WORKMEN'S reference to the article on the doctrine of COMMON EMPLOYMENT will show that an eLaployee's right at common law to compensation from his employer in respect of injuries sustained during the course of his employment is extremely technical and limited. But, as explained under the heading of EMPLOYER'S LIA BILITY, that right has been considerably extended by the Employer's Liability Act. After that Act the employee, when a" workman," w as placed in a still more advantageous position, as a consequence of the legislation em bodied in the Workmen's Compensation Acts, 1897-1900. Now, under the Act of 1906, which repealed the two of 1897-1900, employees in general may be said to enjoy the benefit of this legislation. In fact an employee's rights against an employer for compensation for injuries now far exceed what they would have been at common law if thre had been no such doctrine therein as that of common employment. The provisions of the Act of 1906 are the subject of this article, which must be read with its continuation, under the same title, in the Appendix.
If in any employment a personal injury by accident arising out of, and in the course of the employment is caused to a workman, his employer is liable, subject to the exemptions hereinafter mentioned, to pay compensation in accordance with the scale and conditions set out below. The following are the The employer is not liable under the Act in respect of an injury which does not disable the workman for a period of at least one week from earning full wages at the work at which he was employed ; (b) when the injury was caused by the personal negligence or wilful act of the employer, or of some person for whose act or default the employer is responsible, nothing in the Act affects any civil liability of the employer, but in that case the workman may, at his option, either claim compensation under this Act, or take proceedings independently of the Act. But the employer is not liable
to pay compensation for an injury to a workman by accident arising out of and in the course of the employment both independently of and also under this Act; and he is not liable to any proceedings independently of the Act, except in case of such personal negligence or wilful act as already mentioned; (e) if it is proved that the injury to a workman is attributable to the serious and wilful misconduct of that workman, any compensation claimed in respect of that injury will, unless it results in death or serious and permanent dis ablement, will be disallowed. The expression " workman " does not include any person employed otherwise than by way of manual labour, whose re muneration exceeds £150 a year, or a person whose employment is of a casual nature and who is employed otherwise than for the purposes of the employer's trade or business, or a member of a police force, or an out-worker, or a member of the employer's family dwelling in his house ; but, save as aforesaid, means any person who has entered into or works under a contract of service or apprenticeship with an employer, whether by way of manual labour, clerical work, or otherwise, and whether the contract is expressed or implied, is oral or in writing. Any reference to a workman who has been injured includes, when he is dead, his personal representatives or his dependants, or other persons to whom or for whose benefit compensation is payable.