Workers' Compensation Act, 1963

This section gives the Act its short title: the Workers' Compensation Act.

This section gives defined meanings for terms used in the Act.

This section defines who counts as a “worker” and lists several exceptions.

This section defines who counts as a “dependant” for the Act and gives widows or widowers a right to share compensation in some cases.

This section defines who counts as an employer for this Act in several situations.

This Act applies to accidents and scheduled diseases only if they happen or are contracted on or after commencement.

Section 17 applies to certain accidents and scheduled diseases, subject to date and transfer conditions.

This section says the Act does not reduce an employer’s separate civil liability for injury caused to a worker by negligence, breach of statutory duty, or other wrongful act or omission.

A worker may claim compensation and sue a third party, but must first notify the Commissioner or liable employer in writing and lodge a compensation claim.

If a principal hires a contractor to do work, the worker is treated as the principal’s worker unless the contractor has been assessed and paid all due Fund assessments for the current year.

This section sets compensation rules for workers who are temporarily employed across Zambia’s borders, including when they are entitled to claim and when they must make an election between this Act and another country’s law.

This section sets up the Workers' Compensation Fund Control Board and gives it powers to run the Fund and related Act matters, while requiring reporting to the Minister and allowing Minister-approved initiatives.

The Minister must appoint a Workers' Compensation Commissioner. The Board may appoint other necessary staff with the Minister’s approval, and the Commissioner may delegate powers and functions subject to the Minister’s directions.

The Commissioner must handle accident notices, claims, investigations, compensation decisions, reporting, statistics, and other administration tasks under the Act.

The Commissioner may authorise a competent person in writing to investigate and inspect matters, and authorised persons may enter, question, inspect, and take copies or declarations. Obstructing the authorised person, making a knowingly false statement, or refusing to answer questions or produce documents is an offence.

People who obtain information while carrying out powers or duties under this Act must not disclose it, except for legal proceedings or certain official recipients; wilful breach is an offence.

The Commissioner may review compensation, and some other decisions, after giving written notice and an opportunity to be heard.

The Commissioner can summon witnesses and require documents for investigations or formal inquiries, and people summoned must comply or risk an offence.

People affected by a Commissioner’s decision may object within 30 days, with a possible extension for good cause. Objections must be in writing, and some supporting details are required.

For a death-compensation objection, the deceased worker’s representative must make the objection on behalf of dependants; if there is no representative, the Commissioner may appoint someone to do it.

The Commissioner must hold a formal inquiry into an objection under section 19 and decide it, either confirming the original decision or making another equitable decision.

A person affected by a section 21 decision may appeal to the Tribunal within 21 days, and the Tribunal may allow more time if good cause is shown.

An objection or appeal does not by itself suspend or defer payments, unless the Commissioner orders otherwise.

The Commissioner may state a special case for the High Court on a question of law, and must do so when requested by any interested party in proceedings under this Act.

The Commissioner may refer a Tribunal decision to the High Court if there is doubt about its correctness on a question of law.

The Commissioner may appoint a skilled technical assessor for a formal inquiry, but conflicted persons must not be appointed or sit, and assessors (except public service assessors) are to be paid prescribed fees from the Fund.

This section creates the Workers' Compensation Appeal Tribunal and sets out how its Chairman and other members are appointed and who may serve.

The Tribunal may hear appeals under the Act and deal with other matters it is required or permitted to handle, including incidental matters.

Tribunal matters are decided by majority, but the Chairman decides points of law and whether an issue is one of fact or law.

The Chairman of the Tribunal must make procedure rules, and the Tribunal must handle any gap in those rules by acting to do substantial justice and carry out the Act’s objects.

A party may appear before the Tribunal in person or through listed representatives, and only a legal practitioner may recover a fee or reward for that appearance (aside from necessary out-of-pocket expenses).

The Tribunal may confirm, vary, or reverse an appealed decision, send the matter back to the Commissioner for more evidence, require further proof from the parties, or take another course to settle the matter fairly and efficiently.

The Tribunal may summon witnesses, require books and documents, inspect them, and examine witnesses on oath. The Chairman may administer oaths, summonses must be signed by the Secretary, and summoned persons get the same privileges and immunities as in subordinate court civil proceedings.

A summoned witness must attend the Tribunal, stay until excused, and comply with being sworn, answering questions, and producing required items; noncompliance can lead to arrest, custody, and a fine up to one penalty unit.

A person must not knowingly give false testimony on a material matter in proceedings before the Tribunal.

A person who wilfully insults, interrupts, or disturbs the Tribunal during a sitting may be removed, detained until the Tribunal rises, and fined up to one penalty unit.

A person summoned under section 33 may be paid prescribed allowances from the Fund if the Tribunal orders it.

The Tribunal may make a costs order it thinks just, considering the parties’ means and the merits of the appeal.

Tribunal decisions are final, subject to section 40.

A dissatisfied person may appeal to the High Court from certain Tribunal decisions or a summary fine, usually within 30 days. The High Court can confirm, change, reverse, send the matter back, require more proof, make other case-management orders, and decide costs; its decision is final.

A worker may be entitled to compensation if a work-related accident after commencement causes disablement or death, subject to stated exceptions.

A worker’s injury is treated as employment-related if the worker is injured in the listed first aid, ambulance, or rescue work circumstances, with the employer’s consent.

Compensation under this Act is not reduced because the worker or dependants receive a pension or gratuity from the employer or from a fund the employer contributed to.

The Commissioner may consider earlier compensation or benefits when awarding or revising compensation, and compensation for a worker cannot exceed the level for 100% disablement.

This section generally makes contract terms that waive a worker’s compensation rights null and void, but allows the Commissioner to approve a limited written agreement to pay less than the Act otherwise requires in certain injury- or infirmity-related cases.

Employers must not deduct certain liability-related sums from workers’ pay or make workers contribute to those liabilities.

If medical treatment after a workplace accident causes death or disablement, the law treats it as caused by the accident for compensation purposes.

The Commissioner may refuse compensation, and may also refuse medical-aid costs, in specified cases involving false statements or unreasonable refusal of treatment.

A worker’s periodical payments stop in specified circumstances, but the Commissioner can revive them if further disablement or qualifying treatment occurs.

A worker’s periodical payments are automatically suspended if the worker refuses, obstructs, or delays a medical examination, or absents himself so notice cannot be served; the Commissioner may restore some or all payment on good cause shown.

An employer must not terminate a workman’s contract of service during disablement without the Commissioner’s consent, and only until the worker is fit to resume work or permanent-disablement compensation becomes payable.

A worker injured by an accident arising out of and in the course of employment is entitled to be paid by the employer for the part of the total work already done.

If an employer keeps paying a disabled worker full earnings, the worker cannot receive periodical payments, and the employer may be reimbursed from the Fund, subject to stated exceptions.

Compensation must be paid by either the individually liable employer or the Commissioner.

For total disablement, compensation must be paid periodically during the disablement period and is calculated at 50% of the worker’s assessed earnings.

An employer must promptly tell the Commissioner when a worker who had total-disablement compensation returns to work at lower earnings; periodical payments for partial disablement are capped at 18 months, subject to section 58.

A worker who has received accident-related periodical payments for 18 months from the start of disablement is no longer entitled to those payments, unless the contrary is proved.

Compensation for permanent disablement is calculated by the worker’s degree of disablement, using a monthly pension or a lump sum depending on the percentage.

If a pensioned worker needs further qualifying treatment after 18 months from disablement began, the Commissioner may suspend the pension and children’s allowances, and the worker is entitled to payments instead.

This section sets death compensation and funeral expense payments when a worker dies in an accident.

If a pensioned worker dies for a reason other than the accident that gave rise to the pension, a surviving widow, invalid widower, or qualifying children may receive monthly compensation.

Children’s allowances under this Part must be reduced or stop when a child no longer qualifies because of age, marriage, or death, subject to section 64.

The Commissioner may declare certain over-17 children of a deceased workman or pensioner to be treated as children for allowances if they cannot earn income because of disability or are in full-time education.

A pensioner who lives outside the Commonwealth, or stays away longer than allowed, must provide proof of continuing disablement; the Commissioner may then stop, suspend, or reduce the pension. For certain dependants, the Commissioner may instead award a lump sum.

A widow or invalid widower’s dependent pension stops when they remarry, but children’s allowances keep being paid. If a widow’s pension stops for that reason, she gets a gratuity equal to 24 times her monthly pension.

Certain people must notify the Commissioner after a pensioner’s death, a widow or widower’s remarriage, or specified events affecting a child receiving an allowance.

This section explains how a worker’s earnings are calculated for the Act, including what is included, what is excluded, and how to handle special pay arrangements.

For certain permanently disabled workers under 21 or in apprenticeship/learnership, compensation is calculated using an earnings basis that is most favourable to the worker.

The Commissioner may, on a worker’s application, pay a lump sum instead of part or all of a pension in specified cases.

If a compensation injury leaves a worker unable to do essential life activities without constant help, the Commissioner may grant an extra allowance or require the liable employer to pay it.

This section controls how lump-sum compensation is paid and distributed, mainly through the Commissioner.

If an individually liable employer owes a pension or children’s allowance, the payment must be made by the employer, or the Commissioner may make it by agreement using funds provided by the employer.

The Commissioner may, in limited cases, advance up to 20,000 kwacha to a worker or dependant before compensation is awarded, and later recover it from compensation payments.

The Board may review and increase pensions or children's allowances, but only with the Minister's consent and no more than once per calendar year.

An accident notice must be given promptly, and compensation claims must usually be lodged within 12 months.

Employers must report workplace accidents to the Commissioner within three days, forward written accident notices, and keep an accident register.

Workers and employers must provide additional accident and injury details when required by the employer, Tribunal, or Commissioner.

If an employer is convicted of the specified offences, the court must, on the Commissioner’s application, enter judgment for the Commissioner for the Board’s loss, capped by the accident compensation amount.

A worker claiming compensation must provide a medical certificate when required, and an employer who receives it must send it to the Commissioner right away.

The Commissioner may require an injured worker to get and submit medical reports, and the report fee is paid from the Fund.

The Commissioner may require evidence of a death in certain compensation-related cases.

A worker claiming compensation must submit to a medical examination when properly required, and may bring their own medical practitioner at their own expense.

If the Commissioner learns of a worker accident that may lead to a claim, the Commissioner must investigate or take other necessary steps, and must also provide information when asked by the injured worker or employer.

The Commissioner must decide compensation claims, and may first make inquiries. If a certificate shows permanent disablement and a static injury, the Commissioner must determine the worker’s degree of disablement. After deciding, the Commissioner must notify the claimant and any individually liable employer in writing.

The Commissioner may let an individually liable employer make provisional compensation settlements with a worker, and the employer must report them as required.

The Commissioner may require an employer to make periodic compensation payments to a disabled worker, and must refund those payments to the employer, with a possible certificate requirement before refunding cash payments.

An employer must provide and keep first-aid appliances and services for workers as prescribed for the trade or business, unless another law already provides and maintains them.

If a worker is injured in an accident during employment and needs transport to a hospital or home, the employer must provide conveyance right away.

The Commissioner or an individually liable employer must pay specified medical and related expenses for a worker injured in an accident arising out of and in the course of employment, subject to stated limits and conditions.

The Commissioner decides disputes about medical aid under this Part.

The Minister may set the fee scale for workers’ medical aid, after consulting relevant medical associations or bodies, and claims above that scale are not allowed.

Section 90 is repealed.

A worker, or the worker’s dependants if the worker has died, may claim compensation for a scheduled disease if a medical practitioner certifies the disease was caused by the worker’s employment, subject to stated exceptions.

This section sets when an accident is treated as having happened for a worker’s scheduled disease.

If a worker becomes disabled by or dies from a scheduled disease after working in the listed occupation within the previous 24 months, the disease is presumed to be caused by that employment unless the contrary is proved.

The Minister may amend the Second Schedule and add further diseases and related work descriptions by regulation.

This section sets special rules for pneumoconiosis claims, including how a person may apply for examination, what information must be given, who must act, and when the examination fee can be waived.

An individually liable employer must pay compensation for a scheduled disease, usually the employer who last employed the worker in that occupation.

This provision creates and maintains the Worker’s Compensation Fund and places it in the Board.

The Commissioner must use Fund money for this Act and its administration. The Board may use a surplus, create reserves, or leave money in the Fund with ministerial approval and consultation requirements.

Insurers and exempted employers may pay the Board a capitalised amount with approval, and certain unpaid obligations must be reported and paid on a yearly schedule.

The Commissioner may pay compensation from the Fund to a worker in certain repealed-Act accident cases, with Minister and Board approval.

The Board may borrow money, buy or sell property, and pledge its assets, but only with the required Minister’s approval.

The Fund’s money must be paid into a banking account, withdrawals are only allowed by Board-authorised cheques, the Board must keep part of the Fund liquid, and the rest must be invested in Minister-approved investments.

The Commissioner must keep proper accounting records for the Fund, an auditor is appointed to audit the Fund’s accounts, the auditor may inspect those accounts on behalf of the Minister responsible for finance, and the Minister must table the audited accounts and statements before the National Assembly.

Most employers must be liable to assessment under this Part, except the State and employers exempted by the Minister under section 105 while the exemption lasts.

The Minister may exempt an employer from paying assessments if conditions are met, and the Board may let an employer pay assessments instead.

Employers liable to assessment must submit an annual earnings statement to the Commissioner, and some employers may have to provide separate statements or may face a penalty for underreporting.

Employers are assessed by the Commissioner, with assessment rates fixed by the Board and objections handled by the Minister.

If the Board thinks an employer’s claims and accident experience is better or worse than others in the same class of business, it may give a bonus rebate or charge a higher assessment rate.

Employers with private domestic servants whose total earnings are at or below K60,000 a year must pay an assessment, due each year on 30 April or within 30 days after later liability arises.

An individually liable employer must pay annual contributions to the Commissioner, in the manner and at the time the Commissioner notifies, subject to subsection (2).

Employers carrying on business in Zambia must give the Commissioner business particulars on time and update them when they change.

Employers must keep wage and time records for all workers and produce them for inspection when requested by an authorised person.

A person must not use threats or any other means to force a worker to do or omit something that would take away compensation rights.

A person must not knowingly make or cause a false statement in a compensation claim or in a required notice, report, or statement under this Act.

Employers must pay assessments when due, file required returns on time, and pay penalties if they default. The Commissioner may waive or reduce penalties in some cases and may recover unpaid money as a civil debt.

Compensation for a worker’s death does not become part of the deceased worker’s estate.

If benefits were paid in error, the Commissioner may recover the amount by civil action or by deducting it from benefits payable under the Act.

If an employer goes bankrupt, or a company employer starts winding up, certain amounts due to the Commissioner as worker compensation are to be treated as preferential debts and paid ahead of other debts.

Compensation cannot be assigned, charged, attached by court order, or set off against a debt, except that the Commissioner or an individually liable employer may recover approved post-accident advances from compensation payable to the worker.

Documents required or issued under this Act are exempt from stamp duty.

Insurance companies covered by the section must give the Commissioner prescribed employer details by a specified date, using the prescribed manner.

This section lets certified Commissioner records be used as prima facie evidence, and lets a presiding officer summon the Commissioner or the affidavit-maker or send written interrogatories.

The President may make rules about reciprocal compensation arrangements with foreign states or Commonwealth governments.

Employers must display a printed compensation-recovery summary in the workplace when required by the Commissioner.

The Minister may make regulations by statutory instrument on the listed matters.

If an offence under the Act has no special penalty, the offender is liable on conviction to a fine, imprisonment, or both.

This section repeals the referenced Workmen's Compensation Act and saves certain pre-commencement compensation claims for treatment under the repealed Act, subject to section 7.

The Board may, with the Minister’s approval, make an arrangement with the Zambia National Provident Fund Board.

1. Total loss of sight ______________ 100 By Laws.Africa and contributors. Licensed under CC-BY. Share widely and freely. 52 Workers' Compensation Act, 1963 (Chapter 271) Zambia Repealed

This section concerns loss of the remaining eye by a one-eyed worker.

This item refers to loss of one eye when the other eye is normal.

This text states: total loss of vision of one eye, with the other eye normal.

The text shows a table of visual-acuity measurements for defective vision and the start of a scheduled-diseases list.

This section identifies lead and manganese substances and their fumes, dust, or vapour as the subject matter of the provision.

This provision describes phosphorus, phosphine, and related phosphorus compounds, including exposure to their fumes, dust, or vapour.

This section lists arsenic, mercury, and carbon bisulphide, and their compounds or substances containing them, in relation to use, handling, and exposure.

This provision refers to benzene or its homologues and to their use, handling, and exposure to fumes or vapour containing them.

This provision lists nitro-, amino-, and chloro-derivatives of benzene and related exposure to fumes or vapour, including nitrochlorbenzene.

This provision lists dinitrophenol, its homologues, substituted dinitrophenols, and their salts.

This provision lists certain substances and covers their use, handling, and exposure to fumes or vapour containing them.

This provision refers to di-ethylene dioxide (dioxan) and the use or handling of it, or exposure to its fumes or vapour.

This provision refers to methyl bromide and its use, handling, and exposure to fumes or vapour containing it.

This provision concerns the use, handling, or exposure to chlorinated naphthalene, including fumes, dust, or vapour containing it.

Section heading about exposure to nickel carbonyl gas.

This section refers to the use or handling of nitric acid and exposure to nitrous fumes.

This provision lists kinds of work involving gonioma kamassi, wool, hair, bristles, hides, skins, animal products, and work with animals or carcasses.

This provision lists topics: glanders, contact with equine animals or their carcasses, and infections by two named leptospira bacteria.

This section lists certain medical conditions and the kinds of work or exposures linked to them.