WORKKMEN COMPENSATION ACT 1923 PM-I (TRI –II) PRESENTED BY: RICHA NAUTIYAL DIVYA VERGHESE VISHAL SINGH CHOUBEY RAHUL EKKA PARIMAL PRITEE AMANDEEP TANVI PRIYANKA

Introduction and Historical Background The Workmen Compensation act 1923 is a first piece of legislation towards social security. It deals with compensation for workers who are injured in the course of employment. The scheme of workmen compensation act is not to compensate the workers in due of wages. In June 1922 a committee was convent and after several considerations the committee was unanimously in favour of legislation and finally bill was introduced to the legislature.

AMENDMENT’S  WORKMEN=EMPLOYEE  AMENDMENTS OF SECTION 4  PROVISIONS WHICH SHALL BE INSERTED

Amendment's continued…. Amendment's continued….  SECTION 20 OF PRINCIPAL ACT Sub-section 1-”Appoint any person”  INSERTION OF NEW SECTION 25 A

OBJECTIVE OF THE ACT The Workmen’s Compensation Act, aims to provide workmen and/or their dependents some relief in case of accidents arising out of and in the course of employment and causing either death or disablement of workmen. It provides for payment by certain classes of employers to their workmen compensation for injury by accident.

Means any of the following relatives of a deceased workman, namely (i) a widow, a minor legitimate or adopted son, and unmarried legitimate or adopted daughter, or a widowed mother; and (ii) if wholly dependent on the earnings of the workman at the time of his death, a son or a daughter who has attained the age of 18 years and who is infirm; of the workman is alive. DEFINATIONS DEPENDENT

(iii) if wholly or in part dependent on the earnings of the workman at the time of his death, (a) a widower, (b) a parent other than a widowed mother, (c) a minor illegitimate son, an unmarried illegitimate daughter or a daughter legitimate or illegitimate or adopted if married and a minor or if widowed & minor, (d) a minor brother or an unmarried sister or a widowed sister if a minor, (e) a widowed daughter-in-law, (f) a minor child of a pre-deceased son, (g) a minor child of a pre-deceased daughter where no parent of the child is alive, (h) a paternal grandparent if no parent of the workman is alive.

WORKMEN Means any person who is – (i) a railway servant as defined in clause (34) of section 2 of the Railways Act, 1989 not permanently employed in any administrative, district or sub-divisional office of a railway and not employed in any such capacity as is specified in Schedule II, or (a) a master, seaman or other member of the crew of a ship, (b) a captain or other member of the crew of an aircraft, (c) a person recruited as driver, helper, mechanic, cleaner or in any other capacity in connection with a motor vehicle, (d) a person recruited for work abroad by a company, and who is employed outside India in any such capacity as is specified in Schedule II and the ship, aircraft or motor vehicle, or company, as the case may be, is registered in India, or (ii) employed in any such capacity as is specified in Schedule II

"PARTIAL DISABLEMENT" means  where the disablement is of a temporary nature, such disablement as reduces the earning capacity of a workman in any employment in which he was engaged at the time of the accident resulting in the disablement  where the disablement is of a permanent nature, such disablement as reduces his earning capacity in every employment which he was capable of undertaking at that time “TOTAL DISABLEMENT" means such disablement, whether of a temporary or permanent nature, as incapacitates a workman for all work which he was capable of performing at the time of the accident resulting in such disablement DISABLEMENT

Employer’s liability for compensation Section 3

Employer’s liability for compensation The employer of any establishment covered under this Act, is required to compensate an employee : Who has suffered an accident arising out of and in the course of his employment, resulting into (i) death, (ii) permanent total disablement, (iii) permanent partial disablement, or (iv) temporary disablement whether total or partial, or who has contracted an occupational disease.

Meaning of the expression- –“arising out of employment” The expression “arising out of employment” means that there must be casual relationship between the accident and the employment. If the accident has occurred on account of the risk which is an incident of employment, it has to be held that the accident has arisen out of the employment;

THE EMPLOYER SHALL NOT BE LIABLE In respect of any injury which does not result in the total or partial disablement of the workmen for a period exceeding three days; In respect of any injury not resulting in death, caused by an accident which is directly attributable to- the workmen having been at the time thereof under the influence or drugs, or the willful disobedience of the workman to an order expressly given, or to a rule expressly framed, for the purpose of securing the safety of workmen

Case Laws Connection between accident and employment The deceased employee while travelling by public transport to his place of work met with a fatal accident. Nothing has been brought on record that the employee was not obliged to travel in any particular manner under the terms of the employment nor he was travelling in the official transport. Held, no casual connection between accident and employment could be established. Hence, the claimant is not entitled to any compensation. Death during the course of employment If the deceased employee met with his death while he was going to his place of work and the death has arisen during the course of employment, then the employer is liable for compensation.

Entitlement to claim compensation Where death was accelerated on account of stress and strain of the working condition, it is not necessary that there should be a direct connection between the cause of death and the nature of duties. Even if a casual connection between the two can be shown then the dependants of the deceased would be entitled to claim compensation from the employer. Injury must be physical injury Injury sustained by a workman must be a physical injury on account of accident.

It is no doubt that in order to succeed in an application for getting compensation under section 3 of the Act the following points are required to be established:— (1) that the accident must arise out of and in the course of the workman’s employment; (2) there must be causal connection between the injury and the accident and the work done in the course of the employment; (3) the workman has to say that while doing a part of his duty or incidental to thereto it has resulted into an accident. It is necessary that the workman must be actually working at the time of the injury or the accident. Therefore, the three factors, that there must be injury, which must be caused in an accident, it must be caused in the course of and out of the employment must be established;

Section 4 Amount of Compensation Subject to the provisions of the act, the amount of compensation shall be as follows:  Where death results from the injury.  Where total permanent disablement results from the injury.  Where permanent partial disablement result from the injury.  Where temporary disablement whether totals or partial results from the injury.

The half-monthly payment referred to in clause (d) of sub-section (I) shall be payable on the sixteenth day — 3) On the ceasing of the disablement before the date on which any half-monthly payment falls due there shall be payable in respect of that half-month a sum proportionate to the duration of the disablement in that half-month. (4) If the injury of the workman results in his death, the employer shall, in addition to the compensation under sub-section (1), deposit with the Commissioner a sum of two thousand and five hundred rupees for payment of the same to the eldest surviving dependant of the workman towards the expenditure of the funeral of such workman or where the workman did not have a dependant or was not living with his dependant at the time of his death to the person who actually incurred such expenditure.

Continued………… Sec 4a Employer does not accept the liability for compensation to the extent claimed. Interest at rate of 12% Penalty Roles of the insurance company.

CASE WORK A workmen ‘x’ met an accident on 20/08/2005. An accident lead to permanent disablement, X took 2 years to recover. On 12/11/2007 he applied for compensation. Employer was ready to pay compensation but ‘X’ had wanted to have a interest also from 20/09/2005. Employer was not ready. So X filed a case. Continued……

METHODS OF CALCULATING WAGES DEALS WITH DETERMINING THE MONTHLY WAGES OF THE CONCERNED WORKMAN If the workman has worked continuously for a period of not less than 12 months, immediately preceding the accident, in the service of the employer who is liable to pay to him the compensation, monthly wages is calculated as- 1/12 th of the total wages of the immediately preceding 12 months from the date of the accident.

When the whole of the continuous period of the service of the workman was less than a month preceding the accident, the monthly wages of another employee for the 12 months immediately preceding the concerned workman’s accident, in the same work by the same employer will be taken into account. If there is no such employment, then, in that case the monthly wages of the workmen employed on similar work in the same locality will be calculated as above vide subsection 5-a. In any other cases, including the cases where it is not possible to calculate the monthly wages under the above clause, the monthly wage will be calculated as 30 times the total wages earned during the last continuous period of service immediately preceding the accident divided by the number of days comprising such period.

Explanation: the period of service for this purpose which has been interrupted by a period of absence from work exceeding 14 days shall not be considered for this purpose.

Distribution of Compensation : 8 (1) – Compensation to a deceased workman, or lump sum payment to a woman or a person under legal disability- should be made through the commissioner, otherwise shall not be deemed as payment of compensation. Section: 8(2) – Any other sum amounting to not less than Rs.10 to which the employee is entitled has to be deposited with the commissioner. Section: 8(3) – Receipt of commissioner- is sufficient to prove that the compensation has been deposited with the commissioner. Section: 8(4) – In case of compensation to a deceased workman- commissioner can call the dependants to decide the distribution of compensation. If no dependant exist then compensation amount is repaid to employer.

Section: 8(5) – The compensation is distributed among the dependants in such a proportion as the commissioner may think fit. Section: 8(6,7) – Where the compensation is payable to a woman or a person under legal disability, the commissioner may invest, apply the amount so that it benefits the person concerned. In other cases payment to the dependant is made forthrightly.

Section: 8(8,9) – Where an application is made to a commissioner regarding the variation of the circumstances of any dependant or of neglect of children on the part of parent, the commissioner can issue an order wherein the sum payable can be invested, applied or otherwise dealt as he thinks fit. No such order will be made without giving an opportunity of showing cause to the party involved. In the case where the compensation is obtained by fraud, impersonation or any other improper means the amount so paid may be recovered as per the provision of section-31.

Reference to Commissioners Section 19 : 19(1) If any question arises in any proceedings under this Act as to the liability of any person to pay compensation (including any question as to whether a person injured is or is not a workman) or as to the amount or duration of compensation (including any question as to the nature or extent of disablement), the question shall, in default of agreement, be settled by a Commissioner. 19(2) No Civil Court shall have jurisdiction to settle, decide or deal with any question which is by or under this Act required to be settled, decided or dealt with by a Commissioner or to enforce any liability incurred under this Act.

Appointment of commissioner Section 20: The State Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, appoint any person to be a Commissioner for Workmen's Compensation for such area as may be specified in the notification. Any Commissioner may, for the purpose of deciding any matter referred to him for decision under this Act, choose one or more persons possessing special knowledge of any matter relevant to the matter under inquiry to assist him in holding the inquiry.

Section 21 - Venue of proceedings and transfer. Section 22 - Form of application. Section 22A – Power of the Commissioner to require further deposit in case of fatal accident. Section 23 – Powers and procedure of Commissioners.

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