WORKMEN’S COMPENSATION

(1) In this Ordinances, unless the context otherwise requires-

” adult” and ” minor” mean respectively a person who is not and a person who is under the age of fifteen years;

” Commissioner” means any person appointed under section 26 to be or to act as a Commissioner or as a Deputy Commissioner for Workmen’s Compensation, and includes any person appointed under section 27 to be or to act as an Assistant Commissioner for Workmen’s Compensation;

“compensation” means compensation as provided for in this Ordinance;

“dependant” means any of the following relatives of a deceased workman, namely :-

“employer” includes Her Majesty in Her Government of Ceylon and any body of persons whether corporate or unincorporated and any managing agent of an employer and the heirs, executors or administrators of a deceased employer, and, when the services of a workman are temporarily lent or let on hire to another person by the person with whom the workman has entered into a contract of service or apprenticeship, means such other person while the workman is working or him;

“local authority” includes a Municipal Council, an Urban Council and a Pradeshiya Shaba;

” managing agent ” means any person appointed or acting as the representative of another person for the purpose of carrying on such other person’s trade or business, but does not include an individual manager subordinate to an employer;

” partial disablement” means, where the disablement is of a temporary nature, such disablement as reduces the earning capacity of a workman in any employment in which he was engaged at the time of the accident resulting in the disablement, and,, where the disablement is of a permanent nature, such disablement as reduces his earning capacity in every employment which he was capable of undertaking at that time :

Provided that every injury specified in Schedule I shall be deemed to result in permanent partial disablement;

” prescribed ” means prescribed by this Ordinance or by any regulation made thereunder ;

” registered medical practitioner” means a person registered as a medical, practitioner under the Medical Ordinance, or under any enactment amending that Ordinance;

” registered ship ” means any sea-going ship or boat of any description which is registered or required to be, registered in Ceylon as a British ship ;

” regulation” .means a regulation made under this Ordinance ;

” seaman” means any person forming part of the crew of any registered ship, but does not include the master of any such ship ;

” total disablement” means such disablement, whether of a temporary or permanent nature, as incapacitates a workman for all work which he was capable of performing at the time of the accident resulting in such disablement :

Provided that permanent total disablement shall be deemed to result from any combination of injuries specified in Shedule I where the aggregate percentage of the loss of earning capacity, as specified in that Schedule against those injuries, amounts to one hundred per centum,

“wages” includes the monetary value of any privilege or benefit which is capable of being estimated in money, other than a travelling allowance or the value of any travelling concession or a contribution paid by the employer of a workman towards any pension or provident fund or a sum paid to a workman to cover any special expenses entailed on him by the nature of his employment;

“workman” means any person who is employed on wages not exceeding three hundred rupees per mensem in any such capacity as is for the time being specified in Schedule II, whether the remuneration is calculated by time or by work done or otherwise and whether the contract of employment or service was made before or after the commencement of this ordinance, and whether such contract is expressed or implied, oral or in writing, but does not include –

(2) A reference to a workman who has been injured shall, where the workman is dead, include a reference to his dependants or any of them.

(3) The exercise and performance of the powers and duties of any department of the Government, Provincial Council or of any local authority shall, for the purposes of this Ordinance, unless a contrary intention appears, be deemed to be the trade or business of that department, council or local authority.

(a) in respect of any injury which does not result in the total or partial disablement of the workman for a period exceeding seven days ;

(b) in respect of any injury, not resulting in death, caused by an accident which is directly attributable to –

(1) If a workman, employed in any employment involving the loading, unloading, handling or transport of wool, hair, bristles, or animal carcases or parts of such carcases, or in any work in connexion with animals infected with anthrax, contracts the disease of anthrax, or if a workman, whilst in the service of an employer in whose service he has been employed for a continuous period of not less than six months in any process mentioned in the second column of Schedule III, contracts the occupational disease mentioned in the corresponding entry in the first column of that Schedule opposite the description of the process, the contracting of the disease shall be deemed to be an injury by accident within the meaning of section 3, and unless the employer proves the contrary, the accident shall be deemed to have arisen out of and in the course of the employment.

(2) For the purposes of this section a period of service shall be deemed to be continuous which has not included period of service under any other employer.

(1) Subject to the provisions of this Ordnance, the amount of compensation shall be as follows, namely :-

Provided that-

In a case where for the whole or any part of the period of disablement referred to in paragraph (a) of this proviso, a workman occupies any premises belonging to or provided by his employer and pays no rent to him for such occupation, the amount fixed by agreement between the workman and his employer or, failing such agreement, the amount determined by the Commissioner as a fair rental of the premises for the period of such occupation shall be deemed to have been received by the workman as an allowance by way of compensation from his employer for the purpose of computing the deduction to be made from any lump sum or half-monthly payments to which the workman is entitled.

(2) On the ceasing of the disablement before the date on which any half-monthly payment falls due, there shall be payable in respect of that half-month a sum proportionate to the duration of the disablement in that half-month.

(3) The use in this section of the expression ‘ monthly wages ‘ shall not exclude any workman from the right to compensation under this Ordinance by reason only of the fact that he is not paid at a monthly rate or that his remuneration is calculated by time or by work done or at a daily rate.

(1) For the purposes of this Ordinance the monthly wages of a workman shall be calculated as follows, namely:-

(2) For the purposes of this section a period of service shall be deemed to be continuous which has not been interrupted by a period of absence from work exceeding fourteen days.

(1) Any half-monthly payment payable under this Ordinance, either under an agreement between the parties or under the order of a Commissioner, may be reviewed by the Commissioner on the application, either of the employer or of the workman accompanied by the certificate of a registered medical practitioner that there has been a change in the condition of the workman, or, subject to regulations made under this Ordinance, on application made without such certificate.

(2) Any half-monthly payment may, on review under this section, subject to the provisions of this Ordinance, be continued, increased, decreased or ended, or, if the accident is found to have resulted in permanent disablement, be converted to the lump sum to which the workman is entitled less any amount which he has already received by way of half-monthly payments.

(1) The compensation shall be payable to or for the benefit of the workman, or, where death results from the injury, to or for the benefit of his dependants as provided by this Ordinance.

(2) Where a dependant dies before a claim under this Ordinance is made, or, if a claim has been made, before an agreement or award has been arrived at or made, the heirs, executors, or administrators of that deceased dependant shall have no right to payment of compensation, and the amount of compensation shall be calculated and apportioned as if that dependant had died before the workman.

(3) Where there are both total and partial dependants, nothing in this Ordinance shall be construed as preventing the compensation being allotted partly to the total and partly to the partial dependants.

(1) No payment of compensation in respect of a workman whose injury has resulted in death, and no payment of a lump sum as compensation to a woman or a person under a legal disability, shall be made otherwise than by deposit with the Commissioner and no such payment made directly by an employer shall be deemed to be a payment of compensation :

Provided that, in the case of deceased workman, an employer may make to any dependants advances on account of compensation not exceeding an aggregate of one hundred rupees, and so much of such aggregate as does not exceed the compensation payable to the dependant shall be deducted by the Commissioner from such compensation and repaid to the employer.

(2) Any other sum amounting to not less than one hundred rupees which is payable as compensation may be deposited with the Commissioner on behalf of the person entitled thereto.

(3) The receipt of the Commissioner shall be a sufficient discharge in respect of any compensation deposited with him.

(4) Where any sum has been deposited by an employer as compensation payable in respect of a workman whose injury has resulted in death, and in the opinion of the Commissioner such sum is insufficient, the Commissioner may, by notice in writing stating his reasons, call upon the employer to show cause why he should not make a further deposit within such time as may be stated in the notice.

(5) If the employer fails to show cause to the satisfaction of the Commissioner, the Commissioner may make an award determining the total amount payable, and requiring the employer to deposit the deficiency.

(1) On the deposit of any money under section 11 as compensation in respect of a deceased workman, the Commissioner shall deduct therefrom the actual cost of the workman’s funeral expenses, to an amount not exceeding twenty-five rupees and pay the same to the person by whom such expenses were incurred, and shall, if he thinks necessary, cause notice to be published or to be served on each dependant resident in Ceylon in such manner as he thinks fit, calling upon the dependants to appear before him on such date as he may fix for determining the distribution of the compensation. If the Commissioner is satisfied, after any inquiry which he may deem necessary, that no dependant exists, he shall repay the balance of the money to the employer by whom it was paid; but no such repayment shall be made until after the expiry of a period of twelve months reckoned from the date on which the money was deposited under section 11. The Commissioner shall, on application by the employer, furnish a statement showing in detail all disbursements made.

(2) Compensation deposited in respect of a deceased workman shall, subject to any deduction made under subsection (1), be apportioned among the dependants of the deceased workman or any of them in such proportion as the Commissioner thinks fit, or may, in the discretion of the Commissioner, be allotted to any one dependant.

(1) Where any compensation deposited with the Commissioner is payable to any person, the Commissioner shall, if the person to whom the compensation is payable is not a woman or a person under a legal disability, and may in other cases, pay the money to the person entitled thereto.

(2) Where any lump sum deposited with the Commissioner is payable to a woman, or a person, under a legal disability, such sum may be invested, applied or otherwise dealt with for the benefit of the woman, or of such person during his disability, in such manner as the Commissioner may direct; and where a half-monthly payment is payable to any person under a legal disability, the Commissioner may, of his own motion or on an application made to him in that behalf, order that the payment be made during the disability to any dependant of the workman or to any other person whom the Commissioner thinks best fitted to provide for the welfare of the workman.

(1) Where, on application made to him in this behalf or otherwise, the Commissioner is satisfied that, on account of neglect of children on the part of a parent or on account of the variation of the circumstances of any dependant or for any other sufficient cause, an order of the Commissioner as to the distribution of any sum paid as compensation or as to the manner in which any sum payable to any such dependant is to be invested, applied or otherwise dealt with, ought to be varied, the Commissioner may make such orders for the variation of the former order as he thinks just in the circumstances of the case:

Provided that no such order prejudicial to any person shall be made unless such person has been given an opportunity of showing cause why the order should not be made, or shall be made in any case in which it would involve the repayment by a dependant of any sum already paid to him.

(2) Where the Commissioner varies any order under subsection (1) by reason of the fact that payment of compensation to any person has been obtained by fraud, impersonation or other improper means, any amount so paid to or on behalf of such person may be recovered in the manner hereinafter provided in section 41.

(1) If a workman receiving or entitled to receive a half-monthly payment intends to leave Ceylon in order to reside permanently in another country, he shall give the Commissioner ten days’ previous notice of such intention ; and the Commissioner shall forthwith inform the other party, who may agree with the workman to continue the payments in the country in which the workman intends to reside. If the parties cannot agree, either party may apply to the Commissioner for the redemption of such half-monthly payments and the Commissioner shall thereupon determine the amount of the lump sum which shall be payable in lieu of such payments.

(2) If a workman receiving or entitled to receive a half-monthly payment leaves Ceylon for the purpose of residing in another country without giving such notice as is required by the provisions of subsection (1), he shall, if the Commissioner after inquiry certifies in writing that he has left Ceylon for such purpose and without giving due notice, cease to be entitled to any benefits under this Ordinance during his absence from Ceylon; but he shall, for the purpose of section 6 (1) (D), be deemed to have received half-monthly payments during such absence :

Provided that the Commissioner may revoke his certificate if he is satisfied that the workman had reasonable grounds for not giving such notice.

(3) A notice or application under this section may be given or made on behalf of any workman by the Commissioner.

(1) No proceedings for the recovery of compensation shall be maintainable before a Commissioner unless notice of the accident has been given, in the manner hereinafter provided, as soon as practicable after the happening thereof and before the workman has voluntarily left the employment in which he was injured, and unless the claim for compensation with respect to such accident has been instituted within six months of the occurrence of the accident or, in case of death, within one year from the date of death:

Provided that, where the accident is the contracting of a disease in respect of which the provisions of section 4 are applicable, the accident shall be deemed to have occurred on the first of the days during which the workman was continuously absent from work in consequence of the disablement caused by the disease;

Provided further that the want of or any defect or irregularity in a notice shall not be a bar to the maintenance of proceedings-

(2) The Commissioner may admit and decide any claim to compensation in any case notwithstanding that the notice required by subsection (1) has not been given, or that the claim has not been instituted in due time as required by that subsection, if he is satisfied that the failure so to give notice or to institute a claim, as the case may be, was due to sufficient cause.

(1) The Minister[1] may by regulation require any specified class of employers to maintain at their premises at which workmen are employed at notice- book in the prescribed form which shall be readily accessible at all reasonable times to any workman who is injured while employed on the premises and to any person acting bona fide on his behalf.

(2) Any employer who acts in contravention of any regulation made by the Minister under subsection (1) shall be guilty of an offence and shall, on conviction after summary trial before a. Magistrate, be liable to a fine not exceeding five hundred rupees.

(1) Where a Commissioner receives information from any source that a workman has died as a result of an accident arising out of and in the course of his employment, he may send by registered post a notice to the workman’s employer requiring him to submit, within thirty days of the service of the notice, a statement, in the prescribed form, giving the circumstances attending the death of the workman, and indicating whether, in the opinion of the employer, he is or is not liable to deposit compensation on account of the death.

(2) If the employer is of the opinion that he is not liable to deposit compensation, he shall make the deposit within thirty days of the service of the notice.

(3) If the employer is of opinion that he is not liable to deposit compensation, he shall in his statement indicate the grounds on which he disclaims liability.

(4) Where the employer has so disclaimed liability, the Commissioner, after such inquiry as he may think fit, may inform any of the dependants of the deceased workman that it is open to the dependants to prefer a claim for compensation, and may give them such other or further information as he may think fit.

(1) Where a workman has given notice of an accident, he shall, if the employer, before the expiry of three days from the time at which service of the notice has been effected, offers to have him examined free of charge by a registered medical practitioner, submit himself for such examination; and any workman who is in receipt of a half-monthly payment under this Ordinance shall, if so required, submit himself for such examination from time to time:

Provided that a workman shall not be required to submit himself for examination by a medical practitioner otherwise than in accordance with regulations made under this Ordinance, or at more frequent intervals than may be prescribed.

(2) If a workman, on being required to do so by the employer under subsection (1) or by the Commissioner at any time, refuses to submit himself for examination by a registered medical practitioner or in any way obstructs the same, his right to compensation shall be suspended during the continuance of such refusal or obstruction unless, in the case of refusal, he was prevented by any sufficient cause from so submitting himself.

(3) If a workman, before the expiry of the period within which he is liable under subsection (1) to be required to submit himself for medical examination, voluntarily leaves without having been so examined the vicinity of the place in which he was employed or the place in which he was resident at the time of the accident his right to compensation shall be suspended until he returns and offers himself for such examination.

(4) Where a workman, whose right to compensation has been suspended under subsection (2) or sub section (3), dies without having submitted himself for medical examination as required by either of those subsections, the Commissioner may, if he thinks fit, direct the payment of compensation to the dependants of the deceased workman.

(5) Where under subsection (2) or subsection (3) a right to compensation is suspended, no compensation shall be payable in respect of the period of suspension, and, if the period of suspension commences before the expiry of the waiting period referred to in clause (D) of subsection (1) of section 6, the waiting period shall be increased by the period during which the suspension continues.

(6) Where an injured workman has refused to be attended by a registrar medical practitioner, whose service have been offered to him by the employer free of charges or having accept such offer has deliberately disregards the instructions of such medical practitioner, then, if it is there after proved that the workman has not been regularly attended by a registered medical practitioner and that such refusal, failure or disregard was unreasonable in the circumstances of the case and the injury has been aggravated thereby, the injury and the resulting disablement shall be deemed to be of the same nature and duration as they might reasonably have been expected to be if the workman had been regularly attended by a registered medical practitioner and compensation, if any, shall be payable accordingly.

(1) Where any person (hereinafter in this section referred to as the principal) in the course of or for the purpose of his trade or business contracts with any other person (hereinafter in this section referred to as the contractor) for the execution by or under the contractor of the whole or any part of any work which is ordinarily part of the trade or business of the principal, the principal shall be liable to pay to any workman employed in the execution of the work any compensation which he would have been liable to pay if that workman had been immediately employed by him ; and where compensation is claimed from the principal, this Ordinance shall apply as if references to the principal were substituted for references to the employer except that the amount of compensation shall be calculated with reference to the wages of the workman under the employer by whom he is immediately employed.

(2) Where the principal is liable to pay compensation under this section he shall be entitled to be indemnified by the contractor, or any other person from whom the workman could have recovered compensation and where a contractor who is himself a principal is liable to pay compensation or to indemnify a principal under this section he shall be entitled to be indemnified by any person standing to him in the relation of a contractor from whom the workman could have recovered compensation ; and all questions as to the right to and the amount of any such indemnity shall, in default of agreement, be settled by the Commissioner.

(3) Nothing in this section shall be construed as preventing a workman from recovering compensation from the contractor instead of the principal.

(4) This section shall not apply in any case where the accident occurred elsewhere than on, in or about the premises on which the principal has undertaken or usually undertakes, as the case may be, to execute the work or which are otherwise under his control or management.

(1) Where any employer has entered into a contract with any insurers in respect of any liability under this Ordinance to any workman, then in the event of the employer becoming insolvent or making a composition or scheme of arrangement with his creditors, if the employer is a company, in the event of the company having commenced to be wound up, the rights of the employer against the insurers as respects that liability shall, notwithstanding anything in any law for the time being in force relating to insolvency or the winding up of companies, be transferred to and vest in the workman, and upon any such transfer the insurers shall have the same rights and remedies and be subject to the same liabilities as if they were the employer, so, however, that the insurers shall not be under any greater liability to the workman than they would have been under to the employer.

(2) If the liability of the insurers to the workman is less than the liability of the employer to the workman, the workman may prove for the balance in the insolvency proceedings or liquidation.

(3) Where in any case such as is referred to in subsection (1) the contract of the employer with the insurers is void or voidable by reason of non-compliance on the part of the employer with any terms or conditions of the contract (other than a stipulation for the payment of premise), the provisions of that subsection shall apply as if the contract were not void or voidable, and the insurers shall be entitled to prove in the insolvency proceedings or liquidation for the amount paid to the workman :

Provided that the provisions of this subsection shall not apply in case in which the workman fails to give notice to the insurers of the happening of the accident and of any resulting disablement as soon as practicable after he becomes aware of the institution of the insolvency or liquidation proceedings and that the employer was insured and with whom.

(4) There shall be deemed to be included among the debts which-

(5) Where the compensation is a half-monthly payment, the amount due in respect thereof shall, for the purposes of this section, be taken to be the amount of the lump sum for which the half-monthly payment could, if redeemable, be redeemed if application were made for that purpose under section 9, and a certificate of the Commissioner as to the amount of such sum shall be conclusive proof thereof.

(6) The provisions of subsection (4) shall apply in the case of any amount for which an insurer is entitled to prove under subsection (3), but otherwise those provisions shall not apply where the insolvent or the company being wound up has entered into such a contract with insurers as is referred to in subsection (1).

(7) This section shall not apply where a company is wound up voluntarily merely for the purposes of reconstruction or of amalgamation with another company.

(a) The notice of the accident and the claim for compensation may, except where the person injured is the master of the ship, be served on the master of the ship as if he were the employer, but where the accident happened and the disablement commenced on board the ship, it shall not be necessary for any seaman to give any notice of the accident.

(b) In the case of the death of a master or seaman, the claim for compensation shall be made within six months after the news of the death has been received by the claimant or, where the ship has been or is deemed to have been lost with all hands, within eighteen months of the date on which the ship was, or is deemed to have been, so lost.

(c) Where an injured master or seaman is discharged or left behind in any part of Her Majesty’s Realms and Territories or in a foreign country, any depositions taken by any Judge or by any consular officer in the foreign country and transmitted by the person by whom they are taken shall, in any proceedings for enforcing the claim, be admissible in evidence –

and it shall not be necessary in any case to prove the signature or official character of the person appearing to have signed any such deposition and a certificate by such person that the defendant or the person accused had an opportunity of cross-examining the witness and that the deposition if made in a criminal proceeding was made in the presence of the person accused shall, unless the contrary is proved, be sufficient evidence that he had that opportunity and that it was so made.

(d) In the case of the death of a master or seaman leaving no dependants, the Commissioner shall, if the owner of the ship is under any law in force for the time being in Ceylon relating to merchant shipping liable to pay the expenses of burial of the master or seaman, return to the employer the full amount of the compensation deposited under section 11 without making the deduction referred to in section 12.

(e) No half-monthly payment shall be payable in respect of the period .during which the owner of the ship is, under any law in force for the time being in Ceylon relating to merchant shipping, liable to defray the expenses of maintenance of the injured master or seaman.

(1) If a Commissioner is satisfied by any party to any proceedings under this Ordinance pending before him that such matter can be more conveniently dealt with by any other Commissioner, whether in the same province or not, he may, subject to regulations made under this Ordinance, order such matter to be transferred to such other Commissioner either for report or for disposal, and, if he does so, shall forthwith transmit to such other: Commissioner all documents relevant for the decision of such matter and, where the matter is transferred for disposal, shall also transmit in the prescribed manner any money remaining in his hands or invested by him for the benefit of any party to the proceedings.

(2) The Commissioner to whom any matter is so transferred shall, subject to regulations made under this Ordinance, inquire there into, and, if the matter was transferred for report, return his report thereon or, if the matter was transferred for disposal, continue the proceedings as if they had originally commenced before him.

(3) On receipt of a report from a Commissioner to whom any matter has been transferred for report under subsection (1), the Commissioner by whom it was referred shall decide the matter referred in conformity with such report.

(1) No application for the settlement of any matter by a Commissioner, other than an application by a dependant or dependants for compensation, shall be made unless and until some question has arisen between the parties in connexion therewith which they have been unable to settle by agreement.

(2) An application to a Commissioner may be made in such form and shall be accompanied by such fee, if any, as may be prescribed, and shall contain, in addition to any particulars which may be prescribed, the following particulars, namely:-

(3) If the applicant is illiterate or for any other reason is unable to furnish the required information in writing, the application shall, if the applicant so desires, be prepared under the direction of the Commissioner.

(a) no such memorandum shall be recorded before seven days after communication by the Commissioner of notice to the parties concerned ;

(b) the Commissioner may at any time rectify the register ;

(c) where it appears to the Commissioner that an agreement as to the payment of lump sum whether by way of redemption of a half-monthly payment or otherwise, or an agreement as to the amount of compensation payable to a woman or a person under a legal disability ought not to be registered by reason of the inadequacy or the sum or amount, or by reason of the agreement having been obtained by fraud or undue influence or other improper means, he may refuse to record the memorandum of the agreement and may make such order including an order as to any sum already paid under the agreement, as thinks just in the circumstances.

(1) It shall be lawful for the Commissioner on payment to him of the prescribed fees, to issue a licence to any person to undertake insurance against liabilities to workmen which may be incurred by employers under this Ordinance, if it is shown to his satisfaction, after such inquiry as may think fit to make, that such person is financially able to undertake such insurance.

(2) Every person who undertakes any such insurance without being licensed for that purpose under subsection (1), and every employer who insures against any such liability with a person who has not been licensed under that subsection, shall be guilty of an offence and shall, on conviction after summary trial by a Magistrate, be liable to a fine not exceeding one thousand rupees.

(3) In this section, ” person ” includes the agent of a person who undertakes to insure an employer against his liability to pay compensation under this Ordinance.

(4) No prosecution shall be entered against any person for a breach of the provisions of this section except on the complaint of the Commissioner or with his written sanction.

(1) It shall be lawful for the Commissioner to suspend or cancel any licence issued to any person under section 45-

(2) An order made under subsection (1) for the suspension or cancellation of a licence shall be subject to an appeal to the High Court established under Article 154P of the Constitution, in the manner hereinafter provided.

(1) An appeal on a point of law shall lie to the Supreme Court against any order made by the Commissioner.

(2) No person shall appeal against an order made by the Commissioner unless such person is a party aggrieved by the order against which appeals.

(3) For the purpose of disposing of any appeal on a point of law, the Supreme Court may vary, modify or reverse the finding of the Commissioner on any question of fact.

(4) An employer shall not be entitled to appeal on a point of law against an order awarding as compensation a lump sum whether by way of redemption of a half-monthly payment or otherwise or against an order disallowing a claim in full or in part for a lump sum unless the petition of appeal is accompanied by a certificate by the Commissioner to the effect that the appellant has deposited with him the amount payable under the order appealed against.

(5) No appeal shall lie in any case in which the parties have agreed in writing to abide by the decision of the Commissioner or in which the order or the Commissioner gives effect to an agreement so made so made by the parties.

(1) Every petition of appeal shall bear uncancelled stamps to the value of five rupees and shall be filed in a Supreme Court within a period of thirty days reckoned from the date of the order against which the appeal is preferred.

(2) In computing the time within which an appeal must be preferred the day on which the order appealed against was made shall be included, but all Sundays and public holidays shall be excluded.

(1) The Minister[1] may make regulations for the purpose of carrying out or giving effect to the principles and provisions of this Ordinance.

(2) In particular, and without prejudice to the generality of the powers conferred by subsection (1), the Minister[1] may make regulations for or in respect of all or any of the following matters, namely :-

(1) The Minister[1] may, by regulation, modify, add to, alter or rescind any Schedule or part of any Schedule and may substitute a new Schedule for any Schedule herein enacted:

Provided that the provisions of Schedules II and III shall not be so modified, added to, altered or rescinded nor shall any new Schedule be substituted for either of those Schedules except after notification published in the Gazette declaring the intention of the Minister so to effect such modification, addition, alteration, rescission or substitution, as the case may be, at a date not earlier than three months from the date of the first publication of such notification in the Gazette.

(2) For the purpose of the application of the provisions of any Schedule at any particular time, a reference in this Ordinance to any Schedule shall be construed as a reference to the provisions of that Schedule which are in force at that time.

(1) No regulation shall have effect unless it has been approved by the Senate and the House of Representatives[1]. Notification of such approval shall be published in the Gazette.

(2) Every regulation shall, upon the publication of the approval[1] of that regulation as provided for in subsection (1), be as valid and effectual as if it were herein enacted.

(1) Where a workman has been injured as a result of an accident occurring on the business premises of his employer or arising out of and in the course of his employment, and either dies within a period of seven consecutive days next succeeding that on which the accident occurred or absents himself from work for that period, his employer shall report the occurrence and the particulars of such accident to the Commissioner in the prescribed form within a period of fourteen days reckoned from the date on which the accident occurred.

(2) Every employer shall before the prescribed date in every year send to the Commissioner a correct return in the prescribed form specifying-

Provided that any further particulars required by the Commissioner under paragraph (c) of this subsection may be furnished after the prescribed date and within such period as the Commissioner may appoint.

(3) Every employer who contravenes or fails to comply with any of the provisions of this section shall be guilty of an offence and shall, on conviction after summary trial by a Magistrate, be liable to a fine not exceeding fifty rupees:

Provided that no employer shall be guilty of a breach of subsection (1) if he proves that he had no knowledge of the accident within the period of fourteen days mentioned in that subsection.

(a) if he has instituted a claim to compensation in respect of the injury before a Commissioner; or

(b) if he has agreed with his employer to accept compensation in respect of the injury in accordance with the provisions of this Ordinance.

(1) Where an arrangement has been made between the Government of Ceylon1 and the Government of any other part of Her Majesty’s Realms and Territories whereby sums awarded under the law relating to workmen’s compensation in Ceylon to beneficiaries resident or becoming resident in such other part of Her Majesty’s Realms and Territories and sums awarded under the law relating to workmen’s compensation in such other part of Her Majesty’s Realms and Territories to beneficiaries resident or becoming resident in Ceylon, may, at the request of the authority by which the award is made, be transferred to and administered by a competent authority in such other part of Her Majesty’s Realms and Territories or in Ceylon, as the case may be, regulations may be made-

(2) For the purposes of this section “Her Majesty’s Realms and Territories” includes territories under Her Majesty’s protection and such, if any, of the territories in respect of which a mandate on behalf of the League of Nations has been accepted by Her Majesty as Her Majesty may by Order in Council direct shall be treated as if they were included in Her Majesty’s dominions for the purposes of the Workmen’s Compensation (Transfer of Funds) Act, 1927, of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.