Sub-contractors.—If the principal contracts with a sub-contractor for the execution of the whole or part of a contract, the principal will be liable to any man employed on the contract as if employed by him, the wages being calculated on what the man is actually earning from his own employer. If the contract relates to threshing, ploughing, or other agricultural work, the contractor providing and using the machinery driven by mechanical power, he alone is liable to any workman employed by him. The principal is entitled to indemni ficatien by any person liable to pay compensation independently of this provision, in default of agreement to be settled by Arbitration. The workman can proceed against the contractor and not the principal if he prefers. The accident must have occurred on or about the premises, the subject of the contract, or which are under the principal's control or management.
Bankruptcy of employer.—If the employer has insured himself against liability for compensation and becomes bankrupt, enters into a composition with his creditors, or if a company is being wound up, the rights of the employers against the insurers are transferred to the workmen, notwithstanding the bankruptcy and company laws. The insurers will then have the same right, remedies, and liabilities as the employer hail, but only to the extent of the amount insured. If the workmen claim more than this, they can prove for the balance in the bankruptcy or liquidation. A sum up to £100 due for compensation under the Act is to rank as a preferential payment, having priority in bankruptcy or winding up, if accrued before the date of the Receiving Order or the commencement of the winding up. Weekly payments are to be taken at a lump sum equivalent to the amount at which the employer .ould have freed himself by application under the Act. This provision is al ,o to apply to the Stannaries Act, 1887, and companies under that Act. But shall not apply where a contract has been entered into with insurers as above, nor where a company is being wound up voluntarily for reconstruction or amalgamation.
Against both employer and stranger.—If the accident has occurred so as to create a liability on the part of a stranger, then (1) the workmen can claim against both the stranger and the employer, but cannot get both damages and compensation. (2) The employer or principal or where there has been a sub-contract the sub-contractor who has paid compensation can claim against the stranger by action or by consent of the parties; the question can be settled by Arbitration under the Act.
Seamen.—The Act applies to masters, seamen, and apprentices in the sea service and apprentices in sea fishing, if they come under the derivation of workmen in the Act, and belong to a ship registered in the United Kingdom or any British ship owned, or where the manager has his principal place of business in the United Kingdom. The foregoing is subject, however, follows : (a) except where the master claims, the notice and claim may be served on the master, but if the accident happened and the incapacity commenced on the ship, no notice of the accident need be given ; (b) in case of death the notice can be given within six months of the claimant receiving notice of the death ; (c) if the injured person is discharged or left in a British Possession or foreign country, depositions may be taken by a judge or magistrate in the British Possession, or by th:t. British Consular Officer in the foreign country, and sent home to the Board of Trade ; these or certified copies are evidence in the case ; (d) if the deceased leaves no dependants and the owner of the ship is liable for the expenses of burial under the Shipping Act, 1894, no compensation is to be paid ; (e) no weekly payments shall be made during the time the owner is liable for maintenance under the Shipping Act of 1894 ; (f) the compensation is to be paid in full, notwithstanding the limitation of shipowner's liability in certain cases of loss of life, injury or damage under the Shipping Acts, but the limitation is to apply where an indemnity is sought under the Act in cases against both employer and a stranger ; (g) where the ship is lost with all hands, the claim can be made by the dependants within eighteen months from the date at which the ship is deemed to be lost, in the same way as wages under Section 174 of the Shipping Act, 1894. The Act does not apply to members of a fishing crew taking shares in the venture, but it does apply to pilots under Part X. of the Shipping Act, 1894. Where no owners reside in the United Kingdom a Court of Record in England or Ireland may orde: the arrest of any ship in port or within the three mile limit, until compensation or security is given. The person giving security is to be the Defendant in any proceedings. Section 692 of the Shipping Act, 1894, is also to apply as to a -rest of a ship.