Norwich bulletin., 1913-12-13
EMPLOYERS

tTlGL, IS JuSL III receipt OI dQNdIcG
 sheets of Bulletin No }, issued by the
 state commission. which deals particu-
 larly with the ceFtifcatIon Of financial 1 ability of employers.
 On this important point this bulletin | is prepared for the assistance and in 1 formation of employers who have un- l der consideration the question of car 1 rying their own risk instead of pro- 1 tecting themselves and indirectly their l employees by one of the forms of in
 surance provided for in the act.
 l The interpretation of the act given 1 by the commissioners represents only
 the tentative opinions of the board 1 and are subject to modification
 Insuring Payment of Compensation.
 The following are extracts from 1 Bulletin No. 3:
 The obvious intent of the cornpensa-
 ton act, chapter 13S. of the acts of 1 1913, is to do justice to both employer 1 and employe. For an employers ia-
 biity, uncertain in it's extent, and 1 which may or may not exist according l to the circumstances of the case, there l is substituted a fixed obligation to pay l 8 certain series of moderate sums in periodical installments. A law suit,
 which may go from court to court and 1 last for years, is replaced by a simple procedure calculated to determine the l issues with the minimum of expense to i both parties.
 The manner of securing the empfoye
 in any award that may be given to him l is radically changed. At common law l the eInploye has no way of securing 1 himself in the payment of possible fu- 1 ture damages until the injury happens.
 He has Sthen, in this state, and gen. 1 erally exercises, the right of immedi- | ate attachment, which secures him by i tying up the prol%rty of his employer l at the time that he begins his common l law action against him. The result of 1 this is that the employer may be ham 1 pered in carrying on his business, and l is obliged either to submit to a con- 1 tinuing lien, or release the attachment ] by a bond.
 1 Under the compensation act this right 1 of immediate attachment is taken
 away, and any law which did not give l the employe some substitute for the | security of which he is thus deprived would work an obvious injustice. 1 It is to be noted in this connection l that a refusal on the part of the com
 missioner to pass an employer as Of l sufficient so1vency and financial ability under section 30 of part B of the act, 1 is not to be taken as a. reflection upon ! the business standing of the employer. | If he had applied for mercantile credit 1 the question would have been, can he meet obligations maturing in 30, 50 or 1 go days? The obligation to the em- | ploye may not fully mature for ten 1 years, and hence a more thorough method2of Investigating his affairs must l be employed, and different principles l applied in determining his financial condition.
 Without Injustice to Employers. While thus recognizing the just de- l mands of the employe the commission 1 is not blind to the rights of the eTn- ployer. He should not be subjected to
 unjust demands. and the administra- | tion of the act should not throw an un- l due burden upon industry. It is the in | tention of the commissioners, in laying 1 down and carrying into effect the l principles upon which they shall act, to 1 perform their duty In such a way as /! to make the expense of such investt-
 gations as light as possible to the em- 1 ployer. and to make only such demands l as are in their opinion necessary to at- 1 tain the result outlined above, namely, 1 the securing to the employees of the
 payment of awards which may be 1 made.
 Varying Conditions.
 l The requirement of fairness does not call for an infeXible rule which shall l demand that each employer be re- | quired to furnish the same security l in kind as every other employer. It 1 does require that the circumstances l of the individual case be taken into l account and that an equitable decision 1 be made giving each element it's due weight.
 l It should be borne in mind that the l fundamental purpose of the act is not 1 solely to secure to the victums of in dustrial accidents some pecuniary compensation for their injuries, but l that at least an equally useful pur- 1 pose is to prevent in large measure l the occurrence of industrial accidents. l There are employers of labor who 1 have hitherto, at great expense and by 1 the exercise of much care and thought, | safeguarded their employees from in 1 jury, as by the institution of safety 1 devices, where there was absolutely no
 selfish or financial indictment for l them to do SO because the injuries 1 which might otherwise be received l were invariably such as were incident to the employment and any liability 1 for them could be defeated by inter 1 posing the defense commonly spoken i of as the assumption of risk
 l There have been, on the other hand, a probably much larger number of em- ployers who have not taken this trou- | bIe or made these expenditures.
 These clements will be very carefully 1 considered by the commissioners in passing upon the ability of any partic- ular concern to carry it's own risk.
 Modes of Securing Payment.
 Section 30 of Part E provides for methods of securing the payment of 1 conpensation The most familiar method of course is the insurance of | liability in some mutual or stock com- l pany. A somewhat similar method of l security is furnishing a bond with a 1 proper surety guaranteeing the per ! formance of the obligations under the act. A third method is the institution
 of a private system of insurance in 1 accordance with Section 29 of Part B ! under the auspices of the Insurance
 commissioner. The remaining meth i cd and the one particularly considered { in this bulletin, arises under the fan- 4 guage of section 30 Of Part B, which l provides for the furnishing by the , employer to the compensation com l mission of "satisfactory proof of his ] solvency and financial ability to pay j directly to injured employees or other I beneficiaries the compensation pro- vided by his act"
 Determining soIvency.
 l It is obvious that to determine 1 whether one is solvent in the ordinary | sense of the term-as the term is used, i for instance, in the bankruptcy act ! his assets must equal or exceed his 1 liabilities. Tn order to be of sufficient 1 financial ability to respond to the de- i mands of the compensation act there
 must be a large excess of assets over l liabilities. Furthermore, the character 1 of the applicant for the certificate of l history, must be such as to justify
 the belief that his business will not 1 only be honestly conducted with a 1 view of doing justice to his employees l within the. range of his duties under | the act, but will probably be so con-