(c) Member of a Police Force, i.e. a Force to which the Police Act, 1890, or the Police (Scotland) Act, 1890, applies, the City of London Police Force, the Royal Irish Constabulary, and the Dublin Metropolitan Police Force.

(d) Outworkers. This means any person to whom articles or materials are given out to be made up, cleaned, washed, altered, ornamented, finished, repaired, or adapted for sale in his own home, or on premises not under the management or control of the employer.

(e) Members of the employer's family dwelling in his house. Member of family means: wife, husband, father, mother, grandfather, grandmother, step-father, step-mother, son, daughter, grandson, grand-daughter, step-son, step-daughter, brother, sister, half-brother, or half-sister.

DEPENDANTS. This term is defined to mean such members of the workmen's family as were wholly or partly dependent upon his earnings at the time of his death, or who would have been so dependent but for the incapacity of the workman due to the accident. An illegitimate child may be a dependant, in relation to either his parent or his grandparent, as also may a parent or grandparent be dependent on his illegitimate child.

First Schedule Scale of Compensation. Compensation under this Act is payable on the following scale

(a) Where death results from the injury—

(1) If the deceased workman leaves total dependants, a sum equal to his earnings with the same, employer during the preceding three years, with a minimum of £150 and a maximum of £300. Any weekly payments made prior to the death will be deducted from this sum. If the workman had been less than three years in the service of his employer, his three years' earnings are arrived at by taking 156 times his average weekly earnings.

(2) If the workman leaves partial dependants only, such sum as may be determined by agreement or arbitration to be proportionate to the injury to those dependants, not exceeding the sum of £300.

(3) If the workman leaves no dependants, medical and funeral expenses up to £10.

(b) Where total or partial incapacity for work results from the injury

A weekly payment during incapacity, not exceeding 50 per cent of the workman's average weekly earnings during the preceding twelve months, or any less period during which he had been in the service of the same employer.

EXCEPTIONS. (1) If the incapacity lasts less than two weeks, no compensation is payable in respect of the first week.

(2) If the workman is under 21 at the date of the accident, and his average weekly earnings are less than 20s., he will receive compensation at the rate of his full weekly earnings with a maximum of 10s. per week.

Average Weekly Earnings. Certain rules are laid down in the schedule to define what is meant by average weekly earnings.

(1) Average weekly earnings are to be computed in such a way as may give the most accurate result. If any difficulty arises owing to the shortness of time the workman has been employed, or the casual nature or other terms of the employment, the rate may be calculated by reference to the earnings during the preceding twelve months of a person in the same grade employed at the same work by the same employer, or by a person in the same grade and the same class of employment in the same district.

Much litigation has been caused in interpreting this clause. The same grade means the same rank or class of employee, and has no reference to whether the workman is a good or bad member of his class. The grade of a workman is a question of fact to be decided by the arbitrator.

(2) Where a workman has entered into concurrent contracts of service with two or more employers, he is entitled to bring in his earnings under all the contracts for the purpose of computing his average weekly earnings.

It is not strictly accurate to say, as is sometimes done, that an injured employee is entitled to compensation based on his earnings "from all sources." He can only bring in earnings derived from other contracts of service, which may be only implied contracts and need not be in writing so long as there is evidence of a definite contract. Thus, an employee working as a gardener, who did occasional and irregular work for other people in his spare time,

could not include those earnings as being derived from other contracts of service.

(3) Employment by the same employer means employment by the same employer in the grade in which the workman was at the time of the accident uninterrupted by absence from work, due to illness or any other unavoidable cause.

This clause has considerable importance where the workman has been employed for less than twelve months, in cases of incapacity, or less than three years in cases of death. In order to ascertain the average weekly earnings with the same employer, there must be a period of "continuous employment without a break. Absence occasioned by illness or an unavoidable cause, as, for example, weather conditions in certain trades, constitute a break, but voluntary absence on the workman's part, or absence on holiday would not. The incidence of this provision may be illustrated by an example.

A workman entered the service of his employer forty weeks before the accident and earned varying amounts each week. After working six weeks he was absent four weeks with an attack of rheumatism. He therefore had been working continuously at the date of the accident for thirty weeks only, and his average weekly earnings would be computed by calculating the total amount earned since he returned from his illness and dividing by thirty, the first six weeks of work being ignored. Supposing, however, the same workman instead of being ill had been absent for his own purposes and of his own free will, there would have been no break in the employment, and his average weekly earnings would be computed by taking the total amount earned from the first day he entered the employment and dividing by forty.

What constitutes an absence by unavoidable cause sufficient to break the continuity of the employment is a matter of fact, and must be determined according to the circumstances of each case.

By this clause a break in the employment is caused by a change in grade, which operates in the same way as the example of illness already given.

(4) Sums paid by the employer to the workman to cover expenses entailed by the nature of the work, are not to be reckoned as part of the earnings.

3-(1907)

Partial Incapacity. The weekly payment payable for partial incapacity shall not exceed the difference between the average weekly earnings before the accident and the average weekly amount which the workman is earning or is able to earn after the accident, but shall bear such relationship to that difference as under the circumstances may appear proper.

It should be noted that the test is not what the workman is actually earning, but what he is able to earn. The onus of proof lies on the employer, but having proved the ability, he is not obliged actually to find the work for the workman.

Medical Examinations. Paragraphs 4 and 14 of the first Schedule make provision for a workman to be medically examined. Under Paragraph 4 the employer may require a medical examination at the time that notice of the accident is given. Under Paragraph 14, where a workman is receiving weekly payments, the employer may require periodical examinations. But by Paragraph 15, medical examinations may only be enforced under regulations and at such intervals as may be prescribed by the Home Secretary. These regulations are embodied in the Workmen's Compensation Rules. In every case the doctor is to be provided and paid for by the employer, and if the workman refuses to submit to such examination he forfeits his right to compensation until the examination has taken place.

Medical Referees (Paragraph 15). Where a workman has been medically examined, either by the employer's doctor or by his own doctor, and no agreement can be come to as to his fitness for work, the Registrar of the County Court may refer the matter to a medical referee at a fee fixed by the rules. The medical referee may certify not only as to the condition of the workman, but also as to what extent his incapacity is due to the accident. The medical referee's certificate is conclusive as to the matters specified therein.

Review of Weekly Payments (Paragraph 16). A weekly payment may be reviewed at the request of either party. The review is made by arbitration, and the weekly payment may be ended, diminished, or increased, as the condition of the workman warrants, subject to the limits of compensation laid down by the Act.

A further clause of this Paragraph gives a right of an important nature to an injured workman who is a minor. Where the workman

was at the date of the accident under 21 years of age, and where the review takes place more than twelve months after the accident, the amount of the weekly payment may be increased to an amount up to 50 per cent of what the workman would probably have been earning at the time if he had not met with an accident, with a limit of 20s. (since increased by the War Addition Acts to 35s.). Redemption of Weekly Payments. Weekly payments may be redeemed at any time by agreements between the parties. Paragraph 17 of the first Schedule gives a right under certain conditions to a compulsory redemption.

(a) The weekly payment must have continued for at least six months.

(b) The application to redeem may be made by or on behalf of the employer only.

(c) The amount of the lump sum payable as redemption is fixed

(1) If the incapacity is permanent, at such an amount as would if invested in the purchase of a Post Office annuity, purchase an annuity for the workman equal to 75 per cent of the annual value of the weekly payment.

(2) Where the incapacity is not permanent, such a sum as may be settled by arbitration.

The provisions of this paragraph do not apply to amounts payable under the War Addition Acts.

Workman Leaving the United Kingdom. A workman who ceases to reside in the United Kingdom, loses his right to weekly compensation unless a medical referee certifies that his injury is likely to be permanent. In such case, compensation is payable quarterly in manner prescribed under the Workmen's Compensation Rules. Payments into Court. The amount of compensation due from an employer must in certain instances be paid into the County Court.

(a) In cases of death (Schedule 1, Paragraph 5).

But if the workman left no dependants, the amount due may be paid to his legal personal representatives, or failing these, to the person to whom the expenses of medical attendance or burial are due.

(b) In cases of incapacity (Paragraph 7).

Weekly payments due during incapacity are only to be paid into