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Employees may sustain injuries when working. This is particularly the case in the construction industry. In the following, we will show you a brief overview of when may an employee succeed in their compensation claim and what should both employees and employers do to treat compensation.
1 | Situations you can claim compensation
In Employee’s Compensation Ordinance (Cap. 282) (“ECO”), compensation can be claimed if a personal injury is caused by an “accident arising out of and in the course of the employment”.
So what does that mean? It means as long as the employee acts for the employer’s business and its causes, the accidental injury caused by the such act would fall into the scope of compensation. The fact that the employee was acting against the law or without the employer’s instructions does not matter.
2 | Situations which your claim MAY FAIL
Despite suffering from an accidental injury, employees’ claims for compensation may still fail. In the following situation provided by ECO section 5 (2), no compensation will be given if:
The injury does not incapacitate the employee from earning full wages at work
The incapacity or death results from a deliberate self-injury
The employee falsely claimed to the employer that they do not suffer from incapacity or death caused by the injury
The injury, not resulting in death or serious and permanent incapacity, is caused by an accident which is directly attributable to the employee’s addiction to drugs or use of alcohol.
3 | What should the employee and employer do?
Employees should notify the employer of the work injury immediately. Additionally, they should receive medical treatment and send original medical certificates to the employer for compensation purposes. But employees should keep copies. To avoid disputes, employees should record the employment information (e.g. proof of employer-employee relationship).
Employers are obliged to notify Labour Department within 14 days after the accident using the prescribed form, no matter they need to pay compensation or not. Broadly speaking, the employer needs to:
- pay at the rate of four-fifths of the difference between the employee’s monthly salary at the time of the accident and his monthly salary during the period of his temporary incapacity
- medical expenses within 21 days after the employee has submitted the receipts for the said expenses, and
- compensation as stated in the Certificate of Compensation Assessment issued by the Labour Department within 21 days from the date of issue.
References:
Employees’ Compensation Ordinance (Cap. 282)
https://www.elegislation.gov.hk/hk/cap282
