(g) Should a further accident occur to a workman already receiving a monthly payment under this section for a temporary disability, or who has been previously the recipient of a lump-sum payment under this act, his future compensation shall be adjusted according to the other provisions of this section and with regard to the combined effect of his injuries, and his past receipt of money under this act. (h) If aggravation, diminution, or termination of disability takes Readjustments. place or be discovered after the rate of compensation shall have been established or compensation terminated in any case the department may, upon the application of the beneficiary or upon its own motion, readjust for future application the rate of compensation in accordance with the rules in this section provided for the same, or in a proper case terminate the payments. Spouses living (i) A husband or wife of an injured workman, living in a state of abandonment for more than one year at the time of the injury or sub- apart. sequently, shall not be a beneficiary under this act. (j) If a beneficiary shall reside or remove out of the State the depart- Removal from ment may, in its discretion, convert any monthly payments provided State. for such case into a lump sum payment (not in any case to exceed $4,000.00) upon the theory, according to the expectancy of life as fixed by the American Mortality Table, that a monthly payment of twenty dollars ($20) to a person thirty years of age is worth four thousand dollars ($4,000), or, with the consent of the beneficiary, for a smaller sum. (k) Any court review under this section shall be initiated in the county where the workman resides or resided at the time of the injury, or in which the injury occurred. Reviews. Intentional in SEC. 6. If injury or death results to a workman from the deliberate intention of the workman himself to produce such injury or death, juries. neither the workman nor the widow, widower, child or dependent of the workman shall receive any payment whatsoever out of the accident fund. If injury or death results to a workman from the deliberate intention of his employer to produce such injury or death, the workman, the widow, widower, child or dependent of the workman shall have the privilege to take under this act and also have cause of action against the employer, as if this act had not been enacted, for any excess of damage over the amount received or receivable under this act. A minor working at an age legally permitted under the laws of this State shall be deemed sui juris for the purpose of this act, and no other person shall have any cause of action or right to compensation for an injury to such minor workman except as expressly provided in this act, but in the event of a lump-sum payment becoming due under this act to such minor workman, the management of the sum shall be within the probate jurisdiction of the courts the same as other property of minors. Minors. SEC. 7. In case of death or permanent total disability the monthly Lump-sum payment provided may be converted, in whole or in part, into a lump- payments. sum payment (not in any case to exceed $4,000), on the theory, according to the expectancy of life as fixed by the American Mortality Table, that a monthly payment of $20 to a person thirty years of age is worth the sum of $4,000, in which event the monthly payment shall cease in whole or in part accordingly or proportionately. Such conversion may only be made after the happening of the injury and upon the written application of the beneficiary (in case of minor children, the application may be by either parent) to the department, and shall rest in the discretion of the department. Within the rule aforesaid the amount and value of the lump-sum payment may be agreed upon between the department and the beneficiary. Default in payof pre miums. SEC. 8. If any employer shall default in any payment to the acci- Compensation violated In case the recovery actually collected in such suit shall equal or exceed the compensation to which the plaintiff therein would be entitled under this act, the plaintiff shall not be paid anything out of the accident fund; if the said amount shall be less than such compensation under this act, the accident fund shall contribute the amount of the deficiency. The person so entitled under the provisions of this section to sue shall have the choice (to be exercised before suit) of proceeding by suit or taking under this act. If such person shall take under this act, the cause of action against the employer shall be assigned to the State for the benefit of the accident fund. In any suit brought upon such cause of action the defense of fellow servant and assumption of risk shall be inadmissible, and the doctrine of comparative negligence shall obtain. Any such cause of action assigned to the State may be prosecuted or compromised by the department in its discretion. Any compromise by the workman of any such suit, which would leave a deficiency to be made good out of the accident fund, may be made only with the written approval of the department. SEC. 9. If any workman shall be injured because of the absence of where statute is any safeguard or protection required to be provided or maintained by, or pursuant to, any statute or ordinance, or any departmental regulation under any statute, or be, at the time of the injury, of less than the maximum age prescribed by law for the employment of a minor in the occupation in which he shall be engaged when injured, the employer shall, within ten days after demand therefor by the department, pay into the accident fund, in addition to the same required by section 4 to be paid: Payments exempt. Waivers. Applications. (a) In case the consequent payment to the workman out of the accident fund be a lump sum, a sum equal to 50 per cent of that amount. (b) In case the consequent payment to the workman be payable in monthly payments, a sum equal to 50 per cent of the lump value of such monthly payment, estimated in accordance with the rule stated in section 7. The foregoing provisions of this act shall not apply to the employer if the absence of such guard or protection be due to the removal thereof by the injured workman himself or with his knowledge by any of his fellow workmen, unless such removal be by order or direction of the employer or superintendent or foreman of the employer, or any one placed by the employer in control or direction of such workman. If the removal of such guard or protection be by the workman himself or with his consent by any of his fellow workmen, unless done by order or direction of the employer or the superintendent or foreman of the employer, or any one placed by the employer in control, or direction of such workman, the schedule of compensation provided in section 5 shall be reduced 10 per cent for the individual case of such workman. SEC. 10. No money paid or payable under this act out of the accident fund shall, prior to issuance and delivery of the warrant therefor, be capable of being assigned, charged, nor ever be taken in execution or attached or garnisheed, nor shall the same pass to any other person by operation of law. Any such assignment or charge shall be void. SEC. 11. No employer or workman shall exempt himself from the burden or waive the benefits of this act by any contract, agreement, rule or regulation, and any such contract, agreement, rule or regulation shall be pro tanto void. SEC. 12. (a) Where a workman is entitled to compensation under this act he shall file with the department, his application for such, together with the certificate of the physician who attended him, and it shall be the duty of the physician to inform the injured workman of his rights under this act and to lend all necessary assistance in making this application for compensation and such proof or other matters as required by the rules of the department without charge to the workman. (b) Where death results from injury the parties entitled to compensation under this act, or some one in their behalf, shall make application for same to the department, which application must be accompanied with proof of death and proof of relationship showing the parties to be entitled to compensation under this act, certificates of attending physician, if any, and such other proof as required by the rules of the department. (c) If change of circumstance warrants an increase or rearrangement of compensation, like application shall be made therefor. No increase or rearrangement shall be operative for any period prior to application therefor. (d) No application shall be valid or claim thereunder enforceable unless filed within one year after the day upon which the injury occurred or the right thereto accrued. nations. SEC. 13. Any workman entitled to receive compensation under this Medical examiact is required, if requested by the department, to submit himself for medical examination at a time and from time to time at a place reasonably convenient for the workman and as may be provided by the rules of the department. If the workman refuses to submit to any such examination, or obstructs the same, his rights to monthly payments shall be suspended until such examination has taken place, and no compensation shall be payable during or for account of such period. Report of ac SEC. 14. Whenever any accident occurs to any workman it shall be the duty of the employer to at once report such accident and the injury cidents. resulting therefrom to the department, and also to any local representative of the department. Such report shall state: 1. The time, cause and nature of the accident and injuries, and the probable duration of the injury resulting therefrom. 2. Whether the accident arose out of or in the course of the injured person's employment. 3. Any other matters the rules and regulations of the department may prescribe. SEC. 15. The books, records and pay rolls of the employer pertinent Inspection to the administration of this act shall always be open to inspection by books, etc. the department or its traveling auditor, agent or assistant, for the purpose of ascertaining the correctness of the pay roll, the men employed, and such other information as may be necessary for the department and its management under this act. Refusal on the part of the employer to submit said books, records and pay rolls for such inspection to any member of the commission, or any assistant presenting written authority from the commission, shall subject the offending employer to a penalty of one hundred dollars for each offense, to be collected by civil action in the name of the State and paid into the accident fund, and the individual who shall personally give such refusal shall be guilty of a misdemeanor. tions. of SEC. 16. Any employer who shall misrepresent to the department Misrepresentathe amount of pay roll upon which the premium under this act is based shall be liable to the State in ten times the amount of the difference in premium paid and the amount the employer should have paid. The liability to the State under this section shall be enforced in a civil action in the name of the State. All sums collected under this section shall be paid into the accident fund. SEC. 17. Whenever the State, county or any municipal corporation Public works. shall engage in any extra hazardous work in which workmen are employed for wages, this act shall be applicable thereto. The employer's payments into the accident fund shall be made from the treasury of the State, county or municipality. If said work is being done by contract, the pay roll of the contractor and the subcontractor shall be the basis of computation, and in the case of contract work consuming less than one year in performance the required payment into the accident fund shall be based upon the total pay roll. The contractor and any subcontractor shall be subject to the provisions of the act, and the State for its general fund, the county or municipal corporation shall be entitled to collect from the contractor the full amount payable to the accident fund, and the contractor, in turn shall be entitled to collect from the subcontractor his proportionate amount of the payment. The provisions of this section shall apply to all extra hazardous work done by contract, except that in private work the contractor shall be responsible, primarily and directly, to the accident fund for the proper percentage of the total pay roll of the work and the owner of the property affected by the contract shall be surety for such payments. Whenever and so long as, by State law, city charter or municipal ordinance, provision is made for municipal employees injured in the course of employment, such employees shall not be entitled to the benefits of this act and shall not be included in the pay roll of the municipality under this act. merce. Interstate com- SEC. 18. The provisions of this act shall apply to employers and workmen engaged in intrastate and also in interstate or foreign commerce, for whom a rule of liability or method of compensation has been or may be established by the Congress of the United States, only to the extent that their mutual connection with intrastate work may and shall be clearly separable and distinguishable from interstate or foreign commerce, except that any such employer and any of his workmen working only in this State may, with the approval of the department, and so far as not forbidden by any act of Congress, voluntarily accept the provisions of this act by filing written acceptances with the department. Such acceptances, when filed with and approved by the department, shall subject the acceptors irrevocably to the provisions of this act to all intents and purposes as if they had been originally included in its terms. Payment of premium shall be on the basis of the pay roll of the workmen who accept as aforesaid. not Works extrahazardous. SEC. 19. Any employer and his employees engaged in works not extra hazardous may, by their joint election, filed with the department, accept the provisions of this act, and such acceptances, when approved by the department, shall subject them irrevocably to the provisions of this act to all intents and purposes as if they had been originally included in its terms. Ninety per cent of the minimum rate specified in section 4 shall be applicable to such case until otherwise provided by law. SEC. 20. Any employer, workman, beneficiary, or person feeling aggrieved at any decision of the department affecting his interests under this act may have the same reviewed by a proceeding for that purpose, in the nature of an appeal, initiated in the superior court of the county of his residence (except as otherwise provided in subdivision (1) of section numbered (5) in so far as such decision rests upon questions of fact, or of the proper application of the provisions of this act, it being the intent that matters resting in the discretion of the department shall not be subject to review. The proceedings in every such appeal shall be informal and summary, but full opportunity to be heard shall be had before judgment is pronounced. No such appeal shall be entertained unless notice of appeal shall have been served by mail or personally upon some member of the commission within twenty days following the rendition of the decision appealed from and communication thereof to the person affected thereby. No bond shall be required, except that an appeal by the employer from a decision of the department under section 9 shall be ineffectual unless, within five days following the service of notice thereof, a bond, with surety satisfactory to the court, shall be filed, conditioned to perform the judgment of the court. Except in the case last named an appeal shall not be a stay. The calling of a jury shall rest in the discretion of the court except that in cases arising under sections 9, 15 and 16 either party shall be entitled to a jury trial upon demand. It shall be unlawful for any attorney engaged in any such appeal to charge or receive any fee therein in excess of a reasonable fee, to be fixed by the court in the case, and, if the decision of the department shall be reversed or modified, such fee and the fees of medical and other witnesses and the costs shall be payable out of the administration fund, if the accident fund is affected by the litigation. In other respects the practice in civil cases shall apply. Appeal shall lie from the judgment of the superior court as in other civil cases. The attorney general shall be the legal adviser of the department and shall represent it in all proceedings, whenever so requested by any of the commissioners. In all court proceedings under or pursuant to this act the decision of the department shall be prima facie correct, and the burden of proof shall be upon the party attacking the same. SEC. 21. The administration of this act is imposed upon a department, to be known as the industrial insurance department, to consist of three commissioners to be appointed by the governor. One of them shall hold office for the first two years, another for the first four years, and another for the first six years following the passage and approval of this act. Thereafter the term shall be six years. Each commissioner shall hold until his successor shall be appointed and shall have qualified. A decision of any question arising under this act concurred in by two of the commissioners shall be the decision of the department. The governor may at any time remove any commissioner from office in his discretion, but within ten days following any such removal the governor shall file in the office of the secretary of state a statement of his reasons therefor. The commission shall select one of their members as chairman. The main office of the commission shall be at the State capitol, but branch offices may be established at other places in the State. Each member of the commission shall have power to issue subpœnas requiring the attendance of witnesses and the production of books and documents. Assistants. SEC. 22. The salary of each of the commissioners shall be thirty-six Salaries. hundred dollars per annum, and he shall be allowed his actual and necessary traveling and incidental expenses; and any assistant to the commissioners shall be paid for each full day's service rendered by him, his actual and necessary traveling expenses and such compensation as the commission may deem proper, not to exceed six dollars per day to an auditor, or five dollars per day to any other assistant. SEC. 23. The commissioners may appoint a sufficient number of auditors and assistants to aid them in the administration of this act, at an expense not to exceed $5,000 per month. They may employ one or more physicians in each county for the purpose of official medical examinations, whose compensation shall be limited to five dollars for each examination and report therein. They may procure such record books as they may deem necessary for the record of the financial transactions and statistical data of the department, and the necessary documents, forms and blanks. They may establish and require all employers to install and maintain an uniform form of pay roll. SEC. 24. The commission shall, in accordance with the provisions of Regulations, this act: 1. Establish and promulgate rules governing the administration of this act. 2. Ascertain and establish the amounts to be paid into and out of the accident fund. 3. Regulate the proof of accident and extent thereof, the proof of death and the proof of relationship and the extent of dependency. 4. Supervise the medical, surgical and hospital treatment to the intent that same may be in all cases suitable and wholesome. 5. Issue proper receipts for moneys received, and certificates for benefits accrued and accruing. 6. Investigate the cause of all serious injuries and report to the governor from time to time any violations or laxity in performance of protective statutes or regulations coming under the observation of the department. 7. Compile and preserve statistics showing the number of accidents occurring in the establishment or works of each employer, the liabilities and expenditures of the accident fund on account of, and the premium collected from the same, and hospital charges and expenses. 8. Make annual reports to the governor (one of them not more than sixty nor less than thirty days prior to each regular session of the legis lature) of the workings of the department, and showing the financial status and the outstanding obligations of the accident fund, and the statistics aforesaid. SEC. 25. Upon the appeal of any workman from any decision of the department affecting the extent of his injuries or the progress of the same, the court may appoint not to exceed three physicians to examine the physical condition of the appellant, who shall make to the court their report thereon, and they may be interrogated before the court by or on behalf of the appellant in relation to the same. The fee of each shall be fixed by the court, but shall not exceed ten dollars per day each. SEC. 26. Disbursements out of the funds shall be made only upon warrants drawn by the State auditor upon vouchers therefor transmitted to him by the department and audited by him. The State treasurer shall pay every warrant out of the fund upon which it is drawn. If, at any time, there shall not be sufficient money in the fund on which any such warrant shall have been drawn wherewith to pay the same, the employer on account of whose workman it was that the warrant was drawn shall pay the same, and he shall be credited etc. Medical board. Disbursements. |