CASUAL WORKERS' COMPENSATION.

Press, Volume LXVIII, Issue 20612, 30 July 1932, Page 14

CASUAL WORKERS' COMPENSATION.

EMPLOYERS NOT LIABLE IN ALL CASES. SCOPE OF ACT EXPLAINED. bearing that in cases of death or injury they would be liable for compensation under the Workers' Compensation Act, many householders who have suitable work available on their own properties have been unwilling to entrust it to relief workers. In actual fact the scope of tho Act does not cover all classes of private employment, and it was pointed out to Tim Piikss yesterday that in many eases householders could safely give work to unemployed men without any obligations under the Act. Occupations Specified. In Section 3 of the Act it is specifically stated thai its provisions apply only to the employment of a worker:— (1) In any trade or business carried on by the employer; and (2) In any of tho following occupations, whether carried on for the purposes of tho employer's trade or business or not: Mining. Quarrying. Excavation. The cutting of standing timber, including the cutting of scrub and clearing land of stumps and logs. The erection or demolition of any building or structure. The manufacture or use of any explosive. The charge or use of any machinery in motion or driven by steam or other mechanical power. The driving of any vehicle, drawn jr propelled by horse-power or mechanical power. Domestic service, in which the employment or engagement is for a period of not less than three days. Any occupation in which a worker incurs a risk of falling any distance exceeding 12ft, if the injury or death of the worker results from such a fall. Work in The Garden. The typo of work most often available for unemployed men is gardening of one kind or another. Ordinary gardening or clearing work, provided it does not entail the worker mounting more than 12 feet from the ground or cutting timber, stumps, or logs, is clearly not within tho scope of the Act since according to the judgment of Mr Justice Frazer, in the case Allison v. Milsom (1923) a gardener is a menial and not a domestic, servant. "A domestic servant is an indoor servant, one whose duties are primarily in connexion with tho house of his master," stated his Honour in this judgment. Even where the worker' is a domestic servant, the employer is not liable for compensation in case of death or injury, if the employment is for a period of less than three days. Painters, carpenters, or hedge-cutters may be given employment, without any obligation under the Act, provided that in no case does tho worker incur the risk ot falling any distance exceeding 12 feet and provided that, in the case of carpenters, the work is not "the erection or demolition of any building or structure." It is, of course, plain under SubSection 1 of Section 3 of the Act that if tho worker is following the trade or business of tho employer, the employer is in all cases liable for compensation. If a man was engaged to do garden work by a commercial gardener, the employer would certainly be liable. Insurance Cover. If there is any possibility of an engagement lasting for more than three days, or that it may be a regularly recurring engagement such as for a day a week, an insurance cover can be obtained for a premium of 10s, which will insure an employer against liability if the wages paid do not exceed £IOO a year. This premium is applicable to persons engaged as domestic servants, private gardeners, and general "handymen" about a private house or garden.