Chapter 236. Grant ing to certain employees of the United States the right to receive from it compensation for injuries sustained in the course of their employment
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CHAP. 236.— An Act Grant ing to certain employees of the United States the right to receive from it compensation for injuries sustained in the course of their employment. May 30, 1908.[[H. R. 2144](/us/bill/70/hr/2144).][[Public No. 176](/us/pl/70/176).] *Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled*, That when, on or afterGovernment employees.Compensation to certain, for injuries sustained during employment.Character of work specified.
August first, nineteen hundred and eight, any person employed by the United States as an artisan or laborer in any of its manufacturing establishments, arsenals, or navy-yards, or in the construction of river and harbor or fortification work or in hazardous employment on construction work in the reclamation of arid lands or the management and control of the same, or in hazardous employment under the Isthmian Canal Commission, is injured in the course of such employment, such employee shall be entitled to receive for one year thereafter,Time limit. unless such employee, in the opinion of the Secretary of Commerce and Labor, be sooner able to resume work, the same pay as if he continued to be employed, such payment to be made under such regulations as the Secretary of Commerce and Labor may prescribe: *Provided*,*Proviso.*Restriction.
That no compensation shall be paid under this Act where the injury is due to the negligence or misconduct of the employee injured, nor unless said injury shall continue for more than fifteen days. All questions of negligence or misconduct shall be determined by the Secretary of Commerce and Labor. Sec. 2. That if any artisan or laborer so employed shall die during theCompensation to widow, etc. said year by reason of such injury received in the course of such employ-ment 557 , leaving a widow, or a child or children under sixteen years of age, or a dependent parent, such widow and child or children and dependent parent shall be entitled to receive, in such portions and under such regulations as the Secretary of Commerce and Labor may prescribe, theRegulations. same amount, for the remainder of the said year, that said artisan or laborer would be entitled to receive as pay if such employee were alive and continued to be employed: *Provided*, That if the widow shall die*Proviso.*Remaining beneficiaries to receive deceased widow’s portion. at any time during the said year her portion of said amount shall be added to the amount to be paid to the remaining beneficiaries under the provisions of this section, if there be any.
Sec. 3. That whenever an accident occurs to any employee embracedReports of injuries. within the terms of the first section of this Act, and which results in death or a probable incapacity for work, it shall be the duty of the official superior of such employee to at once report such accident and the injury resulting therefrom to the head of his Bureau or independent office, and his report shall be immediately communicated through regular official channels to the Secretary of Commerce and Labor.Character of reports.
Such report shall state, first, the time, cause, and nature of the accident and injury and the probableduration of the injury resulting therefrom; second, whether the accident arose out of or in the course of the injured person’s employment; third, whether the accident was due to negligence or misconduct on the part of the employee injured; fourth, any other matters required by such rules and regulations as the Secretary of Commerce and Labor may prescribe. The head of each Department or independent office shall have power, however, to charge a special official with the duty of making such reports.
Sec. 4. That in the case of any accident which shall result in death,Affidavit filed in case of death. the persons entitled to compensation under this Act or their legal representatives shall, within ninety days after such death, file with theTime limit. Secretary of Commerce and Labor an affidavit setting forth their relationship to the deceased and the ground of their claim for compensation under the provisions of this Act. This shall be accompaniedPhysician’s certificate.Affidavit in ease of injury. by the certificate of the attending physician setting forth the fact and cause of death, or the nonproduction of the certificate shall be satisfactorily accounted for.
In the case of incapacity for work lasting more than fifteen days, the injured party desiring to take the benefit of this Act shall, within a reasonable period after the expiration of such time, file with his official superior, to be forwarded through regular official channels to the Secretary of Commerce and Labor,Contents of affidavit. etc. an affidavit setting forth the grounds of his claim for compensation, to be accompanied by a certificate of the attending physician as to the cause and nature of the injury and probable duration of the incapacity, or the nonproduction of the certificate shall be satisfactorily accounted for.
If the Secretary of Commerce and Labor shall findDetermining compensation. from the report and affidavit or other evidence produced by the claimant or his or her legal representatives, or from such additional investigation as the Secretary of Commerce and Labor may direct, that a claim for compensation is established under this Act, the compensation to be paid shall be determined as provided under this Act and approved for payment by the Secretary of Commerce and Labor. Sec. 5.
That the employee shall, whenever and as often as requiredMedical examination. by the Secretary of Commerce and Labor, at least once in six months, submit to medical examination, to be provided and paid for under the direction of the Secretary, and if such employee refuses to submit toRefusal to be examined. or obstructs such examination his or her right to compensation shall be lost for the period covered by the continuance of such refusal or obstruction. Sec. 6. That payments under this Act are only to be made to thePayments to beneficiaries, etc. beneficiaries or their legal representatives other than assignees, and shall not be subject to the claims of creditors. 558 Sec. 7.
That the United States shall not exempt itself from liabilityContracts exempting from liability void. under this Act by any contract, agreement, rule, or regulation, and any such contract, agreement, rule, or regulation shall be pro tanto void. Sec. 8. That all Acts or parts of Acts in conflict herewith or providingRepeal. a different scale of compensation or otherwise regulating its payment are hereby repealed. Approved, May 30, 1908.