Cap. 158] WORKMEN'S COMPENSATION - …

1 Cap. 158] WORKMEN'S COMPENSATIONCHAPTER 158 WORKMEN'S COMPENSATIONO rdinances AN ORDINANCE TO PROVIDE FOR THE PAYMENT OF COMPENSATION TO WORKMEN WHONos. 19 of 1934,3 of 1946,ActsNos. 31 of 1957,22 of 1959,4 of INJURED IN THE COURSE OF THEIR IPRELIMINARY1. This Ordinance may be cited as theWorkmen's COMPENSATION 2. (1) In this Ordinance, unless thecontext otherwise requires " adult " and " minor " mean respectivelya person who is not and a personwho is under the age of fifteenyears;" Commissioner" means any personappointed under section 26 to be orto act as a Commissioner or as aDeputy Commissioner forWorkmen's COMPENSATION , andincludes any person appointedunder section 27 to be or to act asan Assistant Commissioner forWorkmen's COMPENSATION ;" COMPENSATION " means COMPENSATION asprovided for in this Ordinance;" dependant " means any of the followingrelatives of a deceased workman,namely: (a) a wife, a minor legitimate son, anunmarried legitimatedaughter, or a widowedmother; and(b) if wholly or in part dependent onthe earnings of the workmanat the time of his death, ahusband, a parent other than[1 st August, 1935.

2 ]a widowed mother, a minorillegitimate son, an unmarriedillegitimate daughter, adaughter legitimate orillegitimate if married and aminor or if widowed, a minorbrother, an unmarried orwidowed sister, a widoweddaughter-in-law, a minor childof a deceased son, or, whereno parent of the workman isalive, a paternal grandparent;" employer " includes the Republic of SriLanka and any body of personswhether corporate or unincorporateand any managing agent of anemployer and the heirs, executorsor administrators of a deceasedemployer, and, when the services ofa workman are temporarily lent orlet on hire to another person by theperson with whom the workmanhas entered into a contract ofservice or apprenticeship, meanssuch other person while theworkman is working for him;" local authority" includes aMunicipality, an Urban Councilestablished under the UrbanCouncils Ordinance, a TownCouncil, and a Village Council;" managing agent" means any personappointed or acting as therepresentative of another person forthe purpose of carrying on suchother person's trade or business, butdoes not include an individualmanager subordinate to anemployer;VII/236 WORKMEN'S COMPENSATION [Cap.

3 158" partial disablement" means, where thedisablement is of a temporarynature, such disablement as reducesthe earning capacity of a workmanin any employment in which he wasengaged at the time of the accidentresulting in the disablement, and,where the disablement is of apermanent nature, such disablementas reduces his earning capacity inevery employment which he wascapable of undertaking at thattime:Provided that every injuryspecified in Schedule I shall bedeemed to result in permanentpartial disablement;" prescribed " means prescribed by thisOrdinance or by any regulationmade thereunder;" registered medical practitioner " means a'person registered as a medicalpractitioner under the MedicalOrdinance, or under any enactmentamending that Ordinance;" registered ship " means any sea-goingship or boat of any descriptionwhich is registered or required to beregistered in Sri Lanka as a SriLanka ship;" regulation " means a regulation madeunde this Ordinance;" seaman" means any person formingpart of the crew of any registeredship, but does not include themaster of any such ship.

4 " total disablement" means suchdisablement, whether of atemporary or permanent nature, asincapacitates a workman for allwork which he was capable ofperforming at the time of theaccident resulting in suchdisablement:Provided that permanent totaldisablement shall be deemed toresult from the permanent total lossof the sight of both eyes or fromany combination of injuriesspecified in Schedule I where theaggregate percentage of the loss ofearning capacity, as specified in thatSchedule against those injuries,amounts to one hundred percentum;" wages " includes the monetary value ofany privilege or benefit which iscapable of being estimated inmoney, other than a travellingallowance or the value of anytravelling concession or acontribution paid by the employerof a workman towards any pensionor provident fund or a sum paid toa workman to cover any specialexpenses entailed on him by thenature of his employment;" workman" means any person who isemployed on wages not exceedingfive hundred rupees per mensem in [ 2,4 of 1966.]

5 ]any such capacity as is for the timebeing specified in Schedule II,whether the remuneration iscalculated by time or by work doneor otherwise, and whether thecontract of employment or servicewas made before or after thecommencement of this Ordinance,and whether such contract isexpressed or implied, oral or inwriting; but does not include (a) a person whose employment is ofa casual nature and who isemployed otherwise than forthe purposes of the employer'strade or business;(b) a person working in the capacityof a member of* the ArmedForces of Sri Lanka, other [ 2,31 ofthan a person employed in a 1957-]civilian capacity in any ofthose forces;(c) a member of the police force ofSri Lanka.(2) A reference to a workman who hasbeen injured shall, where the workman isdead, include a reference to his dependantsor any of 158] WORKMEN'S COMPENSATIONE mployer'sliability to paycompensationfor injurysuffered by aworkman.

6 (3) The exercise and performance of thepowers and duties of any department of theGovernment or of any local authority shall,for the purposes of this Ordinance, unless acontrary intention appears, be deemed to bethe trade or business of that department orlocal IILIABILITY To PAY COMPENSATION3. If personal injury is caused to aworkman by accident arising out of and inthe course of his employment, his employershall be liable to pay COMPENSATION inaccordance with the provisions of thisOrdinance:Provided that the employer shall not beso liable (a) in respect of any injury which doesnot result in the total or partialdisablement of the workman for aperiod exceeding seven days ;(b) in respect of any injury, not resultingin death, caused by an accidentwhich is directly attributable to (i) the workman having been at thetime thereof under theinfluence of drink or drugs, or(ii) the wilful disobedience of theworkman to an orderexpressly given, or to a ruleexpressly framed, for thepurpose of securing the safetyof workmen, or(iii) the wilful removal or disregardby the workman of any safetyguard or other device whichhe knew to have beenprovided for the purpose ofsecuring the safety (1) If a workman-(a)

7 Contracts an occupational diseasedescribed in the first column of PartA of Schedule III whilst he isemployed in any process describedin the corresponding entry in thesecond column of that Part or,Employer'sliability to paycompensationfor certaindiseasescontracted by aworkman.[ 3, 31 of1957.]Circumstancesin whichcompensationis payable inrespect of anydisease.(b) contracts an occupational diseasedescribed in the first column of PartB of the aforesaid Schedule whilsthe is in the service of an employerin whose service he has beenemployed for a continuous periodof not less than six months in anyprocess described in thecorresponding entry in the secondcolumn of that Part,the contracting of the disease shall bedeemed to be an injury by accident within themeaning of section 3, and unless theemployer proves the contrary, the accidentshall be deemed to have arisen out of and inthe course of the employment.

8 (2) For the purposes of this section aperiod of service shall be deemed to becontinuous which has not included a periodof service under any other Save as provided by section 4, nocompensation shall be payable to aworkman in respect of any disease unlessthe disease is directly attributable to aspecific injury by accident arising out of andin the course of his IIIAMOUNT OF COMPENSATION6. (1) Subject to the provisions of this Amount ofOrdinance, the amount of COMPENSATION be as follows, namely : (A) Where death results from theinjury (i) in the case of an adult in receipt ofmonthly wages falling within limitsshown in the first column ofSchedule IV the amount shownagainst such limits in the secondcolumn thereof, and(ii) in the case of a minor two hundredrupees.(B) Where permanent total disablementresults from the injury (i) in the case of an adult in receipt ofmonthly wages falling within limitsshown in the first column ofVII/238 WORKMEN'S COMPENSATION [Cap.]

9 158 Schedule IV the amount shownagainst such limits in the thirdcolumn thereof, and(ii) in the case of a minor twelvehundred rupees.(C) Where permanent partial disablementresults from the injury (i) in the case of an injury specified inSchedule I, such percentage of thecompensation which would havebeen payable in the case ofpermanent total disablement as isspecified therein as being thepercentage of the loss of earningcapacity caused by that injury, and(ii) in the case of an injury not specifiedin Schedule I, such percentge of thecompensation payable in the case ofpermanent total disablement as isproportionate to the loss of earningcapacity permanently caused by theinjury:Provided that in a case where moreinjuries than one are caused by the sameaccident, the amount of compensationpayable under this head shall be aggregatedbut not so in any case as to exceed theamount which would have been payable ifpermanent total disablement had resultedfrom the injuries.

10 (D) Where temporary disablement,whether total or partial, results from theinjury, a half-monthly payment payable onthe sixteenth day after the expiry of awaiting period of seven days from the dateof the disablement, and thereafter half-monthly during the disablement or during aperiod of five years, whichever period isshorter (i) in the case of an adult in receipt ofmonthly wages falling within limitsshown in the first column ofSchedule IV of the sum shownagainst such limits in the fourthcolumn thereof, and(ii) in the case of a minor of one-half ofhis monthly wages, subject to amaximum of thirty rupees :Provided that (a) there shall be deducted from anylump sum or half-monthlypayments to which the workman isentitled the amount of any paymentor allowance which the workmanhas received from the employer byway of COMPENSATION during theperiod of disablement prior to thereceipt of such lump sum or of thefirst half-monthly payment, as thecase may be, and(b) no half-monthly payment shall in anycase exceed the amount, if any, bywhich half the amount of themonthly wages of the workmanbefore the accident exceeds half theamount of such wages which he isearning after the a case where for the whole or any partof the period of disablement referred to inparagraph (a)