group thereof, and shall include county, village, town, city, school district and other public employers, except the State.

(e) The term "physician" shall include "surgeon," and in either case shall mean one authorized by law to practice his profession within one of the United States and in good standing in his profession at the time.

(f) The term "workman" shall include the plural and all ages and both sexes.

(g) The terms "employee" and "workman" are used interchangeably and have the same meaning throughout this act, and shall be construed to mean:

(1) Every person in the service of a county, city, town, village or school district therein, under any appointment or contract of hire, express or implied, oral or written; but shall not include any official of any county, city, town, village or school district therein, who shall have been elected or appointed for a regular term of office, or to complete the unexpired portion of any regular term.

(2) Every person, not excluded by section 8, in the service of another under any contract of hire, express or implied, oral or written, including aliens and also including minors who are legally permitted to work under the laws of the State, who for the purpose of making election of remedy under this act shall be construed the same, and have the same power of contracting and electing as adult employees.

(h) The word "accident" as used in the phrases "personal injuries due to accident" or "injuries or death caused by accident" in this act shall, unless a different meaning is clearly indicated by the context, be construed to mean an unexpected or unforeseen event, happening suddenly and violently, with or without human fault and producing at the time, injury to the physical structure of the body.

(i) Personal injuries, etc.-Without otherwise affecting either the meaning or interpretation of the abridged clause, "personal injuries arising out of and in the course of employment," it is hereby declared: Not to cover workmen except while engaged in, on, or about the premises where their services are being performed, or where their service requires their presence as a part of such service at the time of the injury, and during the hours of service as such workmen, and shall not include an injury caused by the act of a third person or fellow employee intended to injure the employee because of reasons personal to him, and not directed against him as an employee, or because of his employment.

(j) Wherever in this act the singular is used, the plural shall be included; where the masculine gender is used, the feminine and neuter shall be included.

(k) Amputations.-Amputations between the elbow and the wrist shall be considered as the equivalent of the loss of a hand, and amputation between the knee and the ankle shall be considered as the equivalent of the loss of a foot.

(1) The labor commissioner, referred to in this act, shall denote the commissioner of labor of the State of Minnesota.

(m) "The court" as used herein shall mean the district court which would have jurisdiction in an ordinary civil case involving a claim for the injuries or death in question, and "the judge" shall mean a judge of said court.

(n) As to constitutionality. In case for any reason any paragraph or any provision of this act shall be questioned in any court of last resort and shall be held by such court to be unconstitutional or invalid, the same shall not be held to affect any other paragraph or provision of this act, except that parts 1 and 2 are hereby declared to be inseparable, and if either part be declared void or inoperative in an essential part, so that the whole of such part must fall, the other part shall fall with it and not stand alone. Part 1 of this act shall not apply in cases where Part 2 becomes operative in accordance with the provisions thereof, but shall apply in all other cases, and in such cases shall be in extension or modification of the common law.

SEC. 35. All acts or parts of acts inconsistent with the provisions of this act are hereby repealed.

SEC. 36. This act shall take effect from and after the 1st day of October, A. D. 1913.

Approved April 24, 1913.

Questions of constitutionality.

Repealer.

Act in effect.

Damages.

NEBRASKA.

ACTS OF 1913.

CHAPTER 198.-Employers' liability — Compensation of workmen for

injuries.
PART I.

EMPLOYERS' LIABILITY.

SECTION 1. When personal injury is caused to an employee by accident arising out of and in the course of his employment, of which the actual or lawful imputed negligence of the employer is the natural and proximate cause, he shall receive compensation therefor from his Questions of employer, provided the employee was himself not willfully negligent at the time of receiving such injury, and the question of whether the employee was willfully negligent shall be one of fact to be submitted to the jury, subject to the usual powers of the court over verdicts rendered contrary to the evidence, or to law.

negligence.

Defenses abro- SEC. 2. In all cases brought under Part I of this act it shall not be a gated. defense (a) that the employee was negligent, unless and except it shall also appear that such negligence was willful, or that the employee was in a state of intoxication; (b) that the injury was caused by the negli gence of a fellow employee; (c) that the employee had assumed the risks inherent in, or incidental to, or arising from the failure of the employer to provide and maintain safe premises and suitable appliances, which grounds of defense are hereby abolished, except as provided in section 4. SEC. 3. If an employer subject to the provisions of this act as shown in section 6 elects not to come under Part II hereof, he loses the right to interpose the three defenses above stated in any action brought against him for personal injury or death of an employee.

When abrogation operates.

Defenses allowed, when.

Death wrongful act.

applies.

by

SEC. 4. If an employer becomes subject to Part II of this act, and the employee does not, then the defenses existing under the laws for Nebraska, other than the provisions of this act, at the time of the personal injury or death of the employee shall be available to the employer in any action brought by the employee or his dependents for personal injury, or death.

SEC. 5. The provisions of sections 1, 2, 3 and 4 shall apply to any claim for the death of any employee arising under chapter 21 of the Compiled Statutes of Nebraska, 1911, and the acts or parts of acts amendatory thereof, concerning death by wrongful act.

To whom act SEC. 6. (1) The provisions of this act shall apply to the State of Nebraska and every governmental agency created by it, and every employer in this State employing five or more employees, in the regular trade, business, profession or vocation of such employer.

Exemptions.

Election by

(2) The following are declared not to be hazardous occupations and not within the provisions of this act: employers of household domestic servants, employers of farm laborers and all employers employing less than five employees, in the regular trade, business, profession or vocation of such employer. Railroad companies engaged in interstate or foreign commerce are declared subject to the powers of Congress and not within the provisions of this act.

(3) Any employer not included in the preceding paragraphs of this exempt persons. section and the employees of such employer may, by their joint election, filed with the insurance commissioner, accept the provisions of Part II of this act, and such acceptances shall subject them to the said provisions of Part II hereof to all intents and purposes as if they had been originally included in the terms of subdivision 2 of this section: Provided, however, That either such employer or workmen (prior to accident) shall have the right to waive such election to come under Part II hereof, the procedure being the same as indicated in subdivisions (a) and (b) of section 12.

Burden of

proof.

SEC. 7. In all actions at law brought pursuant to Part I of this act, burden of proof to establish willful negligence of the injured employee shall be on the defendant.

SEC. 8. No claim or agreement for legal services or disbursements in support of any demand made or suit brought under the provisions of this act shall be an enforceable lien against the amounts to be paid as damages or compensation or be valid or binding in any other respect, unless the same be approved in writing by the judge presiding at the trial, or in case of settlement without trial, by the judge of the district court of the district in which such issue arose. After such approval, if notice in writing be given the defendant of such claim or agreement for legal services and disbursements, the same shall be a lien against any amount thereafter to be paid as damages or compensation: Provided, however, That where the employee's compensation is payable by the employer in periodical installments, the court shall fix, at the time of approval, the proportion of each installment to be paid on account of legal services and disbursements.

PART II.

ELECTIVE COMPENSATION.

SECTION 9. If both employer and employee become subject to Part II Compensation of this act, both shall be bound by the schedule of compensation herein, payable, when. provided, which compensation shall be paid in every case of injury or death caused by accident arising out of and in the course of employment, except accidents caused by, or resulting in any degree from willful negligence, as hereinafter defined, of the employee.

SEC. 10. When employer and employee shall by agreement, express or implied, or otherwise as hereinafter provided, accept the provisions of Part II of this act, compensation shall be made for personal injuries to or for the death of such employee by accident arising out of and in the course of his employment, without regard to the negligence of the employer, according to the schedule hereinafter provided, in all cases except when the injury or death is caused by willful negligence on the part of the employee; and the burden of proof of such fact shall be upon the employer.

SEC. 11. Such agreement or the election hereinafter provided for shall be a surrender by the parties thereto of their rights to any other method, form or amount of compensation or determination thereof than as provided in Part II of this act, and an acceptance of all the provisions of Part II of this act, and shall bind the employee himself, and for compensation for his death shall bind his legal representatives, his widow and next of kin, as well as the employer and the legal representatives of a deceased employer, and those conducting the business of the employer during bankruptcy or insolvency.

Same subject.

Method to be exclusive.

Presumption

SEC. 12. In the occupations described in section 6 hereof, and all contracts of employment made after the taking effect of this act shall as to contracts. be presumed to have been made with reference, and subject to the provisions of Part II hereof, unless otherwise expressly stated in the contract, or unless written or printed notice has been given by either party to the other, as hereinafter provided, that he does not accept the provisions of Part II. Every such employer and every employee is presumed to accept and come under Part II hereof, unless prior to accident he shall signify his election not to accept or be bound by the provisions of Part II. This election not to accept Part II shall be by notice as follows:

By employer;

(a) The employer shall post and thereafter keep continuously posted Rejection— in a conspicuous place about the place or places where his workmen are employed a written or printed notice of his election not to be bound by Part II hereof, and shall file a duplicate thereof with the insurance commissioner.

(b) The employee shall give written or printed notice to the employer By employee. of his election not to be bound by Part II and shall file a duplicate with proof of service attached thereto with the insurance commissioner.

SEC. 13. An employer who has given notice of his election not to accept or be bound by the provisions of Part II hereof, may waive such election at any time, by posting about the place or places where his workmen are employed a written or printed notice setting forth a

Waiving rejection.

withdrawal of his previous election not to be bound by the provisions of Part II. A' duplicate of such notice with proof of such posting attached thereto shall be filed with the insurance commissioner. An employee who has given written or printed notice to his employer that he elects not to be subject to the provisions of Part II hereof, may waive such election at any time prior to the happening of an accident resulting in personal injuries to said employee, by a notice in writing directed to the employer and served upon the employer or his agent. A duplicate of such notice with proof of service attached thereto shall be filed with the insurance commissioner. The waivers referred to in the preceding paragraphs of this section shall not become effective until noon of the fifth day after filing the required notice with the insurance commissioner.

SEC. 14. The following shall constitute employers subject to the provisions of this act:

(1) The State and every governmental agency created by it; (2) Every person, firm or corporation, including any public service corporation, who is engaged in any trade, occupation, business, or profession as described in section 6, and who has any person in service under any contract of hire, express or implied, oral or written, and who prior to the time of the accident to the employee for which compensation under this act may be claimed, shall not, in the manner provided in section 12, have elected not to become subject to the provisions of Part II of this act.

SEC. 15. The terms "employee" and "workman" are used interchangeably and have the same meaning throughout this act; the said terms include the plural and all ages and both sexes, and shall be construed to mean:

(1) Every person in the service of the State or of any governmental agency created by it, under any appointment or contract of hire, express or implied, oral or written, but shall not include any official of the State, or of any governmental agency created by it, who shall have been elected or appointed for a regular term of office, or to complete the unexpired portion of any regular term.

(2) Every person in the service of any employer who is engaged in any trade, occupation, business or profession as described in section 6, under any contract of hire, express or implied, oral or written, including aliens and also including minors who are legally permitted to work under the laws of the State, who for the purposes of making election of remedies under this code shall have the same power of contracting and electing as adult employees.

(3) It shall not be construed to include any person whose employment is casual, or not for the purpose of gain or profit by the employer, or which is not in the usual course of the trade, business, profession, or occupation of his employer. The term "casual" shall be construed to mean "occasional; coming at certain times without regularity, in distinction from stated or regular."

(4) It shall not be construed to include any person to whom articles and materials are given to be made up, cleaned, washed, finished, repaired or adapted for sale in the worker's own home or on other premises not under the control or management of the employer, unless the employee is required to perform the work at a place designated by the employer.

SEC. 16. Any person, firm or corporation creating or carrying into operation any scheme, artifice or device to enable him, them or it to execute work without being responsible to the workmen for the provisions of this act, shall be included in the term "employer" and with the immediate employer shall be jointly and severally liable to pay the compensation herein provided for and be subject to all the provisions of this act. This section, however, shall not be so construed as to cover or mean an owner who lets a contract to a contractor in good faith, or a contractor who, in good faith, lets to a subcontractor a portion of his contract, if the owner or principal contractor, as the case may be, requires the contractor or subcontractor, respectively, to procure a policy or policies of insurance from an insurance company licensed to make such insurance in this State, which policy or policies of insurance shall guarantee payment of compensation according to this act to injured workmen.

Basis for com

SEC. 17. Where compensation is claimed from, or proceedings taken against a person, firm or corporation under the foregoing section, the pensation. compensation shall be calculated with reference to the wage the workman was receiving from the person by whom he was immediately employed at the time of the injury.

SEC. 18. Where a third person is liable to the employee or to the de- Subrogation of pendents, for the injury or death, the employer shall be subrogated to employer. the right of the employee or to the dependents against such third person, and the recovery by such employer shall not be limited to the amount payable as compensation to such employee or dependents, but such employer may recover any amount which such employee or his dependents would have been entitled to recover. Any recovery by the employer against such third person, in excess of the compensation paid by the employer after deducting the expenses of making such recovery, shall be paid forthwith to the employee or to the dependents, and shall be treated as an advance payment by the employer, on account of any future installments of compensation.

SEC. 19. No compensation shall be allowed for the first fourteen days Waiting time. after disability begins, except as provided in section 20, but if disability extends beyond the period of fourteen days, compensation shall begin on the fifteenth day after the injury: Provided, however, That if such disability continues for eight weeks or longer, such compensation shall be computed from the date of the injury.

Medical,

etc.,

SEC. 20. During the first twenty-one days after disability begins the employer shall be liable for reasonable medical and hospital services services. and medicines as and when needed, not however to exceed two hundred dollars in value, unless the employee refuses to allow them to be furnished by the employer: Provided, however, That where the injured employee refuses or neglects to avail himself of such medical or surgical treatment, the employer shall not be liable for any aggravation of such injury due to said neglect or refusal.

SEC. 21. The following schedule of compensation is hereby established for injuries resulting in disability.

Compensation

for

(1) For the first three hundred weeks of total disability the compen- Total disability: sation shall be fifty per centum of the wages received at the time of injury, but such compensation shall not be more than ten dollars per week or less than five dollars per week: Provided, That, if at the time of injury the employee receives wages of less than five dollars per week, then he shall receive the full amount of such wages per week as compensation. After the first three hundred weeks of total disability, for the remainder of the life of the employee, he shall receive forty per centum of the wages received at the time of the injury, but the compensation shall not be more than eight dollars per week nor less than four dollars per week: Provided, That, if at the time of the injury the employee receives wages of less than four dollars per week then he shall receive the full amount of such wages as compensation. Nothing in this subdivision shall require the payment of compensation after disability shall cease. Should partial disability be followed by total disability, the period of three hundred weeks mentioned in this subdivision of this section shall be reduced by the number of weeks during which compensation was paid for such partial disability.

Partial disabil

(2) For disability partial in character (except the particular cases mentioned in subdivision 3 of this section), the compensation shall be ity. fifty per centum of the difference between the wages received at the time of injury and the earning power of the employee thereafter; but such compensation shall not be more than ten dollars per week. This compensation shall be paid during the period of such partial disability; not, however, beyond three hundred weeks after the date of the accident causing the disability. Should total disability be followed by partial disability, the period of three hundred weeks mentioned in this subdivision shall be reduced by the number of weeks during which compensation was paid for such total disability.

(3) For all disability resulting from permanent injury of the following Schedule. classes, the compensation shall be exclusively as follows:

For the loss of a hand, fifty per centum of the wages during one hundred and seventy-five weeks;