H*3657 Session 108 (1989-1990)
H*3657(Rat #0095, Act #0057 of 1989) General Bill, By J.C. Hearn, J.W. Johnson and
J.E. Lockemy
A Bill to amend Section 42-9-290, as amended, Code of Laws of South Carolina,
1976, relating to the amount of Workers' Compensation for the death of an
employee due to an accident, so as to provide for a minimum weekly payment of
seventy-five dollars, rather than twenty-five dollars, so long as this amount
does not exceed the employee's average weekly wages, and to provide that if
the amount does exceed average weekly wages, the amount payable may not be
less than the employee's average weekly wages.-amended title
03/09/89 House Introduced and read first time HJ-10
03/09/89 House Referred to Committee on Labor, Commerce and
Industry HJ-10
03/29/89 House Committee report: Favorable with amendment Labor,
Commerce and Industry HJ-10
03/30/89 House Amended HJ-28
04/04/89 House Read second time HJ-26
04/05/89 House Read third time and sent to Senate HJ-13
04/06/89 Senate Introduced, read first time, placed on calendar
without reference SJ-15
04/11/89 Senate Read second time SJ-22
04/12/89 Senate Read third time and enrolled SJ-16
04/20/89 Ratified R 95
04/24/89 Signed By Governor
04/24/89 Effective date 04/24/89
04/24/89 Act No. 57
05/03/89 Copies available
(A57, R95, H3657)
AN ACT TO AMEND SECTION 42-9-290, AS AMENDED, CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA,
1976, RELATING TO THE AMOUNT OF WORKERS' COMPENSATION FOR THE DEATH OF AN
EMPLOYEE DUE TO AN ACCIDENT, SO AS TO PROVIDE FOR A MINIMUM WEEKLY PAYMENT OF
SEVENTY-FIVE DOLLARS, RATHER THAN TWENTY-FIVE DOLLARS, SO LONG AS THIS AMOUNT
DOES NOT EXCEED THE EMPLOYEE'S AVERAGE WEEKLY WAGES, AND TO PROVIDE THAT IF THE
AMOUNT DOES EXCEED AVERAGE WEEKLY WAGES, THE AMOUNT PAYABLE MAY NOT BE LESS THAN
THE EMPLOYEE'S AVERAGE WEEKLY WAGES.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:
Minimum weekly payment changed
SECTION 1. The first paragraph of Section 42-9-290 of the 1976 Code, as last
amended by Act 390 of 1988, is further amended to read:
"If death results proximately from an accident and within two years of the
accident or while total disability still continues and within six years after the
accident, the employer shall pay or cause to be paid, subject, however, to the
provisions of the other sections of this title, in one of the methods provided
in this chapter, to the dependents of the employee wholly dependent upon his
earnings for support at the time of the accident, a weekly payment equal to
sixty-six and two-thirds percent of his average weekly wages, but not less than
seventy-five dollars a week so long as this amount does not exceed his average
weekly wages; if this amount does exceed his average weekly wages, the amount
payable may not be less than his average weekly wages nor more than the average
weekly wage in this State for the preceding fiscal year, for a period of five
hundred weeks from the date of the injury, and burial expenses up to but not
exceeding twenty-five hundred dollars. If the employee leaves dependents, only
partly dependent upon his earnings for support at the time of the injury, the
weekly compensation to be paid must equal the same proportion of the weekly
payments for the benefit of persons wholly dependent as the amount contributed
by the employee to such partial dependence bears to the annual earnings of the
deceased at the time of his injury. When weekly payments have been made to an
injured employee before his death, the compensation to dependents begins from the
date of the last of such payments but does not continue more than five hundred
weeks from the date of the injury. Compensation under this title to aliens not
residents (or about to become nonresidents) of the United States or Canada is the
same in amount as provided for residents, except that dependents in any foreign
country are limited to a surviving spouse and child or children or, if there be
no surviving spouse or child, to a surviving father or mother whom the employee
has supported, either wholly or in part, for a period of three years before the
date of the injury, and except that the commission may, at its option, or upon
the application of the insurance carrier, commute all future installments of
compensation to be paid to such aliens by paying or causing to be paid to them
one-half of the commuted amount of future installments of compensation as
determined by the commission."
Time effective
SECTION 2. This act takes effect upon approval by the Governor. |