wages shall consist of three hundred times the average daily wage or salary which an employee of the same class working substantially the whole of such immediately preceding year in the same or in a similar employment in the same or a neighboring place shall have earned in such employment during the days when so employed. 3. When by reason of the shortness of the time of the employment of the employee, or other employee engaged in the same class of work in the manner and for the length of time specified in the above subsections 1 and 2, or other good and sufficient reasons, it is impracticable to compute the average weekly wages as above defined, it shall be computed by the board in any manner which may seem just and fair to both parties. 4. Said wages shall include the market value of board, lodging, laundry, fuel, and other advantages which can be estimated in money, which the employee receives from the employer as part of his remuneration. Any sums, however, which the employer has paid to the employee to cover any special expenses entailed on him by the act of his employment shall not be included. 5. The average weekly wages of an employee shall be one-fifty-second (1-52) part of the average annual wages. The terms "injury" or "personal injury' as used in this act, shall be construced to mean damage or harm to the physical structure of the body and such diseases or infection as naturally result therefrom. The term "injury sutained in the course of employment," as used in this act, shall not include: 1. An injury caused by the act of God, unless the employee is at the time engaged in the performance of duties that subject him to a greater hazard from the act of God responsible for the injury than ordinarily applies to the general public. 2. An injury caused by an act of a third person intended to injure the employee because of reasons personal to him and not directed against him as an employee, or because of his employment. 3. An injury received while in a state of intoxication. 4. An injury caused by the employee's willful intention and attempt to injure himself, or to unlawfully injure some other person, but shall include all other injuries of every kind and character having to do with and originating in the work, business, trade or profession of the employer received by an employee while engaged in or about the furtherance of the affairs or business of his employer whether upon the employer's premises or elsewhere. SEC. la. The president, vice president or vice presidents, secretary or other officers thereof provided in its charter or by-laws and the directors of any corporation which is a subscriber to this act shall not be deemed or held to be an employee within the meaning of that term as defined in the preceding section hereof. Officers. Insurance com SEC. 2. Any insurance company, which term shall include mutual and reciprocal companies, lawfully transacting a liability or accident panies. business in this State, shall have the same right to insure the liability and pay the compensation provided for in Part I of this act, and when such company issues a policy conditioned to pay such compensation, the holder of such said policy shall be regarded as a subscriber so far as applicable under this act, and when such company insures such payment of compensation it shall be subject to the provisions of Parts I, II and IV and of sections 10, 17, 18a, and 21 of Part III of this act, and shall file with the commissioner of insurance and banking its classification of hazards with the rates of premium respectively applicable to each, none of which shall take effect until the commissioner of insurance and banking has approved same as adequate to the risks to which they respectively apply and not less than charged by the association, and such company may have and exercise all of the rights and powers conferred by this act on the association created hereby, but such rights and powers shall not be exercised by a mutual or reciprocal organization unless such organization has at least 50 subscribers who have not less than 2,000 employees. SEC. 3. Any subscriber who has paid a premium as provided in section 1, Part IV, of this act, may, upon application to the board and to the association and after a showing satisfactory to the board, that he Withdrawal. Act in effect. has notified all of his employees in such manner as may be required by the board, cease to be a subscriber and be entitled to a refund of the unearned portion of his premium, subject, however, to any rule approved by the commissioner of insurance and banking as to the minimum premiums or short rate cancellation. SEC. 3a. Any subscriber who shall willfully misrepresent the amount of his pay roll to the association writing his insurance upon which any premium under this act is to be based shall be liable to the association insuring the compensation of his employees in an amount not to exceed ten times the amount of the difference between the premium which he paid and the amount which said subscriber should have paid had his pay roll been correctly computed; and the liability to said association for such misrepresentation, if it was deceived thereby, may be enforced in a civil action in any court of competent jurisdiction in this State. SEC. 3b. No inchoate, vested, matured, existing or other rights, remedies, powers, duties or authority, either of any employee or legal beneficiary, or of the board, or of the association or of any other person shall be in any way affected by any of the amendments herein made to the original law hereby amended, but all such rights, remedies, powers, duties and authority shall remain and be in force as under the original law just as if the amendments hereby adopted had never been made, and to that end it is hereby declared that said original law is not repealed, but the same is, and shall remain in full force and effect as to all such rights, remedies, powers, duties and authority; and further, this act, in so far as it adopts the law of which it is an amendment, is a continuation thereof, and only in other respects a new enactment. SEC. 3c. Any reference to any employee herein who has been injured shall, when the employee is dead, also include the legal beneficiaries, as that term is herein used, of such employee to whom compensation may be payable. Whenever the word “board" is used in this act, it shall be construed to mean industrial accident board created by this act. Whenever in this act the singular is used, the plural shall be included; whenever the masculine gender is used, the feminine and neuter shall be included. SEC. 4. Should any part of this act for any reason be held to be invalid, unconstitutional or inoperative, no other part or parts thereof shall be held affected thereby, and if any exception to or any limitation upon any general provision herein contained shall be held to be unconstitutional or invalid or ineffective the general provisions shall, nevertheless, stand effective and valid as if it has been enacted without limitation or exceptions. SEC. 5. In cases of emergency or impending necessity the association may make advanced payments of compensation to any employee during the period of his incapacity or to his beneficiaries within the terms of this act, and when the same is either directed or approved by the board it shall be credited as against any unaccrued compensation due said employee or beneficiaries. SEC. 6. The reports of accidents required by this act to be made by subscribers shall not be deemed and considered as admissions and evidence against the association or the subscriber in any proceedings before the board or elsewhere in a contested case where the facts set out therein or in any one of them is [are] sought to be contradicted by the association or subscriber. SEC. 7. The law as it now stands being wholly inadequate to protect the rights of industrial employees who may be injured in industrial accidents and the beneficiaries of such employees who may be killed in such accidents creates an emergency and an imperative public necessity that the constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several days be suspended, and the same is hereby suspended. and this act shall take effect from and after its passage, and it is su enacted. Approved March 28, 1917. UTAH. COMPILED LAWS-1917. COMPENSATION OF WORKMEN FOR INJURIES. created. SECTION 3061 (as amended by ch. 63, Acts of 1919). There is hereby Commission created the industrial commission of Utah, to be composed of three members who shall be appointed by the governor, by and with the advice of the senate, one member of said commission shall be appointed for a term of two years, one member for a term of four years, and one member for a term of six years from the first Monday in January, 1919; and thereafter each member shall be appointed for a term of six years. Not more than two members of the commission shall belong to the same political party. SEC. 3062. The governor at any time may remove any member of the commission for inefficiency, neglect of duty, malfeasance, misfeasance, or nonfeasance in office. Removals for cause. SEC. 3063 (as amended by ch. 63, Acts of 1919). No commissioner Qualifications. shall hold any office of trust or profit, or engage in any occupation or business interfering or inconsistent with his duties as such commissioner; and no commissioner nor any regular employee of the commission shall serve on any committee of any political party. Bonds. SEC. 3064. Each of said commissioners shall receive an annual salary Salary. of $4,000, payable in the same manner as the salaries of other officers of the State are paid. Before entering upon the duties of his office, each commissioner shall take and subscribe to the constitutional oath of office, which oath shall be filed in the office of the secretary of state. Each member of the commission shall give a corporate surety bond in the sum of $10,000, which bond shall be approved by the governor and filed with the State treasurer. All employees or deputies of the commission receiving or disbursing funds of the State shall give corporate surety bonds to the State in amounts and with surety to be approved by the commission. The premiums of all bonds provided for in this section shall be paid out of the State treasury. SEC. 3065. Within thirty days after this title goes into effect, the com- Organization. mission shall meet at the seat of government and organize by choosing one of its members as chairman. A majority of the commission shall constitute a quorum to transact business. No vacancy shall impair the Quorum. SEC. 3066. The commission shall keep and maintain its offices at the State capitol, in suitable room or rooms. Necessary office furniture shall be furnished to the commission in the State capitol. The commission may hold sessions in any place within the State of Utah. Offices. Official seal. SEC. 3067. The commission shall have an official seal for the authentication of its orders and proceedings, upon which seal shall be engraved the words, "The Industrial Commission of Utah," and such other design as the commission may prescribe; and the courts in this State shall take judicial notice of the seal of the commission, and in all cases copies of orders, proceedings, or records in the office of the industrial commission of Utah, certified by the secretary of the said commission under its seal, shall be equal to the original as evidence. SEC. 3068. The commission shall be open for the transaction of busi- Sessions. ness during all business hours of each and every day except Sunday and legal holidays. The sessions of the commission shall be open to the public. All proceedings of the commission shall be shown on its records, which shall be a public record, and all voting shall be had by calling each member's name by the secretary, and each member's vote shall be recorded on the proceedings as cast. Rules. Employees. Employer's statements. Refusal. State insurance fund. SEC. 3069. Subject to the provisions of this title, the commission may adopt its own rules of procedure, and may change the same from time to time in its discretion. SEC. 3070. The commission may employ a secretary, deputies, actusries, accountants, inspectors, examiners, experts, clerks, physicians stenographers, and other assistants, and fix their compensation. Such employment and compensation shall be first approved by the governor and shall be paid out of the State treasury. The members of the com mission, deputies, secretary, actuaries, accountants, inspectors, examners, experts, clerks, physicians, stenographers, and other assistants that may be employed shall be entitled to receive from the State treasury their salaries or compensation, and also their actual and necessary expenses while traveling on the business of the commission, and the members of the commission may confer and meet with officers of other States and officers of the United States on any matters pertaining to their official duties. Such expenses shall be itemized and sworn to by the person who incurred the expense and allowed by the commission. [Sections 3071 to 3093, inclusive, relate to safety provisions and inspection, and the powers and duties of the commission with reference thereto, and are reproduced in Bulletin No. 244, Labor Legislation of 1917.] SEC. 3094 (as amended by ch. 63, acts of 1919). Every employer shall furnish the commission, upon request, all information required by it to carry out the purpose of this title. In the month of July of each year every employer shall prepare and mail to the commission at the State capitol, Salt Lake City, Utah, a statement containing the following information, viz: The number of employees employed dur int the preceding year from July 1 to June 30, inclusive; the number of such employees employed at each kind of employment; and the scale of wages paid to each class of employment, showing the minimum and maximum wage paid, and the aggregate amount of wages paid to all employees, which information shall be furnished on a blank or blanks to be prepared by the commission; and it shall be the duty of the commission to furnish such blanks to employers, free of charge, upon request therefor. Every employer shall cause said blanks to be properly filled out so as to answer fully and correctly all questions therein propounded, and to give all the information therein sought, or, if unable to do so, he shall give to the commission, in writing, good and sufficient reasons for such failure. The commission may require the information herein required to be furnished to be certified under oath and returned to the commission within the period fixed by it or by law. The commission, or any member thereof, or any person employed by the commission for that purpose, shall have the right to examine, under oath, any employer, or the officer, agent, or employee thereof, for the purpose of ascertaining any information which such employer is required by this title to furnish to the commission. Any employer who shall refuse to furnish to the commission the annual statement herein required, or who shall refuse to furnish such other information as may be required by the commission under authority of this section, or who shall willfully furnish a false or untrue statement, shall be liable to a penalty of not to exceed $500 for each offense, to be collected in a civil action brought against said employer in the name of the State; all such penalties, when collected, shall be paid to the State insurance fund hereinafter provided for. SEC. 3095. There is hereby created a fund, to be known as the State insurance fund, for the purpose of insuring employers against liability for compensation under this title, and of assuring to the persons entitled thereto the compensation provided by this title. Such fund shall consist of all premiums and penalties received and paid into the fund, of property and securities acquired by and through the use of moneys belonging to the fund, and of interest earned upon money belonging to the fund and deposited or invested as herera provided. Such fund shall be administered by the commission without liability on the part of the State beyond the amount of such fund. Such fund shall be applicable to the payment of losses sustained on account of insurance and to the payment of compensation and of expenses in the manner provided in this title. SEC. 3096. It shall be the duty of the commission to conduct the business of the State insurance fund, and it is hereby vested with full authority over the said fund, and may do any and all things which are necessary or convenient in the administration thereof, or in connection with the insurance business to be carried on by it under the provisions of this title. Administration of fund. Classification of SEC. 3097. Employments insured in the State insurance fund shall be divided by the commission, for the purpose of the said fund, into employments. classes. Separate accounts shall be kept of the amounts collected and expended in respect to each such class for convenience in determining equitable rates; but for the purpose of paying compensation the State insurance fund shall be deemed one and indivisible. The commission shall have power to rearrange any of the classes by withdrawing any employment embraced in it and transferring it wholly or in part to any other class. The commission shall determine the hazards of the different classes, and fix the rates of premium therefor, based upon the total pay roll and number of employees in each of such classes of employment, at the lowest possible rate consistent with the maintenance of a solvent State insurance fund and the creation of a surplus and reserve; and for such purpose may adopt a system of schedule rating in such a manner as to take account of the peculiar hazard of such individual risk. SEC. 3098. The commission may, in its official name, sue and be sued in all the courts of the State in all actions or proceedings arising out of anything done or suffered in connection with the State insurance fund or business relating thereto. Service of summons on any member of the commission or the secretary thereof shall be deemed service on the commission. SEC. 3099 (as amended by ch. 63, acts of 1919). The commission may, in its official name, make contracts of insurance as herein provided and such other contracts relating to the State insurance fund as are authorized or permitted under the provisions of this act. Such contracts of insurance may include and cover the entire underlying liability of employers insured in the State insurance fund, so that such employers may be fully protected, not only for all compensation claims, but for all liability claims whatsoever by employees or the dependents or heirs of killed employees, including the cost of defense in the event of suit. Status of commission. Insurance con tracts. SEC. 3100. The commission may act through proper deputies and Deputies. may delegate to such deputies such powers as it deems necessary or convenient. Among the powers which may be so delegated shall be the power to enter into contracts of insurance, insuring employers against liability for compensation as herein provided and insuring to employees the compensation fixed by this title; also the power to make agreements for the settlement of claims against said fund for compensation for injuries in accordance with the provisions of this title; also the power to determine to whom and through whom payments of such compensation shall be made; and also the power to contract with physicians, surgeons, and hospitals for medical and surgical treatment and care and nursing of injured persons entitled to compensation from said fund. SEC. 3101. 1. Every employer insuring in the State insurance fund Policies. shall receive from the commission a contract or policy of insurance in a form to be approved by the State commission. 2. Except as otherwise provided in this title, all premiums shall be Premiums. paid by every employer who elects to insure with the State insurance fund to the commission on or before July 1, 1917, and semiannually thereafter, or at such other times as may be prescribed by the commission. Receipts shall be given for such payments and the money shall be paid over to the State treasurer to the credit of the State insurance fund. Withdrawal SEC. 3102. Any employer may, upon complying with subdivisions 2 or 3 of section 3114, withdraw from the fund by turning in his from fund. insurance contract or policy for cancellation: Provided, He is not in arrears for premiums due to the fund and has given to the commission written notice of his intention to withdraw before the expiration of the period for which he has elected to insure in said fund. |