Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2019, published 109th ILC session (2021)

Workmen's Compensation (Accidents) Convention, 1925 (No. 17) - Anguilla

Article 1 of the Convention. National law giving effect to the Convention. The Committee notes that the requested copy of the Workmen’s Compensation Act of 2000 (W30, Revised Statutes) repealing and replacing Ordinance No. 21 of 1955 on compensation for occupational injuries, has been annexed to the Government’s report, together with its implementing Workmen’s Compensation Regulations (W30-3). The Committee takes due note of the information provided by the Government on the manner in which the new legislation gives effect to each of the provisions of the Convention.

Article 2(2)(d). Exclusion of manual workers whose remuneration exceeds a certain limit. In its previous comments, the Committee noted that the Workmen’s Compensation Act, 2000 R.S.A. c. W30 provided that any person whose remuneration exceeds 10,000 East Caribbean dollars (XCD) a year or such sum as may from time to time by order be fixed by the Governor in Council was excluded from the definition of “workman” for the purposes of compensation in case of work-related accidents (section 1), with the result that the vast majority of manual workers were excluded from the protection offered by the Act. The Committee further observed that Article 2(2)(d) of the Convention only authorizes such exclusion for non-manual workers. The Committee notes with concern that no measures have been taken by the Government to this effect, although it has been reminding the Government for many years of the need to extend the scope of the workers’ compensation system to include all workers covered by the Convention. In view of the above, the Committee requests the Government to take the necessary measures, without further delay, to ensure the coverage of all manual workers, including those whose remuneration exceeds 10,000 XCD per year, for work accident compensation under national laws and regulations concerning workersʼ compensation, in accordance with Article 2(2)(d) of the Convention.

The Committee has been informed that, based on the recommendations of the Standards Review Mechanism Tripartite Working Group (SRM tripartite working group), the Governing Body has decided that member States for which Convention No. 17 is in force and which is applicable to Anguilla should be encouraged to ratify the more recent Employment Injury Benefits Convention, 1964 [Schedule I amended in 1980] (No. 121) or to accept the obligations in Part VI of the Social Security (Minimum Standards) Convention, 1952 (No. 102), and extend it to its non-metropolitan territories (see GB.328/LILS/2/1). Conventions Nos 121 and 102 reflect the more modern approach to employment injury benefits. The Committee therefore encourages the Government to follow up the Governing Body’s decision at its 328th Session (October–November 2016) approving the recommendations of the SRM tripartite working group and to consider ratifying Convention No. 121 or accepting the obligations in Part VI of Convention No. 102 and extend it to its non-metropolitan territories, as these represent the most up-to-date instruments in this subject area.