to receive two-thirds of his weekly wage to an

amount not exceeding $3,500.

3. Permanent partial disability entitles the employee to receive two-thirds of his weekly wage for varying

periods ranging from 60 weeks for loss of thumb to 312 weeks for loss of an arm.

In the case of death, compensation to the employee's dependent relatives is provided according to a fixed schedule. In New Jersey the scale runs as follows: For one dependent 35 per cent of wages earned until remarriage of widow or attainment of age of 18 by child. From this it increases by a sliding scale to a payment of 60 per cent of wages earned in case of six dependents. In any case, payments are not to exceed 300 weeks.

In New York the death compensation ranges from 30 to 66 per cent of wages as a maximum, and weekly payments are to continue until dependency ceases. In other states there are other variations, but enough has been cited to give a general idea of the liberality of these laws.

§ 283. Who Are Entitled to Compensation

It is generally held that in order to be an employee entitled to compensation the man must be regularly employed, and must be subject to the employer's orders as to how the work shall be done. Independent contractors and subcontractors are not employees. But the employees of subcontractors may recover compensation from the main contractor as though they were his employees. (See §§ 259, 260.)

Where there is a dispute between the employer and the employee over the amount of compensation which is due under the act, most of these acts provide for arbitration. Some of the acts provide that at any time an employer may agree with his employees to appoint a standing arbitration committee which shall decide all disputes that may arise in the future.

The law usually requires the employer to report all accidents to the Compensation Commission within a certain time after their occurrence, on penalty of paying a severe fine if he fails to comply.

Where one injury results from another, the first one being the result of the accident, the compensation must cover both. For instance, an employee was paralyzed in an accident and died of blood-poisoning from a bed-sore which came because he had to lie in one position all the time. His relatives were allowed compensation for his death."

If the employee was not strong physically, a fact which rendered him more prone to accident, it would make no difference in his right to compensation for the injury. In a Massachusetts case, a delicate woman named Honora Madden, who was employed as a carpet sewer, brought on angina pectoris by pulling heavy carpets across the table in the course of her work. It was admitted that if she had been stronger the exertion would not have hurt her. She was allowed full compensation.R

§ 284. Employer's Defenses Taken Away by the New Act This scheme of compensation is not made compulsory, but the same effect is accomplished by taking away all of the defenses, i.e, assumption of risk (§ 276), contributory negligence (§ 277), and the fellow-servant rule (§ 278), which the employer had at common law. The result is that the employer's chances of escaping the payment of heavy damages in a suit at law are so slight that most employers prefer to take advantage of the act.

The employer comes into the scheme by taking out insurance, or giving security for the payment of claims required by the act. After he has done this, it is assumed that each

Burn's Case, 218 Mass. 8.
Madden's Case, 22 Mass. 487

of his employees has also consented to come under the scheme unless the employee at the time he enters the employment files notice to the contrary with the employer. In New Jersey, every agreement of employment is deemed to have been made under the act, unless at the time of making the contract one of the parties notifies the other in writing that he refuses to accept the agreement under the terms of the act.

Employees Cannot Give Up Right. The acts also provide that the employee cannot make an agreement giving up his right to compensation. If he makes one, it will have no binding effect on him, and he may claim the compensation just the same.

Notes:

1. Every employer of labor should inform himself as
to his responsibility under the laws of his state.
2. It is cheaper for the employer to enter the compen-
sation scheme than to take the alternative. Where
the acts allow it, most employers will find it
cheaper to insure with the State Fund or some
good insurance company than to risk paying for
injuries.

3. An employer should select reputable physicians and
notify his employees to go to them, when the act
makes him responsible for medical attendance.
This will protect both himself and his employees
against overcharge or malpractice.

$285. Third Persons

Except under the workmen's compensation acts, the employer is not responsible to his employees for the acts of third persons over whom he had no control. If a train robber were to hold up a train and shoot the engineer, the railroad company would not be responsible for the affair to either employees who were hurt or passengers who were robbed.

The employer is, on the other hand, responsible to third persons for any injuries caused to them by his employees in performing their duties. If the injury is the result of some act of the employee which has no connection with his duties as an employee, the employer is not liable. If, for example, the employee should injure the third person in a fight over some personal quarrel, or in playing a practical joke, the employer could not be held to have had any connection with the matter. (See § 136.)

Where an employer is liable to a third person for injuries caused by his employees, if the third person was careless in any way that contributed to the accident, he would be prevented from recovering damages from the employer. The contributory negligence rule (§ 277) still stands in all cases so far as third persons are concerned.

REVIEW QUESTIONS

1. What three common law rules relieved the employee of responsibility for accidents? Explain the working of each.

2. What two classes of modern law modify the injustice of the common law rules as to accidents to workers? What is the theory of these modern laws?

3. What are the special features of the workmen's compensation act of your own state?

4. What are the special features of the employers' liability act of your own state?

5. Who are employees? Who are entitled to damages or compensation for an injury? What must the injured workman prove to secure damages for a personal injury in your state? 6. What should a workman, injured while employed by one not insured under workmen's compensation act, do in your state? 7. When is an employer responsible to third persons for injuries. caused by his employees?

8. If a woman offers her neighbor's cook higher wages so that she leaves, is she liable to her neighbor in damages?

PART VIII

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