Is COVID-19 considered to be an organisational disease under ‘The employee’s compensation act 1923’?

India having a consolidated form of social security legislation to guide their employers to have a sense of security for their employees and to promote the importance of adequate safety measures to reduce industrial accident during employment. ‘The employee’s compensation act 1923’ is one of the legislations which consists the provision, making employers liable to pay compensation if accident leads to injury (fatal or non-fatal) and death to their employees in the manner calculated within the provision of the act. According to the act- ‘If an employee employed in any employment specified in part A, part B or part C of schedule III of the act, contracts any disease specified therein as an occupational disease peculiar to that employment’. The contracting of disease shall be deemed to be an injury by accident within the meaning of section 3 of the act and unless the contrary is proved the accident shall be deemed to have arisen out of and in the course of the employment.

World health organisation (WHO) labelled Covid-19 as a pandemic and describes covid-19 as an infectious disease having significant potential to spread from person to person around the world. Linking the pandemic to the employee’s compensation act 1923, it is evident as Serial number 1 in Part A of the schedule III of the act includes infectious and parasitic diseases contracted in an occupation, where there is a particular risk of contamination including employment of ‘all work involving exposure to health or laboratory work’ and ‘other work carrying a particular risk of contamination’.

The pandemic(covid-19) bringing with itself a lot of complexity and uncertainty to the employment relation between employer and employee. With phased unlocking procedure of the central and state government, establishments resuming their working with minimum required number of employees as prescribed in standing operating procedures. The employees allowed to operate are in significant risk to contract the virus that might include within the meaning of ‘infectious disease’ under part A of schedule III of the act. making employer liable to pay compensation as it is deemed to be an injury by accident within the meaning of section 3 of the act, if it is proved to be arise out of and in the course of the employment. meaning that a casual relationship between the accident and the employment, may deemed to be an accident within the meaning of the act. covid-19 also being the infectious disease that result in disablement to the employees for a period more than 3 days, thus making them eligible for compensation. But the provision still needs to be interpreted as there is no such official statement notified by the government in regards whether to consider covid-19 as an organisational disease or not. Many state governments providing insurance cover to covid-19 warriors, recently the Karnataka government announces around ₹30 lakhs insurance cover to their employees who are working as covid-19 warrior. See news although a good initiative but amending the act will give social security cover to wide range of employment and employees.

Concluding the provision, government should look in to the matter and statutorily made employers to pay their employees compensation, if the employees contracted with the ‘infectious disease’ which arise out of and in the course of the employment, by adding covid-19 as disease under schedule III of the act. As the act gives power to the Central Government or the State Government after giving notification in the Official Gazette, not less than three months' notice of its intention so to do, add any description of employment to the employments specified in Schedule III, which shall be deemed to be an occupational diseases under the act. demand of the hour is to provide social security cover to the employees working for wages by risking their lives. The legislation being a piece of such social security measure with wide industrial coverage must provide security to these employees and their kin if succumbed to death.

NOTE: This article is open for further scrutiny as the content is personal view of the author on the prescribed provisions. Discretion are on the government whether to consider covid-19 as occupational disease under the act or not.

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