In force2020 Revised Edition

Contents

Work Injury Compensation Act 2019 · 2020 Revised Edition · Part 2 · Compensation for Work Injury

10. Employer’s liability to compensate for diseases

(1)

Subject to subsections (2), (3), (4) and (5) and section 11, where incapacity or death of an employee results from a disease contracted in the circumstances mentioned in paragraph (a), (b) or (c), compensation is payable as if the disease were a work injury and this Act applies accordingly:

(a)

the employee, while employed in any occupation specified in the second column of the Second Schedule, contracts an occupational disease specified for that occupation;

(b)

the employee, after ceasing to be employed in an occupation specified in the second column of the Second Schedule, contracts an occupational disease specified for that occupation within the limitation period for that disease;

(c)

the employee contracts, on or after 1 June 2012, a disease that —

(i)

is not specified in the first column of the Second Schedule; and

(ii)

is directly attributable to an exposure to a chemical or biological agent and the exposure arises out of and in the course of the employee’s employment.

(2)

When an employee —

(a)

enters into a contract of service with any employer to work in any occupation specified in the second column of the Second Schedule; or (b)is, with the employee’s consent, transferred by the employer to such an occupation, the employee must, if requested to do so by the employer, submit to examination by a health professional paid for by the employer.

(3)

No compensation is payable by an employer under this section in respect of the incapacity or death of an employee resulting from —

(a)

an occupational disease specified in the first column of the Second Schedule for an occupation if —

(i)

the employee is, on or after 1 June 2012, employed in that occupation by the employer;

(ii)

the employee contracts the occupational disease on or after 1 June 2012; and

(iii)

the employee’s incapacity commences or death happens, after the end of the limitation period for that occupational disease; or

(b)

a disease mentioned in subsection (1)(c), if the employee’s incapacity commences or death happens more than one year after the employee ceases to be exposed to the chemical or biological agent mentioned in subsection (1)(c).

(4)

Subsection (3) does not apply to the death of an employee where the death is preceded, whether immediately or not, by any period of incapacity in respect of which compensation is payable under subsection (1).

(5)

In this section, the limitation period for an occupational disease specified for an occupation is the period specified in the third column of the Second Schedule for that disease, starting on the day after the employee who contracts that occupational disease had ceased to be employed in that occupation.

Terms defined in this Act

contract of service
Defined · s 2
“contract of service” has the meaning given by the Employment Act 1968;
Open s 2
employee
Defined · s 3
“employee” means an individual who has entered into or works under a contract of service with an employer and —(a)includes every employee of the Government in a class or description declared by the President to be employees for the purposes of this Act; but(b)does not include any class of individuals specified in the Third Schedule;
Open s 3
employer
Defined · s 3
“employer” means any person (A) who employs an individual (B) under a contract of service and includes —(a)the Government, if B belongs to a class or description of employees of the Government declared to be employees for the purposes of this Act under paragraph (a) of the definition of “employee”;(b)the legal personal representative of A, if A is deceased;(c)a duly authorised agent or manager of A;(d)the person who owns or is carrying on, or for the time being is responsible for the management of, the profession, business, trade or work in which B is engaged; and(e)where B is employed for the purpose of any game or recreation and engaged or paid through a club, the manager or members of the managing committee of that club.
Open s 3
health professional
Defined · s 2
“health professional” means —(a)a registered medical practitioner under the Medical Registration Act 1997 and includes any person exempted from registration under that Act; or(b)a registered dentist under the Dental Registration Act 1999,and, in relation to compensation for medical treatment mentioned in section 16(1)(b), includes any medical practitioner or dentist registered to practise under the laws of the jurisdiction where the medical treatment is received;
Open s 2
occupational disease
Defined · s 2
“occupational disease” means any condition specified in the first column of the Second Schedule;
Open s 2
work injury
Defined · s 2
“work injury”, in relation to an individual, means personal injury that is caused to the individual by an accident arising out of and in the course of the individual’s employment;
Open s 2