SUM KWONG MING v. CHAU SIU FAI t/a NEW SKY GLASS HOUSE DESIGN

bjbj e)Y0W- ION ________________________________ This is an employee compensation claim. Interlocutory judgment has been entered on 6 September 2019 and this is an assessment of compensation. Background The Applicant is a free-lance metalwork technician / welder. His work involved construction and welding of metal signs, metal railings, metal canopies, metal steps and any minor metal work for construction sites, shops and private homes. He was 63 years old at the time of the accident. The Applicant was engaged by the Respondent to convert a container into a construction site office. On 6 September 2016, whilst doing measurements for the construction of a metal canopy, he accidentally fell from the top of a concrete wall. According to the medical reports, he attended the AED of Pok Oi Hospital and was diagnosed to have suffered from 2rd to 4th metatarsal fracture in the left foot. He was admitted but refused surgery. He underwent physiotherapy (one session) and occupational therapy (from 12 January 2017 to 9 March 2017). According to the Occupational Therapy report, he underwent work hardening and on discharge, he was suggested for considering back to work . Final assessment showed he managed walking and stairs walking, lifting 40 pounds, climbing and balancing on a ladder etc. He was given sick leave from 6 September 2016 to 9 March 2017. Form 9 certifies permanent loss of earning capacity at 3% which I will not disturb. Quantum The Applicant stated in his witness statement that before the accident, he worked 28 days a month and earned a daily wage of HK$1,000. In court, the Applicant said that he was a freelance metalwork technician and relied on various job referrals from various contractors. The Respondent was one such contractors and the Applicant found the Respondent from a newspaper advertisement. The Applicant had contacted the Respondent and had an interview. His first job for the Respondent was to construct a signboard in the front of a garage which took him 5 days at the end of August 2016. This was his second job which started on 1 September 2016. By the time of the accident on 6 September 2016, he only got as far as doing the measurements for the metal canopy. He said that he was assisted by a general labourer and the whole job, that is, the conversion of a metal container into a site office, would normally take about 18-19 working days. He had done this kind of conversion about 8-10 times in the past. As for his average working days a month, the applicant admitted that during very good times , he would work up to 28 days a month, but he had not done so in the last 8-10 years. He said that the work market around 2016 was average so he might have a good month followed by a month. In a good month, he might work 22-23 days but in a month, he might only work 15 days. Good months and bad months were about half and half in an average year. As such, I would accept that the Applicant s average monthly income prior to the accident should be HK$1,000 x (22.5 + 15) / 2 = HK$18,750 Compensation under Section 9 Permanent Partial Incapacity This should be HK$18,750 x 48 x 3% = HK$27,000 Compensation under Section 10 Temporary Incapacity This should be HK$18,750/30 x 185 days x 4/5 = HK$92,500 Compensation under Section 10A Medical Expenses I accept the Applicants claim as HK$750 under this head as supported by hospital receipts. Summary The total compensation should be HK$27,000 + 92,500 + 750 = HK$120,250 Interest I note that there was no advance payment or any reimbursement of medical expenses received by the Applicant. Interest on the total compensation is awarded at half Judgment rate from the date of accident to the date of the hearing, and at full Judgment rate thereafter until payment. Costs The costs of this action be awarded to the Applicant to be taxed if not agreed. The Applicant s own costs be taxed in accordance with the Legal Aid Regulations. (Harold Leong) District Judge Mr Tang Moon Hey, of M H Tang & Co, for the applicant {o{c hVt &`#$ gdap &`#$ gd]8 h^Vt &`#$ &`#$ &`#$ &`#$ gd&; |m|^O@ h,l5 ytM@ yt,2M }ncnXIXI> ha~Y gdDg gdDg yt,2M gd Cb }qh]R h Cb h Cb hV'N gd3k gdV'N j^jPj h3k h3k h3k hV'N hV'N gd]r gd3k gd3k {peZ hVCC h3k gdHV gdHV uphdh[hpdud h'Va hVCC #The respondent is not represented and did not appear PAGE \* MERGEFORMAT - A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V gd Z h'Va gd gd Z gd gdHV gd yt,2M ytM@ yt,2M [Content_Types].xml _rels/.rels theme/theme/themeManager.xml K Y, sQ}# theme/theme/theme1.xml $O}) Xp90 +PHI| PP yu 9xu5 fs+W VF7H q=. 8}d- qyI@ j!Q_ jyV` |PZ+ T ""p < 4V O&x$ A8>v ;EUC n 8r *~P(5 .}x E /,EE\} theme/theme/_rels/themeManager.xml.rels 5 6?$Q K(M&$R(.1 [Content_Types].xmlPK _rels/.relsPK theme/theme/themeManager.xmlPK theme/theme/theme1.xmlPK theme/theme/_rels/themeManager.xml.relsPK <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="yes"?> <a:clrMap xmlns:a="http://schemas.openxmlformats.org/drawingml/2006/main" bg1="lt1" tx1="dk1" bg2="lt2" tx2="dk2" accent1="accent1" accent2="accent2" accent3="accent3" accent4="accent4" accent5="accent5" accent6="accent6" hlink="hlink" folHlink="folHlink"/> +-dUZI *M63 N?qJ y0Lb *M63 i-G" V5 NW S2 NW `2w NW !jI NW i-G"B$ ]|O"NW Xm #NW [*N#NW l|$NW 9~$NW Fdf%NW D'NW n.q(NW tV)NW 1#*NW ,Z,NW zs,NW cY /NW l3/NW }/NW pq10NW \^J3NW }(O3NW q4NW HE5NW y5NW yw/6.lS g7NW ^\8NW U"[9NW l:NW <%;NW F/;NW iX;NW ,<NW ~H?NW CV_?NW +}NANW `#{BNW HRDNW loENW NWIz >/aJNW KNW 3&KNW 1TNNW rONW QPNW a RNW OlRNW ~uWNW l`hXNW rN\NW o^NW ]aNW uaNW 3cbNW T~bNW BdNW A:eNW [JgNW _7hNW vuiNW HziNW jNW ";jNW NMjNW 'kNW nDkob MmNW VH^nNW +PoNW Z*pNW xxpNW lqNW B$OrNW U1xrNW ?bovNW :1xyw/6 TxNW -yNW geyNW {1zNW Q{NW apd{NW ?2}NW K&/~NW setup Normal.dotm Windows User Microsoft Office Word Judiciary hong Kong Title <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="no"?><b:Sources SelectedStyle="\APA.XSL" StyleName="APA" xmlns:b="http://schemas.openxmlformats.org/officeDocument/2006/bibliography" xmlns="http://schemas.openxmlformats.org/officeDocument/2006/bibliography"></b:Sources> <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="no"?> <ds:datastoreItem ds:itemID="{92C31DB3-D89E-440B-9BA6-BD64500E8365}" xmlns:ds="http://schemas.openxmlformats.org/officeDocument/2006/customXml"><ds:schemaRefs><ds:schemaRef ds:uri="http://schemas.openxmlformats.org/officeDocument/2006/bibliography"/></ds:schemaRefs></ds:datastoreItem> Microsoft Word 97-2003 Document MSWordDoc Word.Document.8