How Much Should We Pay an Employee Injured on Duty? Seeking Legal and Practical Advice

Hi HR Community,

I need your advice on this one.

An employee of ours met with an accident while on duty and has broken his ankle. He was hospitalized, and his total liability (medical expenses) comes to around Rs. 40k. I want to know how much we are liable to pay as an organization.

Also, doctors have advised him not to work or move about for another 3 months. Do we have to pay the full salary for these 3 months? Is there any law that holds us liable for this?

Please reply ASAP as we need to finalize this.

PS: If there is any clause covering this kind of situation in the law, kindly specify.

Regards,
Deepa

Is the staff covered under ESIC, or have you taken any policy under Workmen's Compensation policy, or under a personal accident policy.

Thanks & Regards,

Amal Shere

No, Amal. In our company, employees who have completed one year are eligible for accident insurance. Unfortunately, this guy is not covered. So please tell me what do we do further...

Hi,

If an employee is not covered under any kind of insurance policy, then either his salary can be paid, or his medical expenses can be reimbursed by the company.

Regards,
Padmini.

Dear Deepa,

Henceforth, you need to change the policy in your organization, whether new or old. Whether it's one month or one year, all employees face the risk of accidents that never occur with prior notice and are never identified as covered or not covered under insurance, a situation you are currently facing. There should be either a Workers' Compensation (WCA) policy for ten unnamed persons for such purposes or a Personal Accident policy with 24-hour coverage, covering risks such as road travel under rastha aapatti. In a personal accident, the premiums are too low compared to the risks you carry. If this individual is covered under ESIC, please seek the help of an ESIC consultant. They will assist you in obtaining coverage for partial disablement and his leave payments once he is fit to return to duty. He will need to obtain a fitness certificate from an ESIC doctor after three months of recovery. Under ESIC, you will not need to make any salary payments during his absence; ESIC will handle them.

If there is no coverage, you will have to bear the costs and make his leave payment as a special case. There is no way out.

For the future, ensure to take out insurance. It not only covers the injury but also the absence due to injury.

Thanks & Regards,

Amal Shere

Hi Deepa,

I assume your organization falls under the definition of a factory as per the Factories Act. So, based on the above conversation, I find that you are not covered under ESIC nor do you have a group insurance plan. Therefore, you automatically fall under the Workmen's Compensation Act. Since the injury caused to your employee is in the course of and out of employment, you will need to pay him compensation in this case of Temporary Partial Disablement, as per the Workmen's Compensation Act.

Regards,
Rajendra

Hi Rajendra,

We are a private limited company and do not fall under the definition of a "factory." We have already covered a portion of his medical expenses on a non-refundable basis.

For temporary partial disablement, how much compensation are we liable to pay? Since he will be unable to work for three months, do we need to pay his full salary for the entire period or can we provide partial salary? Is there any specific law that addresses this issue?

Please provide your response.

Regards,
Deepa

Dear Deepa,

For the temporary disablement period, you may have to pay wages at the rate of 15 days' wages per month for the period of disablement, apart from the cost of hospital/other expenses.

Sajeev Kumar

Hi Sanjeev,

We have already borne part of the medical expenses. Do we need to bear it in full?

Rgds,
Deepa

Hi Sanjeev,

We have already borne part of his medical expenses. Do we need to bear it in full?

Regards,
Deepa