A labor lawyer once told me he was a very interesting case.

    There are many toll stations on New Jersey highways, toll collectors are composed of the union, and the employer agreed wages and working conditions of the agreement. A provision in the working condition: Toll every four working hours, rest for fifteen minutes in the middle can. But in the rest period shall not be allowed to leave the toll booths. Usually, charges will consciously abide by the rules, with the fifteen minute nap, stretch.

   Female member fees is a young active does the absurd. One day, she was down in fifteen minutes and she as a truck driver boyfriend at toll booths in the warm up. Unfortunately, the pavilion is too small, in the process of make love woman accidentally screwed up, down a few weeks can't work.

   Injured after a few days, the female attendants find the boss, give her the compensation. In addition to medical expenses, and sick leave period wages. After the rejection, the woman will be the employer to court through the union lawyer. The court ruled in favor of fast woman, because she was in the workplace injuries, no matter what the reason, the injured who is wrong, the employer must be in accordance with the law of compensation of employees.

   This sounds almost Arabian Nights case reveals America compensation method (Workers' Compensation) of some important principles.

    Before the establishment of industrial injury compensation law American

    USA Industrial Revolution began in early nineteenth Century has gone through national industrial world the same way. In the private property and profit above all liberal capitalist economy environment, the employer can any exploitation of workers, and workers under the protection of the law is very limited. In factories, mines, construction site, workers have long been engaged in heavy manual labor. Low wages, long hours, frequent happening of industrial accidents. Only coal mining industry in late nineteenth Century each year, the number was killed in the accident as thousands of people. During the early years of the twentieth Century, American industrial workers the average working time per day for twelve to fourteen hours per week, for at least six days. Especially in many migrant workers poverty as its main industry, working sixteen to eighteen hours a day, seven days a week work situation is not rare.

   Although in nineteenth Century after the middle of the America permitted by law or get injured on the job workers claim to the employer by the court, but claims the probability of success is very low. According to the law, workers can sue the employer negligence (negligence) lead to injury accidents, compensation therefore caused all the loss. However, to prove negligence is not easy. For example, if the workers for working long hours in the doze off causing injury even death, so in the absence of the work time limit law, employers won't admit to negligence, the court can not judge the employer must pay.

Even if the plaintiff can prove that the injury was caused by the negligence of the employer, the law also allows employers to conduct three types of defense to avoid damages.

   First, if the employer can prove that workers in employment when they understand this work may lead to danger, then there is no need to pay compensation for the injury. For example, coal mine owners would say, with black lung miners when signing the employment contract shall know that there is a risk of black lung disease, so miners is not mine fault, although the coal mine working condition is very bad.

  Second, if the injury is not the employer but others, the employer will not be responsible for any. That is to say, if the workers are others -- such as workers or foreman -- accidentally hurt on the job, employers don't have to take the consequences.

  Third, if the workers themselves are wrong, the employer even if a problem is not the compensation. For example, the factory use the machine may also shabby and dangerous, but if the improper operation of a little accident, died or lost limbs, the workers it happen.

    There are so many restrictions, no wonder America when there will be Mark Twain, European, Henry and other writers of the boss. Needless to say, ordinary workers to engage in a lawsuit claim is not easy, even if they have the ability to ask a lawyer to sue, the chance of winning is very small. Court records show that, before the industrial injury compensation law, employees on the court against the boss, the winning rate is less than fifteen percent. Although did not leave the detailed statistical data, but the sampling investigation later that, before establishing the compensation method, by job loss of life of workers is only about half the family got some degree of compensation, the average amount of compensation is equivalent to a staff a year's wages. As for the injured or sick workers, have fewer opportunities to obtain compensation.

   The compensation law

   The late nineteenth Century to the early twentieth Century, is Europe and the United States be raging like a storm in the workers' movement. More and more workers to form trade unions or even develop a party, to promote the labor rights by the collective strength. The strike, collective bargaining, and participate in political elections and means, Europe and the United States have adopted a series of favorable labor legislation. The compensation method is also in this period began to appear.

    This kind of law first appeared in Germany in the one eight eight zero's. Soon, Britain and other Western European countries have adopted laws. Relative to Europe, USA behind a, twenty years in labour legislation. Not only because of USA more thoroughly the free market than European capitalism, but American due to lack of labor, the wages of the workers is much higher than that of europe. Taking the automobile industry as an example, before 1914, America workers wages for three times the British workers, after 1914 and even up to six times. The workers in the new immigrants account for a considerable part, so must organize the trade union movement is relatively more difficult.

   In addition, American and different places in Europe, also lies in the concept of European no American state power. In twentieth Century thirty years before Roosevelt's new deal, the federal government would not intervene America basic economic and social welfare legislation, the work is left to state government and parliament to decide. So, making the compensation method, are dependent on state. Central and southern all conservative state, to facilitate the labor legislation and met many obstacles. However, the federal government was in 1908 for the first legislation, provides the industrial injury insurance for employees of the federal government.

   Since 1910 ten years, America most states have established the compensation method. However, some southern conservative state until the mid thirty's later legislation. The most stubborn Mississippi even until 1948. But, in the legislative process also appeared a lot of trouble. In New York, Kentucky, Missouri and other states, opposed the legislation group appealed to the state Supreme Court, sued the law unconstitutional. The states through constitutional means, before the official will injury compensation law in the current law.

   The content of industrial injury compensation method

   The provisions America inductrial injury compensation law, the vast majority of employers must pass through the industrial injury insurance way to protect employees. Today, ninety-two percent of the employees are protected workers' compensation law, the remaining eight percent are employed by only three or five (between states in the digital is different) small business employees. The law allows these small enterprises do not buy Industrial Injury insurance. In addition to this kind of small enterprises, all employers must buy Industrial Injury insurance. However, in different states was responsible for the insurance institutions are not the same. In some states, for the government to undertake the insurance, some states have undertaken by private insurance companies, and some states require insurance companies to bid, the government finally decided to adopt a.

   The employee if the time and place of work caused by injury or disease, you can enjoy the work injury insurance. The so-called injury or occupation disease, including sudden accident caused injuries and diseases for a long time the work accumulated. As for the employee or other employees in the accident or pathogenic in liability, or liability much, totally has nothing to do with access to insurance eligibility. In this way, the employer cannot by claiming that employee is wrong and avoid damages. The road toll this is also why the article mentioned at the beginning of the end for reasons of industrial injury compensation.

The industrial injury insurance payment projects include: (1) all expenses related to employee all medical and hospitalization; (2) because of injury and loss of labor ability period wages, can reach the highest wages 2/3; (3) the worker deaths cases, immediate family for funeral expenses, as well as regular compensate maximum up to 2/3 of wages, to ensure that the widow and children's life; (4) the industrial injury insurance pay injury rehabilitation program get sick in body or occupation.

   In addition, most states do not allow the dismissal of employees in the injury recuperation period, also do not allow employers to refuse to hire a job applicant has a work-related injury insurance. But some conservative state no such provisions. The most recent period, many of the States Labour Organization in promoting legislation, prohibit insurance companies have received a work-related injury insurance list of people to the employer.

Notably, the industrial injury insurance has not replaced the legal proceedings. Employees can choose to obtain employment injury insurance after the injury, or court sued her employer negligence. In view of legal procedure complex, costly, and the jury to give numbers are difficult to control, the vast majority of employers are willing to solve problems through the industrial injury insurance, lest one not careful let the jury sentenced a astronomical figures. While the vast majority of employees are willing to follow this way, not only can immediately get the compensation, and not bothered to complain. However, the provisions of industrial injury compensation method for digital limited. If the employee or family members believe that the employer is responsible for the accident, can go to court to sue the employer. However, in most cases, once the decision to file a lawsuit, the employee will not get outside of the compensation for medical expenses. Therefore, employees or relatives in court before will weigh weight, because from the law to confirm the employer responsible is not an easy thing.

   Also because of this, there is the employer's liability insurance in addition to workmen's compensation insurance. If the employer is the employee on the court, the plaintiff and the defendant out of court settlement or employer or lost the case, the employer's liability insurance to pay the reparations agreement or judgment.

  In addition, the employer is not enough to pay the insurance fee Everything will be fine. The amount of the premium is based on the employer's record to decide. That is to say, an enterprise need compensation for work-related injury or accident more occupation disease, inductrial injury insurance premium is also higher. Therefore, employers will often use a variety of reasons to reject require workers to industrial injury compensation. If the employer in court lost, employer's liability insurance will rise exponentially.

   The implementation of industrial injury compensation law

   Then a compensation method, the vast majority of workers injured on the job or have occupation disease can obtain relatively reasonable compensation, it is a great progress on the America labour legislation. Because this is the law for all employers must buy insurance, industrial injury insurance has become the largest project American commercial insurance, the amount equivalent to the total wages of two percent to two point five.

   In general, the implementation of industrial injury insurance law has brought significant positive changes for American labor relations, greatly promoted the work environment USA enterprises and improve the conditions of. The law introduced in the nearly one hundred years, so the two trend has been American in compensation.

  First of all, is the hard injury events, including death, burns, arms and legs broken, severe poisoning, twentieth Century early common inductrial injury accident is reduced, and the past doesn't think belong to inductrial injury or occupation disease of many diseases, including muscle strain and mental aspects of the problem are included in a class should get inductrial injury compensation. For example, in recent years, with the popularization of computer, wrist strain employees due to a typing keyboard has become one of the most common project of industrial injury compensation in.

   Secondly, the compensation amount is also growing. In the mid ninety's of dollars as a reference to calculate, at the beginning of the seventy's total annual compensation of about $ten billion, now total $sixty billion. However, the amount of increase does not mean that the USA workplace risk increases. In fact, the safety coefficient America workplace has been increasing, but the compensation amount is on the rise. The relationship between the actually complement each other: the amount of compensation that employers must pay higher, more don't dare to neglect the safety and health of employees. Otherwise, the huge claims may be high insurance fee, not let the employer bankruptcy can not be. In addition, an important reason for rapid increase of medical expenses and compensation amount rising.

However, as the Americans say, good not one hundred percent no dark side, the implementation of industrial injury compensation law also caused some obvious problems. Firstly, after the law was passed, non union employees salary immediately fell, after rising speed is relatively slow in the past. Obviously, in the absence of trade protection, the employer will buy industrial injury insurance costs passed on to the employee. You know, non union members have the total number of employees in most stations. In their fifty's trade union members, but also accounted for 1/3 of the total number of employees. Now accounts for less than thirteen percent.

    Of course, as with any insurance, industrial injury insurance is also sometimes will appear various scams. In employers, many companies have managed to escape from the industrial injury insurance, compensation for injury or tricks veto workers demand. In addition, the employee also will appear from time to time, fraud defrauds insurance situation. Insurance companies often hire private detective to follow the work due to disability and industrial injury compensation, with the camera or video to record their daily operations, to confirm whether they are really disabled. At the same time, in order to avoid employees colluding doctor fraud, insurance companies generally will also send their doctors to do identification. However, although in recent years the insurance companies often in the media complained that someone to defraud insurance, but experts investigation, employee fraud cases only accounts for about zero point three percent of industrial injury compensation.

   Needs to be pointed out is, although the industrial injury compensation law covers ninety-two percent employees, there are a lot of USA informal employees, or become "independent contractors" employees in the law. In many enterprises, this kind of independent contractors and employees do the same work, salary is a little higher than the latter, but do not enjoy any benefits, including does not automatically get inductrial injury compensation. But independent contract workers injured on the job, he may still be dealt with according to the traditional sued her employer. Although it is a time-consuming method, if the luck is good, the court has a fine may be higher than the industrial injury insurance to pay compensation.

   Summary

   Recently released, the International Labour Organization in 2001, the number of deaths due to work accidents, more than three hundred and fifty thousand people, and one million eight hundred thousand people died of occupation disease. Among them, two digital American combined Liuqianliubaiduo people. Relative to many countries, America mortality rate is not high. This is of course because America technology and the advanced equipment, but also a very important factor, is the compensation law and law related employee claims that employers can not consider the safety and health of workers.

   American law can do this step today, after nearly one hundred years of time. The terms and provisions of the amendment and repeated practice. For developing countries, these laws can be used as a good reference to the protection of labor rights.