, or else to workers employed by companies affiliated to guilds recognised by the Chamber of Guilds and Corporations.
3. Field & Industrial Service Ration:– bread (80g), water-biscuit (20g), processed meat (150g), coffee or tea, sugar, salt, rum. Supplementary daily ration issued to personnel engaged in intensive or arduous labours. Distributed directly to recipients in situ via appropriate means.
4. Higher Government & Guild Service Ration:– Breakfast - bacon and tomatoes, bread, jam, and cocoa. Lunch - wintergleam pudding, roast pork or lamb, potatoes, bread and jam. Tea - bread and jam. Supper - ox-tail soup, roast beef, whisky and soda, leeks, rice pudding, coffee. Supplementary daily ration available to Government, Guild, Political, and Corporate management cadres - regimental officers or above. Available via workplace catering facilities.

Fish, potatoes, and vegetables remained exempt from rationing whilst commercially viable stocks were available. Penalties for violations of laws regarding rationing normal resulted in the payment of fines, the serving of a writ of cudgelling upon the offender, or else, usually in instances of serious violations such as hoarding or black market profiteering, with a period of mandatory service in the Benacian Labour Reserve.

State pensions

• Set at 25% of final salary. Restricted to honourably discharged members of the Benacian Union Defence Force, employees of the Civil Executives, and partners in a fruitful union (a marriage resulting in 2 or more offspring). Paid for by a poll tax of 1% on all subjects in employment and a 4% special levy upon childless subjects over 30 years of age. Entitlement age set at 70 (mandatory retirement age).

Realm specific policies

Ransenar

The National Health Administration (NHA) was the publicly funded single-payer national healthcare system for the Kingdom of Ransenar at the time of its accession to the Benacian Union. It remains primarily funded through the government and overseen by the Minister of Health and Sanitation, who reports to the Commissioner for Logistics within the realm's reorganised Civil Executive.

The NHA provides healthcare to all Ransenari citizens and to all legal residents, with most services free at the point of use. Some services, such as emergency treatment and treatment of infectious diseases, are free for everyone, including visitors and tourists. The NHA also operates a network of hospitals, clinics, and medical research facilities that are responsible for almost all of the biomedical and public health research funded by the government of Ransenar.

Sovereign Confederation

For the purposes of state pensions, the Sovereign government qualifies any marriage resulting in offspring to be fruitful, and pays an additional 5% of final salary per child on top of Union benefits.