TYPES OF DISABLEMENT IN WORKMEN COMPENSATION ACT

Introduction to types of disablement

Types of disablement in Workmen Compensation Act is ideally a subset of the Workmen Compensation Act,1923  which is the kind of labour law that benefits the company employees in case of a mishappening. Before knowing the types of disablement in the Workmen Compensation Act, we need to understand the concept of the act first which is as follows :

The Workers Compensation Act was made in passing in 1923. According to this act, the workman and/or the dependants get compensated in case of accidents or injuries causing either death or disablement of a person arising out of or during employment.

Furthermore, to understand the Workmen Compensation Act properly, we need to know what does the term workman and dependents, cover in its definitions :

WORKMAN

To be a “workman” within the meaning of section 2(1)(n) of the worker’s compensation act, a person should –

1. Be employed

2. His employment should not be of a casual nature

3. Be employed for the employer’s trade or business

4. The capacity in which he works should be one set out in the list in Schedule II of the Act.

DEPENDENTS

Whereas, for the Act dependents have been grouped into two classes :

A. Those who are considered dependents without any proof, and

B. Those who must prove that they are dependents.

1. The first category however, includes :

•  a widow 
•  a minor legitimate son 
•  an unmarried legitimate daughter 
• or a widowed mother

2. The following are included in the second group if they were wholly or partially dependant on the earnings of the workers at the time of his or her death in the business;

•  a widower 
•  a parent other than a widowed mother 
•  a minor illegitimate son 
• an unmarried illegitimate daughter 
• or a daughter legitimate or illegitimate if married and minor or if widowed 
•  and a married brother or unmarried sister or widowed sister, if a minor 
•  a widowed daughter – in – law 
•  a minor child of a predeceased son 
•  a minor child of a predeceased daughter where no parent of the child is alive 
•  a paternal grandparent, if no parent of the workman is alive. 

SCOPE AND COVERAGE(Types Of Disablement In Workmen Compensation Act)

The act extends to the whole of India and applies to any person – who is employed, otherwise than in a clerical capacity, in the railways, factories, mines, plantations, mechanically propelled vehicles, loading and unloading work on a ship, construction, maintenance and repairs of roads, bridges, etc, electricity generation, cinemas, catching or training of wild elephants, circus, and other hazardous occupations and employments specified in Schedule II to the Act.

However, under subsection (3) of section 2 of the Act, the state governments are empowered to extend the scope of the Act to any class of persons whose occupations are considered hazardous after giving three months’ notice in the Official Gazette. 

The Workers Compensation Act, however, does not apply to members serving in the Armed Forces of the Indian Union, and employees covered under the provisions of the Employees’ State Insurance Act, 1948 as disablement and dependants benefit are available under this Act 

Object of Types Of Disablement In Workmen Compensation Act

The objective of the Act is, therefore, to impose an obligation upon employers to pay compensation to workers for accidents arising out of and in the course of employment in the business. The scheme of the Act is not to compensate the workman instead of wages, but to pay compensation for the injury sustained to him. 

As a result, there are situations where employees negotiate or justify their injury so that their jobs do not affect them. This conversation may include various models of negotiation.

Types Of Disablement In Workmen Compensation Act, 1923

DISABLEMENT :

Disablement is whereas termed as the lack of efficiency to work or move. In respect of the types of disablement in the Workmen Compensation Act, disablement is coined as the reduction in the earning capacity of the employees due to the happening of an event or accident occurring during employment which is compensated by the employers under the worker’s compensation act.

This must be noted that the act leads to the step of taking care of the employees so that they work willingly which is further elaborated in employee retention meaning.

Classification/Types Of Disablement In Workmen Compensation Act  :

Furthermore, Types of Disablement in the Workmen Compensation Act can be classified into –

A) Total disablement

B) Partial disablement

Which can be further categorized as a) Temporary  disablement

                                                                b) Permanent disablement

NOTE : Whether a type of disablement in Workmen Compensation Act is total or partial depends on the efficiency or the working capacity of the employee which he/she was able to do before the respective accident or the injury.  Also, the difference between temporary and permanent types of disablement in the workmen compensation act is defined by the duration for which the employee is injured. 
For example, A lifetime problem in the working capacity of a person is considered as permanent disablement under types of disablement in the workmen compensation act.

A)   TOTAL DISABLEMENT

 i)  Total disablement ( permanent ) :

As the name suggests, total permanent in types of disablement in workmen compensation act states a condition when the employee faces a lifetime injury or the life pending in his company due to the accident along with a reduction in his major efficiency to work.

For example: If Mr X works in a marketing department and comes across an accident leading to paralysis in his leg. Therefore, in such a case he cannot continue his fieldwork.

iI)  Total disablement (temporary) :

Now, total temporary in types of disablement in workmen compensation act refers to a situation when the employee suffers a major reduction in his work which he did before the injury but for a temporary basis.

For example: In the above-mentioned example if Mr X meets an accident resulting in a fracture in his leg,  in that case, he cannot continue his fieldwork but for a temporary basis.

B)    PARTIAL DISABLEMENT(Types Of Disablement In Workmen Compensation Act)

i)  Partial disablement (permanent):

Partial permanent in types of disablement in workmen compensation act occurs when an employee’s capacity to work compromises or decreases as compared to the work done by him before the injury but for a lifetime.

For example: If Rahul is a data entry operator and loses his left hand in an accident. Being a right-handed person, he will be able to perform his task but with a reduction in his efficiency for his whole life which is termed as partial permanent disablement.

chart explanation for Types Of Disablement In Workmen Compensation Act

Furthermore, there is a permanent partial disability chart time for which the employees are entitled to the number of weeks for permanent partial disability. As a result, to get the partial loss of use, multiply the percentage of loss by the total number of weeks assigned for a total loss to determine the number of weeks of permanent partial disability to which the employee is entitled.

Total loss = percentage of loss x number of weeks

• Firstly, two columns in the above table of permanent partial disability chart explain the number of weeks for which the employees get benefits in correspondence to their respective loss of body part. 
• Likewise, the next two columns define the maximum number of weeks for which the employees get the benefit depending on the percentage of the loss. 
• If the rating or loss is less than 100%, then the percentage rating is multiplied by the number of weeks shown. 

For example, A 20% loss or loss of use, of a thumb would be computed as 20% of 60 weeks or 12 weeks of PPD benefits.

iI) Partial disablement (temporary) :

Secondly, temporary partial disablement in types of disablement in workmen compensation act does not affect the work of the employee to a great extent. As a result, it explains a reduction in the employee’s capacity to work that too for a temporary basis. In this case, he gets the least compensation depending on the type of accident.

For example: For a data entry operator, a fracture in his left hand for a temporary basis might capacitate his work as he used to do before the accident but it would be present only for a temporary basis which is referred to as temporary partial disablement of an employee.

 NOTE:  Depending on the types of disablement in the workmen compensation act and percentage of accident injury, the employee gets benefits.