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Prior injuries.

Repealer.

Act in effect.

Prior contracts.

in accordance with the provisions thereof, but shall apply in all other cases, and in such cases shall be in extension of the common law.

25. Every right of action for negligence, or to recover damages for injuries resulting in death, existing before this act shall take effect, is continued, and nothing in this act contained shall be construed as affecting any such right of action, nor shall the failure to give the notice provided for in Section II, paragraph fifteen of this act, be a bar to the maintenance of a suit upon any right of action existing before this act shall take effect.

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 All acts or parts of acts inconsistent with the provisions of this act are hereby repealed.

27. This act shall take effect on the fourth day of July next succeeding its passage and approval.

Approved April 4, 1911.

CHAPTER 368.-Contracts of employment-Presumption as to election. SECTION 1. Every contract of hiring, verbal, written or implied from circumstances, now in operation or made or implied prior to the time limited for the act to which this act is a supplement [chapter 95, Acts of 1911] to take effect, shall, after this act takes effect, be presumed to Notice of rejec- continue subject to the provisions of section two of the act to which this tion required. act is a supplement, unless either party shall, prior to accident, in writing, notify the other party to such contract that the provisions of section two of the act to which this act is a supplement are not intended to apply.

Act in effect.

Commissioner

of labor to receive decisions.

Who entitled to compensation.

How payments are to be made.

SEC. 2. This act shall take effect on the fourth day of July next succeeding its passage and approval.

Approved May 2, 1911.

ACTS OF 1912.

CHAPTER 316.-Compensation of workmen for injuries-Decisions to be reported.

SECTION 1. The clerk of each of the courts of common pleas in this State, whenever any order is filed by the judge of such court making a decision upon any matter arising under the provisions of an act entitled "An act prescribing the liability of an employer to make compensation for injuries received by an employee in the course of employment, * * [chapter 95, Acts of 1911] establishing an elective schedule of compensation, and regulating procedure for the determination of liability and compensation thereunder," approved April fourth, nineteen hundred and eleven, shall forthwith forward to the commissioner of labor of the State of New Jersey a copy of the said order, which need not be certified, without any charge being made therefor. Approved April 1, 1912.

ACTS OF 1913.

CHAPTER 145.-Compensation of workmen for injuries-Public employees.

SECTION 1. Every employee who shall be in the employ of the State, county, municipality or any board or commission, or any other governing body, including boards of education, within this State, shall be compensated under and by virtue of section two to which this act is a supplement: Provided, however, That no person receiving a salary greater than twelve hundred dollars per year, nor any person holding an elective office shall be entitled to compensation: And provided further, That nothing herein contained shall be construed as affecting any pension fund now or hereafter provided by law.

SEC. 2. When any payment shall be due under the provisions of this supplement or the act to which it is a supplement, the name of the injured employee, or in case of his death, the names of the persons to whom payment is to be made as his dependents, shall be carried upon

the pay roll, and payment shall be made in the same manner and from the same source in which and from which the wages of the injured employee were paid. In event that any extraordinary payment larger than the weekly rate of compensation shall be due, such payment shall be made from any fund available for the maintenance or incidental expenses of the institution, department, board or governing body under and by which the employee was employed.

Approved March 27, 1913.

NEW YORK.

CONSTITUTION.

ARTICLE 1.-Safety of workmen-Compensation for injuries.

Safety laws.

system.

SECTION 19. Nothing contained in this constitution shall be construed to limit the power of the legislature to enact laws for the protection of the lives, health, or safety of employees; or for the payment, either by employers, or by employers and employees or otherwise, either directly or through a State or other system of insurance or otherwise, of compensation for injuries to employees or for death of employees Compensation resulting from such injuries without regard to fault as a cause thereof, except where the injury is occasioned by the willful intention of the injured employee to bring about the injury or death of himself or of another, or where the injury results solely from the intoxication of the injured employee while on duty; or for the adjustment, determination and settlement, with or without trial by jury, of issues which may arise under such legislation; or to provide that the right of such compensation, and the remedy therefor shall be exclusive of all other rights and edy. remedies for injuries to employees or for death resulting from such injuries; or to provide that the amount of such compensation for death shall not exceed a fixed or determinable sum: Provided, That all moneys paid by an employer to his employees or their legal representatives, by reason of the enactment of any of the laws herein authorized, shall be held to be a proper charge in the cost of operating the business of the employer.

Adopted November 4, 1913.

CONSOLIDATED LAWS.

CHAPTER 31.-Compensation of workmen for injuries.—Elective statute. (Sections 205 to 212 added by chapter 352, Acts of 1910.)

Exclusive rem

Consent to com

SECTION 205. When and if any employer in this State and any of his employees shall consent to the compensation plan described in sections pensation plan. two hundred and six to two hundred and twelve, inclusive, of this article, hereinafter referred to as the plan, and shall signify their consent thereto in writing signed by each of them or their authorized agents, and acknowledged in the manner prescribed by law for taking the acknowledgment of a conveyance of real property, and such writing is filed with the county clerk of the county in which it is signed by the employee, then so long as such consent has not expired or been canceled as hereinafter provided, such employee, or in case injury to him results in death, his executor or administrator, shall have no other right of action against the employer for personal injury or death of any kind, under any statute or at common law, save under the plan so consented to, except where personal injury to the employee is caused in whole or in part by the failure of the employer to obey a valid order made by the commissioner of labor or other public authority authorized to require the employer to safeguard his employees, or where such injury is caused by the serious or willful misconduct of the employer. In such excepted cases thus described, no right of action which the employee has at common law or by any other statute shall be affected or lost by his consent to the plan, if such employee, or in case of death his executor or administrator, commences such action before accepting any

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Actions.

cluded.

Compensation payable, when.

Notice.

benefit under such plan or giving any notice of injury as provided in section two hundred and six hereof. The commencing of any legal action whatsoever at common law or by any statute against the employer on account of such injury, except under the plan, shall bar the employee, and in the event of his death his executors, administrators, dependents and other beneficiaries, from all benefit under the plan. Railroads ex- This section and sections two hundred and six to two hundred and twelve, inclusive, of this article shall not apply to a railroad corporation, foreign or domestic, doing business in this State, or a receiver thereof, or to any person employed by such corporation or receiver. SEC. 206. If personal injury by accident arising out of and in the course of the employment is caused to the employee, the employer shall, subject as hereinafter mentioned, be liable to pay compensation under the plan at the rates set out in section two hundred and seven of this article: Provided, That the employer shall not be liable in respect of any injury which does not disable the employee for a period of at least two weeks from earning full wages at the work at which he was employed, and that the employer shall not be liable in respect of any injury to the employee which is caused by the serious and willful misconduct of that employee. No proceedings for recovery under the plan provided hereby shall be maintained unless notice of the accident has been given to the employer as soon as practicable after the happening thereof and before the employee has voluntarily left the employment in which he was injured and during such disability, and unless claim for compensation with respect to the accident has been made within six months from the occurrence of the accident, or in the case of death of the employce, or in the event of his physical or mental incapacity within six months after such death or removal of such physical or mental incapacity, or in the event that weekly payments have been made under the plan, within six months after such payments have ceased; but no want of or defect or inaccuracy of a notice shall be a bar to the maintenance of proceedings under the plan unless the employer proves that he is prejudiced by such want, defect or inaccuracy. Notice of the accident shall apprise the employer of the claim for compensation under this plan and shall state the name and address of the employee injured, the date and place of the accident and in simple language the cause thereof. The notice may be served personally or by sending it by mail in a registered letter addressed to the employer at his last known residence or place of business.

Amount payable in case of death.

Of incapacity.

SEC. 207. The amount of compensation under the plan shall be: 1. In case death results from injury:

(a) If the employee leaves a widow or next of kin at the time of his death wholly dependent on his earnings, a sum equal to twelve hundred times the daily earnings of the employee at the rate at which he was being paid by the employer at the time of the accident, but not more in any event than three thousand dollars. Any weekly payments previously made under the plan shall be deducted in ascertaining such amount payable on death.

(b) If such widow or next of kin or any of them are in part only dependent upon his earnings, such sum not exceeding that provided in subdivision (a) as may be determined to be reasonable and proportionate to the injury to such dependents.

(c) If he leaves no widow, or next of kin so dependent in whole or in part, the reasonable expenses of his medical attendance and burial, not exceeding one hundred dollars. Whatever sum may be determined to be payable under the plan, in case of death of the injured employee, shall be paid to his legal representative for the benefit of such dependents, or if he leaves no such dependents, for the benefit of the person to whom the expenses of medical attendance and burial are due.

2. Where total or partial incapacity for work at any gainful employment results to the employee from the injury, a weekly payment commencing at the end of the second week after the injury and continuing during incapacity, subject as herein provided, not exceeding fifty per centum of his average weekly earnings when at work on full time during the preceding year during which he shall have been in the employment of the same employer, or if he shall have been employed less than a

year, then a weekly payment of not exceeding three times the average daily earnings on full time for such less period.

In fixing the amount of the weekly payment, regard shall be had to any payment, allowance or benefit which the workman may have received from the employer during the period of his incapacity, and in the case of partial incapacity the weekly payment shall in no case exceed the difference between the amount of the average weekly earnings of the workman before the accident and the average amount which he is earning or is able to earn in some suitable employment or business after the accident but shall amount to one-half of such difference. In no event shall any weekly payment payable under the plan exceed ten dollars per week or extend over more than eight years from the date of the accident. Any person entitled to receive weekly payments under Medical exami the plan is required, if requested by the employer, to submit himself nations. for examination by a duly qualified medical practitioner or surgeon provided and paid for by the employer, at a time and place reasonably convenient for the employee, within three weeks after the injury, and thereafter at intervals not oftener than once in six weeks. If the workman refuses so to submit or obstructs the same, his right to weekly payments shall be suspended until such examination shall have taken place and no compensation shall be payable under the plan during such period. In case an injured employee shall be mentally incompetent at the time when any right or privilege accrues to him under the plan, a committee or guardian of the incompetent appointed pursuant to law may, on behalf of such incompetent, claim and exercise any such right or privilege with the same force and effect as if the employee himself had been competent and had claimed or exercised any such right or privilege; and no limitation of time herein provided for shall run so long as said incompetent employee has no committee or guardian.

Settlement of

SEC. 208. Any question of law or fact arising in regard to the application of the plan in determining the compensation payable thereunder disputes. or otherwise shall be determined either by agreement or by arbitration as provided in the code of civil procedure, or by an action at law as herein provided. In case the employer shall be in default in any of his obligations to the employee under the plan, the injured employee or his committee or guardian, if such be appointed, or his executor or administrator, may then bring an action to recover compensation under the plan in any court having jurisdiction thereof as on a written contract. Such action shall be conducted in the same manner as an action at law for the recovery of damages for breach of a written contract, and shall for all purposes, including the determination of jurisdiction, be deemed such an action. The judgment in such action, in favor of the plaintiff, shall be for a lump sum equal to the amount of the payments then due and prospectively due under the plan. In such action by an executor or administrator the judgment may provide the proportions of the award or the costs to be distributed to or between the several dependents. If such determination is not made it shall be determined by the surrogate's court by which such executor or administrator is appointed, in accordance with the terms of this article on petition of any party on such notice as such court may direct.

SEC. 209. Any person entitled to weekly payments under the plan against any employer shall have the same preferential claim therefor against the assets of the employer as now allowed by law for a claim by such person against such employer for unpaid wages or personal services. Weekly payments due under the plan shall not be assignable or subject to attachment, levy or execution. No claim of an attorney for any contingent interest in any recovery under the plan for services in securing such recovery shall be an enforceable lien thereon, unless the amount of the same be approved in writing by a justice of the supreme court, or in case the same is tried in any court, before [by] the justice presiding at such trial.

SEC. 210. When a consent to the plan shall have been filed in the office of the county clerk as herein provided, it shall be binding upon both parties thereto as long as the relation of employer and employee exists between the parties, and expire at the end of such employment, but it may at any time be canceled on sixty days' notice in writing

Claims pre

ferred.

Cancellation of

consent.

Reports of con

sent.

Reports of operations.

Title.

Hazardous employments.

from either party to the other. Such notice of cancellation shall be effective only if served personally or sent by registered letter to the last known post-office address of the party to whom it is addressed, but no notice of cancellation shall be effective as to a claim for injury occurring previous thereto.

SEC. 211. Each employer who shall sign with any employee a consent to the plan shall, within thirty days thereafter, file with the commissioner of labor a statement thereof, signed by such employer, which shall show (a) the name of the employer and his post-office address, (b) the name of the employee and his last known post-office address, (c) the date of and office where the original consent is filed, (d) the weekly wage of the employee at the time the consent is signed; unless such statement is duly filed, such consent of the employee shall not be a bar to any proceeding at law commenced by the employee against the employer.

SEC. 212. Each employer of labor in this State who shall have entered into the plan with any employee shall, on or before the first day of January, nineteen hundred and eleven, and thereafter and at such times as may be required by the commissioner of labor, make a report to such commissioners [commissioner] of all amounts, if any, paid by him under such plan to injured employees, stating the name of such employees, and showing separately the amounts paid under agreement with the employees, and the amounts paid after proceedings at law, and the proceedings at law under the plan then pending. Such reports shall be verified by the employer or a duly authorized agent in the same manner as affidavits.

Became a law May 24, 1910.

ACTS OF 1913.

CHAPTER 816.-Compensation of workmen for injuries-Compulsory

statute.

Article 1.

SECTION 1. This chapter shall be known as the "Workmen's Compensation Law."

SEC. 2. Compensation provided for in this chapter shall be payable for injuries sustained or death incurred by employees engaged in the following hazardous employments:

Group 1. The operation, including construction and repair, of railways operated by steam, electric or other motive power, street railways, and incline railways, but not their construction when constructed by any person other than the company which owns or operates the railway, including work of express, sleeping, parlor and dining car employees on railway trains.

Group 2. Construction and operation of railways not included in group one.

Group 3. The operation, including construction and repair, of car shops, machine shops, steam and power plants, and other works for the purposes of any such railway, or used or to be used in connection with it when operated, constructed or repaired by the company which owns or operates the railway.

Group 4. The operation, including construction and repair, of car shops, machine shops, steam and power plants, not included in group three.

Group 5. The operation, including construction and repair, of telephone lines and wires for the purposes of the business of a telephone company, or used or to be used in connection with its business, when constructed or operated by the company.

Group 6. The operation, including construction and repair, of telegraph lines and wires for the purposes of the business of a telegraph company, or used or to be used in connection with its business, when constructed or operated by the company.

Group 7. Construction of telegraph and telephone lines not included in groups five and six.

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