Workmen's Compensation Act 1897
Encyclopedia
The Workmen's Compensation Act 1897 was an Act
of the Parliament of the United Kingdom
which dealt with the right of workers for compensation for personal injury. It replaced the 1880 Employer's Liability Act, which required the injured worker the right to sue the employer and put the burden of proof on the employee. After 1897, injured employees had only to show that they had been injured on the job. These are roughly the same rights German workers got in their 1884 law
.
A "workman" was defined as,
The employments to which the Act applied were stated to be railways, mining and quarrying, factory work and laundry work.
However the courts took a restrictive interpretation in Simpson v. Ebbw Vale Steel, Iron & Coal Co. A widow claimed for the death of a colliery manager who had been killed in an underground accident. Lord Collins MR held that her dead husband was outside the Act's scope, because though the act extended to non-manual workers the victim "must still be a workman". He said the Act:
Act of Parliament
An Act of Parliament is a statute enacted as primary legislation by a national or sub-national parliament. In the Republic of Ireland the term Act of the Oireachtas is used, and in the United States the term Act of Congress is used.In Commonwealth countries, the term is used both in a narrow...
of the Parliament of the United Kingdom
Parliament of the United Kingdom
The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body in the United Kingdom, British Crown dependencies and British overseas territories, located in London...
which dealt with the right of workers for compensation for personal injury. It replaced the 1880 Employer's Liability Act, which required the injured worker the right to sue the employer and put the burden of proof on the employee. After 1897, injured employees had only to show that they had been injured on the job. These are roughly the same rights German workers got in their 1884 law
Worker's compensation Germany
Worker's compensation in Germany is a national, compulsory program that insures workers for injuries or illness incurred through their employment, or the commute to or from their employment. Wage earners, apprentices, family helpers and students including children in kindergarten are covered by...
.
A "workman" was defined as,
"any person who is engaged in an employment to which this Act applies, whether by way of manual labour or otherwise."
The employments to which the Act applied were stated to be railways, mining and quarrying, factory work and laundry work.
However the courts took a restrictive interpretation in Simpson v. Ebbw Vale Steel, Iron & Coal Co. A widow claimed for the death of a colliery manager who had been killed in an underground accident. Lord Collins MR held that her dead husband was outside the Act's scope, because though the act extended to non-manual workers the victim "must still be a workman". He said the Act:
"presupposes a position of dependence; it treats the class of workmen as being in a sens inopes consilii, and the Legislature does for them what they cannot do for themselves: it gives them a sort of State insurance, it being assumed that they are either not sufficiently intelligent or not sufficiently in funds to insure themselves. In no sense can such a principle extend to those who are earning good salaries."
See also
- Workmen's Compensation Act 1906Workmen's Compensation Act 1906The Workmen's Compensation Act 1906 was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which dealt with the right of working people for compensation for personal injury....
- Contracts of Employment Act 1963Contracts of Employment Act 1963The Contracts of Employment Act 1963 was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which introduced the requirement to give reasonable notice before dismissal and written particulars of a contract of employment...
- UK labour law
- English tort lawEnglish tort lawEnglish tort law concerns civil wrongs, as distinguished from criminal wrongs, in the law of England and Wales. Some wrongs are the concern of the state, and so the police can enforce the law on the wrongdoers in court – in a criminal case...