Republic Act No. 4119

REPUBLIC ACT No. 4119

AN ACT TO FURTHER AMEND CERTAIN SECTIONS OF ACT NUMBERED THIRTY-FOUR HUNDRED AND TWENTY-EIGHT, OTHERWISE KNOWN AS THE WORKMEN'S COMPENSATION ACT, AS AMENDED.

Section 1. Section one of Act Numbered Thirty-four hundred and twenty-eight is amended to read as follows:

"Sec. 1. Employees included. This Act shall be applicable to all employees in industrial, commercial and agricultural establishments and in religious, charitable and educational institutions, hereinafter specified."

Section 2. Section three of the same Act, as amended, is further amended to read as follows:

"Sec. 3. Applicable to Government. This Act shall also be applicable to all officials, employees and laborers in the service of the National Government and its political subdivisions and instrumentalities: Provided, however, That officials, laborers, and employees insured with the Government Service Insurance System, and their dependents when entitled to the benefits of the said insurance system shall, in addition to the same, be entitled to the benefits granted by this Act."

Section 3. Section four-A of the same Act, as added by Republic Act Numbered Seven hundred seventy-two, is amended to read as follows:

"Sec. 4-A. Right to additional compensation. In case of the employee's death, injury or sickness due to the failure of the employer to comply with any law, or with any order, rule or regulation of the Workmen's Compensation Commission or the Bureau of Labor Standards or should the employer violate the provisions of Republic Act Numbered Six hundred seventy-nine and its amendments or fail to install and maintain safety appliances, or take other precautions for the prevention of accidents or occupational disease, he shall be liable to pay an additional compensation equal to fifty per centum of the compensation fixed in this Act."

Section 4. Section seven-A of the same Act, as added by Republic Act Numbered Seven hundred seventy-two, is amended to read as follows:

"Sec. 7-A. Bureau of Workmen's Compensation and Workmen's Compensation Commission. The Bureau of Workmen's Compensation, hereinafter referred to as the Bureau, and the Workmen's Compensation Commission attached thereto for a close working relationship as constituted and organized under the provisions and authority of Republic Act Numbered Nine hundred ninety-seven, as amended by Republic Act Numbered Twelve hundred forty-one, shall continue to exercise the powers, functions and duties under Act Numbered Thirty-four hundred and twenty-eight, as amended.

"The Chairman and the two associate commissioners shall have the same qualifications as those of judges of the court of first instance.

"Except as otherwise provided herein, the jurisdictions, powers and duties heretofore pertaining to the Commissioner and Deputy Commissioner of Workmen's Compensation under Republic Act Numbered Seven hundred and seventy-two shall be assumed and exercised by the Commission, which body is authorized to delegate the same to the extent that it shall remain as an appeal source with corresponding duties of promulgating related rules and regulations. The referees assigned to regional offices shall have the power to hear and decide all cases currently pending before said regional offices, which referees shall take jurisdiction thereof, administer and settle the same subject to appeal to the Commission in accordance with prescribed rules and regulations. Said referees shall assume original jurisdiction of all cases arising henceforth. The Commission may promulgate rules and regulations governing its internal functions as a quasi-judicial body including the power of each member to decide appealed cases from a referee, allowance for appeal from the decision of an individual member to the Commission en banc, and other allied rules covering jurisdiction to review, modify, or affirm all rules and regulations prepared by the Bureau."

Section 5. Section eight of the same Act, as amended, is further amended to read as follows:

"Sec. 8. Death benefit. If the disease contracted or injury received by the employees as provided in Section two hereof cause his death within two years from the date of such injury or sickness, the employer shall pay to the persons entitled thereto, or, in cases there shall be none, to the person representing the deceased employee the burial expenses in the amount of two hundred pesos, and shall also pay to or for the following persons, in the order of priority and during the periods hereinafter set forth, compensation equivalent to the following percentages of the average weekly wages of the employee as determined in Section nineteen of this Act:

Section 6. The first paragraph of Section twelve of the same Act, as amended by Republic Act Numbered seven hundred seventy-two, is further amended to read as follows:

"Sec. 12. Sundry provisions regarding death benefits. In computing death benefits, the average weekly wages of the deceased employee shall not be reckoned at more than fifty pesos nor less than fourteen pesos; but the total weekly compensation shall not in any case exceed the average weekly wages computed in accordance with Section nineteen of this Act, nor shall the compensation paid in any case exceed in its aggregate the sum of six thousand pesos.

"The bona fide payment of a death compensation by an employer to a dependent entitled thereto in the second place after another dependent or dependents shall protect and exonerate the employer, unless and until the dependent or dependents having priority right shall notify him of his or their claim.

"In the event of death occurring after a period of total or partial disability, the period of disability shall be deducted from the respective total periods established in Section ten of this Act.

"The compensation of a demented person shall be paid to the guardian of such person."

Section 7. Section thirteen of the same Act, as amended is further amended to read as follows:

"Sec. 13. Services, appliances and supplies. Immediately after an employee has suffered an injury or contracted sickness and during the subsequent period of disability, the employer or insurance carrier shall provide the employee with such services, appliances and supplies as the nature of his disability and the process of his recovery may require: and that which will promote his early restoration to the maximum level of his physical capacity.

"The word 'services' used herein shall include medical, surgical, dental, hospital and nursing attendance and treatment as well as the proper fitting and training in the use of appliances and the necessary training for purposes of rehabilitation; 'appliances' shall include crutches, artificial members and other devices of the same kind, and the replacements or repairs of such artificial members or such devices unless the replacement or repair is made necessary by the lack of proper care by the employee; and 'supplies' shall include medicines, as well as medical, surgical and dental supplies.

"In case the employer or insurance carrier cannot furnish the aforementioned services, appliances and supplies promptly, the injured or sick employee may acquire the same at the expense of the employer or insurance carrier.

"If it is shown before the Commission or its authorized representatives that the injured or sick employee voluntarily refused to accept without justifiable cause, the services, appliances and supplies provided by the employer or insurance carrier or voluntarily obstructed without justifiable cause the giving of such services, appliances and supplies, such refusal or obstruction shall be construed as a waiver of all or part of his rights to the same and in this case the employer or insurance carrier shall be liable only for the disability of any nature that would have ensued if the injured or sick employee had accepted the services, appliances and supplies tendered by the employer or insurance carrier: Provided, however, That the refusal as well as the kind of disability that would have been the result of the injury or illness if the injured or sick person had accepted such services, appliances and supplies shall set forth in an affidavit made within twenty-four hours after such refusal by the physician or other person called to render such services or furnish such appliances or supplies. What shall constitute justifiable cause shall be determined by the representative of the Commission who may, on his own initiative, determine the necessity, character and sufficiency of any service, appliance and supplies furnished by the employer or insurance carrier or acquired by the employee himself at the employer's or insurance carrier's expense, and order a change of such service, appliance and supplies when in his judgment such change is desirable or necessary.

"No claim for such services, appliances or supplies shall be valid and enforceable against the employer or insurance carrier unless the attending physician or other person concerned, within twenty days following the first treatment, attendance, or furnishing of supplies and thereafter within the same period following every treatment, attendance, or furnishing of supplies, furnish the employer or insurance carrier and the Commission a report of such injury and treatment on a form prescribed by the Commission.

"The liability of an employer or insurance carrier for the aforementioned services, appliances and supplies shall not be affected by the fact that his employee was disabled through the fault or negligence of a third party."

Section 8. Section fourteen of the same Act, as amended, is further amended to read as follows:

"Sec. 14. Total disability. In case the injury or sickness causes temporary total disability for labor, the employer shall, during such disability, pay to the injured employee a weekly compensation equivalent to sixty per centum of his average weekly wage but not less than fourteen pesos per week, except in the case provided for in the next following paragraph. No compensation shall be allowed for the first three calendar days of incapacity resulting from an injury except the benefits provided for in the preceding section; but if the incapacity extends beyond that period, compensation shall allowed from the first day of such incapacity. Such weekly payments shall in no case continue after the disability has ceased, nor shall the aggregate sum paid as compensation exceed in any case six thousand pesos. But no award of permanent disability shall take effect until after two weeks have elapsed from the date of the injury.

"In the case of an employee whose average weekly wages are less than fourteen pesos per week, the weekly compensation shall be the entire amount of such average weekly wages; but if the disability is permanent, the compensation shall be fourteen pesos in such case. In the event that the total disability begins after a period of partial disability, the amount of compensation due for the latter and for any other disability shall not exceed the maximum amount of six thousand pesos."

Section 9. Section sixteen of the same Act, as amended, is further amended to read as follows:

"Sec. 16. Partial disability. In case the injury or sickness causes partial disability for labor, the employer, during such disability and except as hereinafter provided, shall pay to the injured or sick employee for a period of not to exceed two hundred and eight weeks, beginning with the first day of disability, a weekly compensation equal to fifty per centum of the difference between his average weekly wages before the accident and the weekly wages which he could probably each thereafter; but not more than eighteen pesos per week. The weekly payments shall not in any case continue after the disability has ceased, and in case partial disability sets in after a period of total disability, such period of total disability shall be deducted from the total period of two hundred and eight weeks and the amount of the compensation paid shall not in any case be in excess of the total sum of six thousand pesos. No award for disability shall be made before a lapse of two weeks counted from the date of the injury."

Section 10. Section eighteen of the same Act, as amended by Republic Act Numbered Seven hundred seventy-two, is further amended to read as follows:

"Sec. 18. Amputation and non-scheduled disability. Amputation between elbow and wrist shall be considered an equivalent to the loss of a hand. Amputation between knee and ankle shall be considered as loss of a foot. Amputation at or above the elbow shall be considered as equivalent to the loss of an arm. Amputation at or above the knee shall be considered as equivalent to the loss of a leg.

"Compensation for the injuries above-specified shall exclude all other compensation except the benefits provided for in Sections thirteen, fourteen and fifteen.

"In case of an injury producing a serious disfigurement of the face or head, the Commission may, at the request of an interest party, determine and award such compensation as may seem fair and proper in view of the nature of the disfigurement, but which shall not exceed six thousand pesos.

"In all other cases of this kind of disability not mentioned in other sections of this Act, the compensation shall be fifty per centum of the difference between the average weekly wages of the injured person and his subsequent earning capacity in the same or some other employment, payable while the partial disability lasts; but subject to reconsideration of the degree of impairment by the Commission at the request of an interested party: Provided, however, That the weekly payments shall in no case be continued for a period longer than two hundred and eight weeks.

"The total compensation prescribed in this and the next preceding section and the total compensation prescribed in Section fourteen and fifteen of this Act, shall, together, not exceed the sum of six thousand pesos: Provided, however, That after the payment has been made for the period specified by the Act in each case, the Workmen's Compensation Commission may from time to time cause the examination of the condition of the disabled laborer, with a view to extending, if necessary, the period of compensation which shall not, however, exceed the said amount of six thousand pesos."

Section 11. Section twenty-three of the same Act, as amended by Commonwealth Act Numbered Two hundred ten, is further amended to read as follows:

"Sec. 23. Medical and rehabilitative examination. After receiving an injury or contracting sickness and during the period of his disability and rehabilitation, the laborer shall at reasonable times and places submit to examination by a duly qualified physician or surgeon and rehabilitation technician designated and paid by the employer or insurance carrier. The laborer shall be entitled to have a physician or surgeon and rehabilitation technician designated and paid by himself at such examination; but this right shall not be construed as denying to the physician or surgeon and rehabilitation technician of the employer or insurance carrier the right to visit the injured or sick laborer at any reasonable time and under any reasonable conditions during his total disability and period of rehabilitation. In case an injured or sick employee refuses to submit to, or does in any manner obstruct the examination mentioned without justifiable cause, his right to proceed under this Act shall be suspended until such refusal or obstruction shall cease, and no compensation shall be payable for the entire time of such obstruction."

Section 12. Section thirty of the same Act, as amended, is further amended to read as follows:

"Sec. 30. Security for payment of workmen's compensation. Employers shall secure the payment of compensation and other benefits to their employees or laborers and their dependents:

Section 13. Section thirty-one of the same Act, as amended, is further amended to read as follows:

"Sec. 31. Intervention of the Workmen's Compensation Commission. In case a laborer who suffers an accident or contracts an illness comprised within the provisions of Section two of this Act, or his dependents, contracts the services of a lawyer or other persons to help him or direct him in his claim for compensation against his employer, the fees of said lawyer or person which shall be chargeable against said employer shall not be more than five per cent of the total sum which said injured or sick laborer of his dependent in case of his death shall receive by way of compensation; but if his services shall take place in an appealed case, his fees shall not be in excess of ten per centum of said sum, and any person who, in violation of this provision, makes an excessive charge, shall be punished by a fine of not more than two hundred pesos."

Section 14. Paragraph (d) and (e) of Section thirty-nine of the same Act, as amended, is further amended to read as follows:

"Sec. 39. Definition of various words.

"(d) 'Employment' in case of private employers includes all employment or work at a trade, occupation or profession exercised by an employer except domestic service.

"(e) 'Public employment' signifies employment in the service of the National Government and its political subdivisions and instrumentalities. It does not include employment as public officer elected by the popular vote."

Section 15. Section forty-two of the same Act, as amended, is further amended to read as follows:

"Sec. 42. Law applicable to small private employers. All claims for compensation by reason of an accident in an enterprise, industry, or business carried on or in a trade, occupation or profession exercised by an employer whose capital amounts to less than ten thousand pesos or who regularly employs less than six employees and whose enterprise, industry or business is not hazardous or deleterious to employees, shall be governed by the provisions of Act Numbered Eighteen hundred and seventy-four and its amendments or those of the Civil Code of the Philippines: Provided, however, That the following enterprises or establishments shall be among those considered hazardous or deleterious to employees:

Section 16. Section forty-eight of the same Act, as amended by Republic Act Numbered Seven hundred seventy-two is further amended to read as follows:

"Sec. 48. Referees Duties and powers. There shall be appointed from members of the bar with at least five years of hearing experience or legal practice one or more referees for each regional office as the exigencies of the service may require who shall devote their entire time to the duties of their office and shall receive compensation of not less than forty-eight hundred pesos per annum. They shall assume original jurisdiction over all workmen's compensation cases in the regional offices where they are assigned ands shall be under the administrative supervision of the regional labor administrator but their decisions, orders and resolutions shall not be subject to the review of the said administrator but shall become final fifteen days from receipt thereof by the parties, unless appealed to the Commission within said period.

"There shall also be appointed in each regional office sufficient personnel to constitute a workmen's compensation unit to carry out workmen's compensation functions within the jurisdiction of such regional office. However, the personnel at present drawing salaries from the Workmen's Compensation Fund shall, upon approval of this Act, serve as the nucleus of such workmen's compensation units in their respective regional offices. The units so formed shall be under the technical and functional supervision of the Bureau."

Section 17. Sections fifty-one and fifty-five of the same Act, as amended, are further amended to read as follows:

"Sec. 51. Enforcement of award. As soon as a decision, order or award has become final and executory, the Commission or the duly deputized official in the regional offices under the Department of Labor, as the case may be, shall, motu propio or on motion of the interested party, issue a writ of execution requiring the sheriff of the proper officer to whom it is directed to execute said decision, order or award, pursuant to Rule thirty-nine of the Rules of Court of the Philippines.

"Sec. 55. Expenses of administration. There is hereby created a special fund to be known as the Workmen's Compensation Fund, which shall be under the custody and control of the Department of Labor, and shall be used exclusively for the payment of the expenses for the administration of this Act. All monies collected under Sections thirty-one, forty-four, forty-seven (6), fifty-four and fifty-six of this Act shall be paid into said fund: Provided, however, That the expenses of the Bureau of Workmen's Compensation and the Workmen's Compensation Commission shall be included in the annual budget of the Department of Labor: And provided, further, That the surplus amounts of the Workmen's Compensation Fund shall accrue to the fund for the rehabilitation of disabled men in industry.

"For every final decision or letter computation awarding compensation, the uninsured employer or insurance carrier against whom the decision or letter computation is made shall pay into the Fund the sum of one peso and an additional charge of one peso for every one hundred pesos of the entire amount of compensation to be paid: Provided, That the total amount to be paid under this paragraph shall not be less than five pesos.

"For every adjourned hearing, and for every decision of a referee affirmed by the Commission on review, the uninsured employer or insurance carrier making the request for adjournment or seeking such review shall pay into the Fund the sum of five pesos.

"If the monies in the Fund are not sufficient to cover the expenses of administration in any fiscal year, the Bureau shall determine as soon as possible the amount of the deficiency. The Bureau shall then assess upon and collect from each insurance carrier and each uninsured employer the proportion of such deficiency that the total premium collected by an insurance carrier for the year immediately preceding or the total insurance premium an uninsured employer would have paid for the same period, bears to the total insurance premiums collected by all insurance carriers plus the total premiums that would have been paid by the uninsured employers for the year immediately preceding. The amounts so collected shall be used to reimburse the National Treasury for the appropriations therefor made by the Government for the payment of the expenses for administering this Act.

"There is hereby created a committee composed of the head of the Bureau as chairman, two representatives of insurance carriers, and two representatives of uninsured employers, who shall be appointed by the Secretary of Labor which shall have the duty of advising the head of the Bureau in carrying out the purposes of this section.

"The members, unless government officials, shall be entitled to ten pesos per diem every time the committee meets."

Section 18. This Act shall take effect upon its approval.

Approved: June 20, 1964