Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-04-24
Law HITS EVERY ONE
Employers Made Liable for Ill
ness of Servants.
RECENT ACT OF PARLIAMENT
Obedience to Demands of British Labor
Leaders.
FAR-REACHING CONSEQUENCES
London Companies Offer to Insure
Persons Against the Operations
Of the New Statute.
FAR-REAcH1NG CONSEQUENCES
BY WILLIAM E. CURTIS.

| BY WILLIAM e. CURTIS.
Written for The Star and the Chicago Record
| Herald
| by the kings most excellent majesty. by
| and with the advice and consent of the
lords spiritual and temporal, and the COM
| mons'-for that is the way all the laws Of
Great Britain begin-every employer in the
| united kingdom, whatever his business or
his station in life. will be required, after
July ], 1907, to pay indemnity for injuries
suffered by any employee from disease, acct
| dent or other calamity that may overtake
| him her in the course of their employ
| ment. This is the effect and purpose of
| new law, entitled IAN act to consolidate and
| amend the law with respect to compensa-
| ton of workmen, and it is the second in a
| series of extraordinary enactments by the
| British parliament in obedience to the de-
| mands of the labor leaders who seem to be
| having everything their way under the
present liberal government.
There has been for many years law OF
| limited scope requiring that manufacturers.
| mine owners and other large employers OF
men in hazardous labor, shall continue the
payment of wages to workmen who are III
| or injured while in their employ, but the
| new law extends that principle to all classes
| of wage earners, to every soul in the king
dom-man, woman or child-who receives
| salary wages less than $1.2OO year in
| any occupation or any form of employment.
| 1t includes curates and other clergymen,
college professors, school teachers, private
secretaries newspaper editors and report
ers. choir singers. chauffeurs, buffers,
coachmen, cooks, ladies maids, farm hands,
| sailors and even nurses, gOVerneSSes, laun-
dresses. sewing women, charWomen and
other casual workers. as the new law
describes them, who are employed by the
job or do the work in their own homes
for other people. For example, II a woman
takes home sewing or laundry work. or any
thing of that kind. the person for whom she
is working becomes responsible Tor any
accident that may occur or for any disease
she may acquire while she Is SO engaged
If a man should be injured or get sick While
putting in load Of coal OF while going on
an errand or repairing a roof or mendihs
a window, or cleaning a chimney. or doing
a job Of plumbing tinkering of any Kind
about a house, the owner of that house Will
be required to support him and pay his doc
tors bill until he gets well; and, ne
should die, to pay his dependent heirs
damages not to exceed the amount of S1,5Oo.
Everybody comes under the law who IS
working for wages in Great Britain and
Ireland, including all government employees
except soldiers and sailors in the navy, pro-
vided their pay is not greater than 81, 200
year.
EMPLOYERS Held Responsible.
The most extraordinary feature of the bill
is paragraph C of section l, which makes
EMPLOYERS responsible for the neglect and
carelessness of their servants, and the last
clause reads: IF 1t is proved that the in
Jury to a workman is attributable to the
serious and wilful misconduct OF that work
man. any compensation claimed IN respect
of that injury shall, unless the injury re-
sults In death or severe and permanent
disabement, be disallowed
In other words, If workman shall lose
his life or suffer permanent disaolemen5 oy
anv accident, his employer is compelled to
paw the lawful damages even Wnen that
accident Is due to the mans serious ana
wilful misconduct The fact that the IN
iIrv is due to his own carelessness ana neg
lect is not considered in any way Whatever
The amount that is to be paid in case
of death cannot exceed 81 800 under any
circumstances. but must De a sum equai
IN three wears wages If less than that
amount The Indemnity for total or par
tial "disab ement'' Is so per cent OF the
ordinary wages weekly sum not ex-
ceeding So If the workman is under t"en-
tvone wears of age and his weekly earn
ings are less than y shillings they must
be paid in full. Under this law II is clear
that if a person Is repairing ROOF OF d
furnace or a stove, is doing laundry work
or any other temporary job. or II the cham-
bermaid falls off a step!adder while clean
ing the windows and meets with perma-
nent injury the employer is compelled TO
continue pay to him or her wages up to
IS a week the remainder of their lives.
Who Can Collect.
law is amy person who has entered into or
works under a contract of service, perma-
nent or temporary or apprenticeship
with an employer, whether by way of man
nal labor clerical labor or otherwise, and
whether the contract is expressed Or I'M
piled Is oral or in writing: Or person
whose employment is of a casual nature, or
who is employed otherwise than Tor the
nurposes of the employers trade or bust
ness or a member OF a police force, or an
outworker, or a member OF the employer
family dwelling In his house, whose remu-
neration does not exceed ESQ year.
ANY such person can collect damages or
indemnity from his or her employer for
any accident or sickness that may occur
to him or her while he or she is under his
nav without regard to the cause Of the
accident or the nature of the disease or
whether it be the fault or the misfortune of
the person afflicted.
the limit for indemnity for injury or sick
ness is So a week, but nothing can be col
lected for the first week. If the incapac1ty
lasts no longer than one week there can
be no claim.
Notice of the accident must be given. and
presentation of the claim made before the
claimant has left the employment In which
it occurs.
The claimant must state in ordinary Ian
guase the character and cause Of injury;
notice by registered letter is sufficient.
Principal Held Responsible.
In case the injuries are received while
working under a contractor or subcon-
tractor the principal is responsible but
the principal can recover from the con-
tractor or the subcontractor or any person
who may be Immediately responsible for
the accident. If man should be Injured
or should be taken i'll while he is assisting
to build a house, the owner Of the house
and not the contractor is responsible. If
a sailor Is injured or becomes i'll on a ship
under charter, the owner Of the ship and
not the man who holds the charter is re-
sponsible, but the owner of the ship or
the owner of the house recover from
the contractor the man who holds the
charter of the ship in case he can prove
that they were responsible for the injury I
illness. In case disease develops from
causes that occurred to man before en-
tering his present employment, his previous
employer is liable up to a hint of twelve
months.
The act does not apply to cooperative So
c,eties nor to those engaged In pro1t-shar-
ing enterprises, nor to members of the
crews of ships who have interests in the
vessel or in the cargo or in the earnings of
the vessel In otner words, a man may pro-
feet himself against all claims for indem-
nifty by admitting his emplyes to a share