Is owner entitled to give compensation if labour died in office

888 votes

yes, the owner is entitled to give compensation

Money given by employer to worker is only considered as
‘compensation’ under this act if it is given through the commissioner.
! Once the compensation is deposited with the Commissioner,
in case of the injured party being a workman, the
Commissioner can directly pay the money to him (s.8(6)).
! In case of payment made to a widow and other heirs of a
worker whose injury resulted in death, any such lump sum
payment already paid to the dependent of the deceased by
15 The wait for seven days is to give time for objections in case of fraud etc.
W&A
commissioner. Any direct payment made to such persons is
considered to be no payment of compensation under law.
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the employer cannot be deducted from actual amount of
compensation payable. (Section 8).16
! Rule 11 of the Karnataka Rules provide that
all workmen covered by the Act may register
with their employer and the commissioner the
names and addresses of their dependants.
In case of death of a worker, in an inquiry for the distribution
of compensation, if no other person makes a claim the
commissioner may presume the persons registered by the
deceased worker are the dependants.17
! After the compensation is deposited with the commissioner,
he may, if he thinks fit, call the dependants, to appear before
him, to decide how much compensation each one gets.
! The receipt given to the employer by the Commissioner on
payment of such compensation is proof enough of giving
compensation to the worker and the burden is no longer on
the employer.
! The practice in Karnataka is that 50% is given to the widow,
if any, of the deceased and the rest is distributed equally among
the dependants mentioned in section 2(d) of the Act
(mentioned above).
! After such hearing is done, and if the commissioner finds that
there is no dependant, then he must return the money to the
employer. Also, if there is any balance amount, the
commissioner must return the same to the employer.
! The employer may demand a detailed account of the
distribution of compensation.
! Where any lump sum compensation deposited with the
Commissioner is payable to a woman or person under legal
disability, it may be invested or otherwise dealt with by the
Commissioner for the benefit of such persons (s.8(7)). Under
Rule 10 of the Karnataka Rules, the Commissioner may invest
the compensation due to the deceased workmen’s dependents
only in (a) Government securities, or; (b) Government Savings
Bank, or; (c) Post Office Savings Bank. This Rule also applies
16 Kathelena Dias v. H.M. Coria and sons AIR 1951 Cal 877 followed in 1989
Lab IC 1399 17 In discussion with the labour officer it appears that this provision is not in
use, although as it is ‘law’ it may be found useful by some workers.
KAR
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where compensation is payable to a woman worker/ persons
under legal disabilities (i.e., workers who haven’t yet attained
adulthood).
Note: How much of compensation money is given in cash and how
much is invested is entirely at the discretion of the Commissioner.
But it fair to say that more investments are made in case of women
workers than men, although the Commissioner may also invest the
compensation amount in case of workmen. Also, in the case of
women beneficiaries, a larger percentage of the compensation
amount is invested and the remaining is given as cash, compared
to men. This is decided entirely on a case-to-case basis

Advocate Siddhant Sharma LawRato

630 votes

Since the death has happened during the working hours and in the campus of the company itself so you need to compensate the deceased family. There are two ways to compensate the deceased family one by giving them money which shall be the total of his annual salary which he could have earned in a year while working at your company which will come around 2 lakh considering the minimum wages which is required to be paid by every employer. Another option is giving a compensatory job to one of the person of the deceased family in your company.
You are also required to notify this accident to the Labour inspector as per law. Someone's death in the company premise is a criminal offence unless it is proved that the death did not occurred due to fault in safety measures taken by the company rather by the deceased mistake only.

Advocate Pulkit Prakash LawRato

766 votes

There is a legal obligation on you to pay since employee died while on duty. There is a mechanism for calculating the compensation. It is usually not very high. It is better you pay rather than spend money on court case. Payment of compensation will also earn you goodwill among your other employees and also from family of deceased employee.

Advocate Salim Ambar Inamdar LawRato