Workmens Compensation Law Ghana Essay Example for Free

Workmens Compensation Law Ghana Essay Section 1-Application to employees employed by the Republic This Act applies to employees employed by the Republic as well as private persons, except in the case of persons in the Armed Forces. Section 2-Employers liability for compensation (1) Where an employee sustains personal injury by accident arising out of, and in the course of employment, the employer is liable, subject to this Act, to pay compensation in accordance with this Act. (2) An injured employee shall not suffer a diminution in earnings while the employee undergoes treatment for injuries sustained through an accident arising out of, and in the course employment. (3) Where an attending medical officer assesses an incapacity in respect of an injured employee, the employer shall pay the injured employee compensation commensurate with the incapacity so assessed. (4) Subject to sections 3 and 4, where the injury results in death or serious and permanent incapacity, the Court on consideration of the circumstances, may award the appropriate compensation under this Act. (5) The employer is not liable to pay compensation in respect of an injury to an employee resulting from an accident which is attributable to the employee ha ving been under the influence of drink or drugs at the time of the accident (6) For the purposes of this Act, an accident resulting in the death or serious and permanent incapacity of an employee arises out of and in the course of employment, (a) although the employee was at the time when the accident happened acting in contravention of a statutory or any other regulation applicable to the employment, or was acting without instructions from the employer; (b) if the act was done by the employee for the purposes of and in connection with the employers trade or business. (7) Compensation is not payable under this Act in respect of incapacity or a death resulting from a deliberate self-injury. (8) Compensation is not payable under this Act in respect of an inc apacity or a death resulting from personal injury, if the employee has at any time represented to the employer that the employee was not suffering or had not previously suffered from that or similar injury, knowing that the representation was false. Section 3-Compensation in fatal cases (1) Where death results from the injury, (a) if the employee leaves dependants, the amount of compensation shall be a sum of money equal to sixty months earnings: but where in respect of the same accident compensation has been paid under section 5, 6 or 7, there shall be deducted from the sum payable under this paragraph the sums so paid as compensation; (b) whether the employee had dependants or not, the employer shall pay the medical expenses; (c) if the employee did not leave dependants, the employer shall bear the expenses of the burial as required by custom; (d) if the employee left dependants, the employer shall bear the expenses of the burial to the sum of five million cedis or as stipulated in the relevant Collect ive Agreement, whichever is the higher. (2) Where an employee survives an injury, whether the employee has dependants or not, the employer shall pay the medical expenses in respect of the injury. Section 4-Employer to pay medical expenses In an injury under this Act, the employer shall pay the medical expenses in respect of the injury. Section 5-Compensation for permanent total incapacity Where permanent total incapacity results from the injury the amount of compensation shall be a sum of money equal to ninety-six months earnings. Section 6-Compensation for permanent partial incapacity (1) Where permanent partial incapacity results from the injury the amount of compensation shall be, (a) in the case of an injury specified in the Third Schedule, a percentage of the compensation which would have been payable in the case of permanent total incapacity specified in the Third Schedule as being the percentage of the loss of earning capacity caused by that injury; and (b) in the case of injury not specified in the Third Schedule, a percentage of the compensation which would have been payable in the case of permanent total incapacity and proportionate to the loss of earning capacity permanently caused by the injury. (2) Where more injuries than one are caused by the same accident, the amount of compensation payable under this section shall be aggregated, but shall not exceed the amount which would have been payable if permanent total incapacity had resulted from the injuries. Section 7-Compensation for temporary incapacity (1) Where a temporary incapacity, whether total or partial, results from the injury, the compensation shall be the periodical payments or a lump sum of money calculated accordingly, having regard to the probable duration, and probable chan ges in the degrees, of the incapacity. (2) The periodical payment shall be the difference between the monthly earnings the employee was earning at the time of the accident and the monthly earnings which the employee is earning or is capable of earning in any other suitable employment or business after the accident; but (a) the aggregate of the periodical payments or the lump sum of money payable under this subsection shall not exceed the lump sum of money which would be payable in respect of the same degree of incapacity under section 5 or section 6, if the incapacity were permanent; (b) a period of absence from duty certified necessary by a medical practitioner shall be regarded as a period of temporary total incapacity irrespective of the outcome of the injury and a period subsequent to the first period but preceding the final assessment of disability shall be regarded as a period of temporary incapacity; (c) the maximum duration of periodical payments under this section shall not exceed twenty-four months except where the chief labour officer directs the continuance of periodical payments during the continuance of a disability for a further period not exceeding six months; (d) a lump sum of money payable under section 5 or 6 shall not be disturbed by r eason of periodical payments having been made under this section in the event of permanent incapacity following or after temporary total incapacity or temporary partial incapacity. (3) In fixing the amount of the periodical payment the Court may consider a payment, an allowance or a benefit which the employee may receive from the employer during the incapacity. (4) On the ceasing of the incapacity before the date on which a periodical payment falls due, a sum of money proportionate to the duration of the incapacity in that period is payable in respect of that period. (5) Where an employee in receipt of periodical payments under this section intends to leave the neighbourhood in which the employee was employed, for the purpose of residing elsewhere, the employee shall give notice of that intention to the employer who may agree with the employee for the redemption of the periodical payments by a lump sum of money or for the continuance of such periodical payments. (6) Where the employer and the employee are unable to agree, either party may apply to the Court which may order a redemption and may determine the amount to be paid or may order the continuance of the periodical payments. (7) A lump sum of money so ordered to be paid together with the periodical payments already made to the employee shall not exceed the lump sum which would be payable in respect of the same degree of incapacity under the section 4 or 5, if the incapacity were permanent. (8) Where an employee in receipt of periodical payments unde r this section leaves the neighbourhood in which the employee was employed, for the purpose of residing elsewhere, (a) without giving notice as provided in subsection (5), or (b) having given the notice leaves the neighbourhood without having come to a n agreement with the employer for the redemption or continuance of the periodical payments, or (c) without having made an application to the Court under subsection (6), the employee is not entitled to the benefits under this Act during or in respect of the period of absence. (9) Where the employees absence from the neighbourhood exceeds six months without justifiable cause, the employee shall cease to be entitled to the benefits under this Act. Section 8-Compensation for desfiguring injuries (1) Where in an employment personal injury of the description specified in an entry in the first column of the First Schedule by accident arising out of and in the course of the employment, is caused to an employee, the employer shall pay as compensation an amount of money for the injury determined by a medical practitioner recognised by the Government, not exceeding the percentage of the compensation payable in the case of permanent total incapacity that is specified in the corresponding entry in the second column of that Schedule. (2) The compensation payable under subsection (1) is irrespective of whether or not a compensation is payable under any other provision of this Act; but a mutilation in respect of which compensation is provided under the Third Schedule shall not rank as disfigurement under the First Schedule. (3) Where more injuries than one are caused by the same accident, the amount of compensation payable under this section shall be aggregated, but shall not exceed the amount which would have been payable if permanent total incapacity has resulted from the injuries. Section 9-Method of calculating earnings (1) For the purposes of this Act, the monthly earnings of an employee shall be computed in the manner that is best calculated to give the rate per m onth at which the employee was being remunerated during the previous twelve months if the employee has been so long employed by the same employer, but, if not, then for a shorter period during which the employee has been in the employment of the same emplo yer. (2) Where by reason of the shortness of the time during which the employee has been in the employment of the employer, or the casual nature of the employment, or the terms of the employment, it is impracticable at the date of the accident to compute the rate of remuneration, consideration may be given to the average monthly amount which, during the twelve months previous to the accident, was being earned by a person of similar earning capacity in the same grade employed at the same work by the same em ployer, or, if there is a person who is not so employed, by a person of similar earning capacity in the same grade employed in the same class of employment and in the same district. (3) For the purposes of subsection (1), employment by the same employer m eans employment by the same employer in the grade in which the employee was employed at the time of the accident, uninterrupted by absence from work due to illness or any other unavoidable cause. (4) Where the employee had entered into concurrent contract s of service with two or more employers under which the employee worked at one time for one employer and at another time for another employer, the monthly earnings shall be computed as if the earnings under those contracts were earnings in the employment o f the employer for whom the employee was working at the time of the accident. (5) The earnings of the employee under the concurrent contract shall be disclosed to any other employee at the time of engagement with the latter and shall be taken into account only so far as the employee is incapacitated from performing the concurrent contract. (6) On the request of the employee to the employer liable to pay compensation, that employer shall furnish in writing a list of the earnings which have been earned by t hat employee on which the amount of the monthly earnings may be calculated for the purposes of this section. Section 10-Persons entitled to compensation (1) Compensation is payable to or for the benefit of the employee, or where death results from the injury, to or for the benefit of the employees dependant as provided by this Act. (2) Where a dependant dies before a claim in respect of death is made under this Act, or, if a claim has been made, before an order for the payment of compensation is made, the legal personal representative of the dependants do not have a right to payment of compensation, and the claim for compensation shall be dealt with as if that dependant had died before the employee. Section 11-Distribution of compensation (1) Compensation payable where the death of an employee resulted from an injury shall be paid to the Court, and the Court may order the sum of money so paid (a) to be apportioned among the dependants of the deceased employee or any of them in the proportion determined by the Court, or (b) in the discretion of the Court, to be allotted to any one dependant, and the sum of money so allotted to a dependant shall be paid to the dependant or be invested, applied or otherwise dealt with for the dependants benefit in the manner determined by the Court. (2) Where, on an application made in accordance with the Rules, it appears to the Court that, on account of the differences of the circumstances of the various dependants, or for any other sufficient course, an order made under subsection (1) ought to be varied, the Court may make an order for the variation of the former order appropriate in the circumstances of the case.