Question & AnswerQ&A (Acts No. 1874)
The primary purpose of Acts No. 1874 is to extend and regulate the responsibility of employers for personal injuries and deaths suffered by their employees while at work.
An employee or their legal representatives can file an action against an employer for personal injury if the injury was caused by negligence relating to defects in the condition of ways, works, or machinery, or negligence of a superintendent or a person in charge of signal, switch, locomotive engine, or train, and the employee was exercising due care at the time.
A train is defined as one or more cars in motion, whether attached to an engine or not.
Anyone who physically controls or directs the movements of a signal, switch, locomotive engine, or train as part of their duty is considered a person in charge of these under the Act.
The widow, legal heirs, or next of kin who were dependent on the deceased employee's wages for support have the right to bring an action for damages against the employer.
Damages are assessed with reference to the degree of culpability of the employer or negligent person. Maximum damages for personal injury without death claims are two thousand pesos, and if death damages are awarded, damages range from five hundred to two thousand five hundred pesos for both injury and death.
The injured employee must report the injury in writing within ninety days, and the action must be brought within one year from the date of the injury or death.
Yes, under Section 6, the employer’s liability is not barred if the injury is caused by defects in ways, works, machinery, or plant owned or furnished by the employer, arising from the employer's negligence.
The court may allow food and medical attendance during the pendency of the action if so applied by the injured party, but the defendant must be given an opportunity to be heard.
No, Section 9 specifically excludes domestic servants and agricultural laborers from the application of this Act.
No, any agreement by the laborer to renounce the benefits of the Act prior to the injury or death is null and void.
Section 8 states that the employee or their legal representatives shall not be entitled to damages if the employee knew of the defect or negligence and failed within a reasonable time to inform the employer who was entrusted with general superintendence.
All actions for damages brought under this Act have preference over all other matters, except criminal cases and habeas corpus matters, and shall be promptly tried and decided within fifteen days after final submission.