THE INSURANCE ACT.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1359, 9 February 1912, Page 2

THE INSURANCE ACT.

DETAILS'OF THE BRITISH MEASURE, UNEMPLOYMENT PROVISIONS. The Insurance Bill, in addition to health insurance, provides unemployment insurance, and tin: London "Daily Telegraph" summarise., the provisions of tho Act .-us finally passed thus:(a) Compulsory insurance in certain scheduled trades. (b) Encouragement of voluntary insurance in all trades. It applies compulsorily to all workmen -Skilled or unskilled, organised or unor-ganised-in building, construction of works, shipbuilding, mechanical enginecrin" iron founding, construction of vehicles, and sawmilling. ■ On the one hand, workmen and onv plovers in those li-ados contribute to an ""fl"' 'Khe/'hand, all workmen'who have ontWlutcd are entitled to.certain payment" from the fund when unem"workmen" excludes foremen and clerks, as well as young men under , under the Crown, unless pes able, are iiielii.lctl, but there is power to. adapt the scheme to their cirenms.ance.s boyr , nßimoNS _ The fund is ratal by conlribulioM , from workmen, employers, and tho SUto. TIT'S •:::::::::::o D e-thir!i „* the total contributions from workmen and employers. A workman contributes nothing when unemployed. „„ BENEFITS. He receives no benefit during the fire* week of unemployment. Thereafter ho receives 7s. per week up to a maximum of fifteen weeks in any one year. , , He cannot draw more than ono weeks benefit for every fivo weekly contributions. _ The Board of Trade has power to vary those rates from lime to time. 'f'he scheme will be administered chiefly through the Labour Exchanges. ■V workman leaving employment will take his insurance book, duly stamped, to the nearest exchange and claim benefit How much benefit he is entitled to will 1» decided by an insurance officer, against whose decision he can appeal to a Court of Referees. The workman will receive benefit. bo long as he remains unemployed, signing the register daily during working hours. VOLUNTARY INSURANCE. Voluntary insurance is encouraged by the Board'of Trade through associations of workmen in the insured trades. Out of the monevs provided by Parliament the Board of Trade- can give subsidies to those associations. I At tho outset the compulsory part Oi tho scheme is limited to the trades mentioned, but the Board of Trade has power to extend it to other trades by special order. , It is estimated that 21 millions of workmen will come under tho compulsory scheme at first. STATUTORY CONDITIONS. The statutory conditions for the receipt of unemployment benefit by a workman are: (1) That ho has been employed in an insured trade for twenty-six weeks in the previous five years, unable to obtain suitable employment. He will not be deemed lo linvo failed in fulfilling the statutory conditions by reason only that he has declined (a) Employment where work has lieen stopped owing tu a trade dispute. (b) Employment in a district where lower 'wages are paid. (c) Employment in a district _ where wages' aro kept down owing to agreement between associations of employers and of workmen. A workman who loses employment through misconduct, or who voluntarily leave his employment without just cause, is disqualified from receiving benefit for six weeks. He is also disqualified if in a prison, or a workhouse, or in a charitable institution, or rosident out of the kingdom. Whilo a member of the Naval Reserve, tho Army Reserve, or the Territorial Eorco is in training he is deemed to bo employed by the Crown in on insurw 1 trade.