WORKMEN'S COMPENSATION ACT 1952

Workmen’s Compensation LAWS OF MALAYSIA REPRINT Act 273 WORKMEN’S COMPENSATION ACT 1952 Incorporating all amendments up to 1 January 2006 PUBLISHED BY THE COMMISSIONER OF LAW REVISION, MALAYSIA UNDER THE AUTHORITY OF THE REVISION OF LAWS ACT 1968 IN COLLABORATION WITH PERCETAKAN NASIONAL MALAYSIA BHD 2006 1 2 WORKMEN’S COMPENSATION ACT 1952 First enacted ... ... ... ... … … 1952 (F.M. Ordinance No. 85 of 1952) Revised ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 1982 (Act 273 w.e.f. 22 July 1982) PREVIOUS REPRINT First Reprint ... ... ... ... ... 2001 3 LAWS OF MALAYSIA Act 273 WORKMEN’S COMPENSATION ACT 1952 ARRANGEMENT OF SECTIONS Section 1 Short title PART I INTERPRETATION AND APPLICATION 2. Meaning of “workman” 3. Interpretation 3A. Power to exempt PART II WORKMEN’S COMPENSATION FOR INJURY 4. Employer’s liability for compensation 5. Compensation for occupational diseases 6. Compensation limited to injuries received at work 7. Persons entitled to compensation 8. Amount of compensation 9. Method of calculating earnings 10. Distribution of compensation 11. Compensation not to be assigned, attached or charged 12. Notice and claim 13. Notice to Commissioner by employer 14. Medical examination and treatment 15. Approved hospitals and special hospitals 4 Laws of Malaysia ACT 273 Section 16. Review 16A. Power of review 17. Commutation of half-monthly payments 18. Workman leaving Malaysia to reside elsewhere 19. Liability in case of workmen employed by contractors 20. Remedies both against employer and stranger 21. Bankruptcy of employer 22. Special provisions relating to seamen 23. Returns as to compensation 24. Contracting out 25. Commissioner may receive and pay to dependants money due to a dead workman from his employer 26. Compulsory insurance by employer P ART III THE COMMISSIONER AND ARBITRATORS 27. Commissioners to hold inquiries 28. Recording of agreements 29. Effect of failure to record an agreement 30. Arbitrator to decide when parties fail to agree 31. Agreement to be free of stamp duty 32. Appearance of parties 33. Experts to assist Arbitrator 34. Enquiry by Arbitrator 35. Powers of the Commissioner and of an Arbitrator 36. Arbitrator’s order to be sent to Commissioner 37. Costs 38. Power to submit cases 39. Appeal from Arbitrator 40. Enforcement of orders and agreements 41. Limitation of workman’s right of action Workmen’s Compensation Section 42. Reciprocal arrangements for payment of workman’s compensation. 43. Regulations 44. Repeal FIRST SCHEDULE SECOND SCHEDULE THIRD SCHEDULE 5 6 Laws of Malaysia ACT 273 Workmen’s Compensation 7 LAWS OF MALAYSIA Act 273 WORKMEN’S COMPENSATION ACT 1952 An Act to provide for the payment of compensation to workmen for injury suffered in the course of their employment. [Peninsular Malaysia—1 April 1953, L.N. 162/1953; Sabah and Sarawak—1 June 1981, P.U. (A) 157/1981] Short title 1. This Act may be cited as the Workmen’s Compensation Act 1952. PART I INTERPRETATION AND APPLICATION Meaning of “workman” 2. (1) In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires, the expression “workman”, subject to the proviso to this subsection, means any person who has, either before or after the commencement of this Act, entered into or works under a contract of service or of apprenticeship with an employer, whether by way of manual labour or otherwise, whether the contract is expressed or implied or is oral or in writing, whether the remuneration is calculated by time or by work done and whether by the day, week, month or any longer period: Provided that the following persons are excepted from the definition of “workman”— (a) any person employed otherwise than by way of manual labour whose earnings, calculated in accordance with section 9, exceed five hundred ringgit a month; 8 Laws of Malaysia ACT 273 (b) a person whose employment is of casual nature and who is employed otherwise than for the purposes of the employer’s trade or business, not being a person employed for the purposes of any game or recreation and engaged or paid through a club; (c) a domestic servant; (d) any person who is a member of the armed forces or of any visiting force lawfully present in Malaysia; (e) any person in the civil employment of Her Britannic Majesty’s Government in the United Kingdom, or in any other country of the Commonwealth whose contract of service was not made in Malaysia nor in Singapore; (f) a person employed, or selected for employment, in a civil capacity by the Government of Malaysia or by the Government of any State or by any local authority before 1 April 1953 in the application of this Act in Peninsular Malaysia, and before 1 January 1957 in the application of this Act in Sarawak where, in consequence of injury received by any such person in the discharge of his duties, a pension, gratuity or other allowance which would not be payable if such injury were received otherwise is paid to him or, in the case of his death, to any of his dependants as defined in this Act under any written law for the time being in force in Malaysia or any part thereof providing for the grant of such pension, gratuity or other allowance (this paragraph shall not apply in Sabah); (g) any police officer, and any other person engaged to perform police duties in accordance with the provisions of any written law while so performing such duties; (h) an out-worker; (i) a tributer; (j) any member of the family of the employer who dwells with him in his house; *(k) any class of persons whom the Minister may declare not to be workmen for the purposes of this Act. *NOTE—see P.U. (B) 641/1976 Workmen’s Compensation 9 (2) If in any proceedings for the recovery of compensation under this Act it appears to the Commissioner or an Arbitrator or the Court that the contract of service or apprenticeship under which the injured person was working at the time when the accident causing the injury happened was illegal, the Commissioner, the Arbitrator or the Court may, if having regard to all the circumstances of the case he or it thinks proper so to do, deal with the matter as if the injured person had at such time been a person working under a valid contract of service or apprenticeship. (3) Any reference to a workman who has been injured shall, unless the context otherwise requires, where the workman is dead, include a reference to his legal personal representative or to his dependants or any of them or to any public officer whom the Minister may appoint to act on behalf of the dependants of the workman. Interpretation 3. (1) In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires— “adopted” means— (a) in relation to Peninsular Malaysia, in reference to any child, a child adopted in accordance with the provisions of the Adoption Act 1952 [Act 257]; (b) *in relation to Sabah, in reference to any child, a child adopted or whose adoption has been registered in accordance with the provisions of any written law relating to the adoption of children from time to time in force in Sabah or where there is no written law then a child whom the Commissioner certifies as having been adopted, prior to the date of injury, in accordance with religious or racial custom; (c) in relation to Sarawak, in reference to any child, a child adopted in accordance with the provisions of any written law relating to the adoption of children from time to time in force in Sarawak; “adult” means a person who has completed his sixteenth year of age and “minor” means a person who has not completed his sixteenth year of age; *NOTE—For modification to Federal Territory of Labuan–see P.U. (A) 273/1984. 10 Laws of Malaysia ACT 273 “approved hospital” means a hospital declared to be such under subsection 15(1); “Arbitrator” means a person appointed by the Minister to be an arbitrator for workmen’s compensation for such area as may be specified in that appointment; “Commissioner” means— (a) in relation to Peninsular Malaysia, the Director General of Labour and all Deputy Directors General of Labour, State Directors of Labour and Assistant State Directors of Labour appointed under the Employment Act 1955[Act 265] and includes such Labour Officers appointed under the said Act as the Minister may declare to be vested with all or any of the powers conferred or duties imposed upon the Commissioner by this Act; (b) *in relation to Sabah, the Director of Labour appointed under the Labour Ordinance of Sabah [Sabah Cap. 67] and includes a Deputy Director, an Assistant Director and any Labour Officer appointed under the said Ordinance whom the Minister may declare to be vested with all or any of the powers conferred or duties imposed upon the Commissioner under this Act; (c) in relation to Sarawak, the Commissioner of Labour appointed under the Labour Ordinance of Sarawak [Swk Cap. 76] and includes a Deputy Commissioner, an Assistant Commissioner and any Labour Officer appointed under the said Ordinance whom the Minister may declare to be vested with all or any of the powers conferred or duties imposed upon the Commissioner under this Act; “dependant” means any member of the family of a deceased workman who wholly or in part depended upon his earnings at the time of his death or would but for the disablement due to the accident have been so dependent: Provided that a person shall not be deemed to be a partial dependant of another person unless he was dependant partially on contributions from that other person for the provision of the ordinary necessities of life; *NOTE—For modification to Federal Territory of Labuan–see P.U. (A) 273/1984. Workmen’s Compensation 11 “domestic servant” means a person employed exclusively in the work or in connection with work of a private dwelling house and not of any trade, business or profession carried on by the employer in such dwelling house and includes a cook, house servant (including bedroom and kitchen servants), waiter, butler, child’s or baby’s nurse, valet, footman, gardener, washerman or washerwoman, watchman, groom and driver or cleaner of any vehicle licensed for private use; “earnings” of a workman shall be deemed to include, in addition to his actual money earnings, any privilege or benefit the value of which is capable of being estimated in money, except— (a) a travelling allowance; (b) the value of any travelling concession; (c) a contribution paid by the employer towards any pension or provident fund; (d) a sum paid to the workman to cover any special expenses incurred by him by reason of the nature of his employment: Provided that in the case of temporary disablement such privileges and benefits as the injured workman or any of his dependants continue to enjoy during the period of his said disablement to work shall not be deemed to be benefits for the purpose of calculating earnings; “employer” includes the Government of Malaysia and the Governments of each of the States; in respect of civilian employees engaged in Malaysia or in Singapore of any visiting force lawfully present in Malaysia or of any person in the civil employment of the Government of any Commonwealth country, whose contract of service was made in Malaysia or in Singapore, the Government of that Commonwealth country; any local authority; any person or body of persons whether statutory or incorporated or not; the legal personal representative of a deceased employer; and in relation to a person employed for the purpose of any game or recreation and engaged or paid through a club, the manager or members of the managing committee of the said club: Provided that where the services of a workman are temporarily lent or let on hire to another person by the person with whom the 12 Laws of Malaysia ACT 273 workman has entered into a contract of service or apprenticeship, the latter shall, for the purposes of this Act, be deemed to continue to be the employer of the workman whilst he is working for that