WORKERS’ COMPENSATION.

Otago Witness, Issue 3148, 15 July 1914, Page 31

WORKERS’ COMPENSATION.

PROBABLE NEW POLICY. (From Oun Own Correspondent.) WELLINGTON, July 11. “We are not giving our workers wh» are incapacitated through accident as much compensation as is given to disabled workers in Russia,” declared Mr Poland in the House yesterday. “In Russia they are given half wages, and all medical expenses are paid for six months. In Belgium they get medical aid until thd final cure or until the decision of payment * as compensation. It is not possible for a working man who is laid aside by an accident and who is in receipt of half wages to maintain his wife and family and pay medical expenses and go on in a solvent condition.” In reply, the Minister (the Hon. Mr Fisher) said he thought there was a good deal in the contention, but if the conditions were worse than in Russia they were only a legacy from the previous Government. He hoped to make a complete change in the system of the office, realising that the accident insurance business of the office w r as not satisfactory. Premiums amounted to £24,000 last year, and the amount of settlement was £12,000, while the cost of running the business was about £I2OO.