Section 17: Compensation in fatal cases.

(1) Where death results from the injury of an employee, compensation shall be paid to the dependants of the deceased-
(a) where the deceased employee leaves dependants wholly dependent on his earnings a widow or widower-
(i) and two or more children, a monthly payment of a sum equal to 90 per cent of the total monthly remuneration of the employee as at the date of death,
(ii) and one child, a monthly payment of a sum equal to 85 per cent of the total monthly remuneration of the deceased employee as at the date of death,
(iii) without a child who, at the date of death of the employee, is 50 years of age or above, or is an invalid spouse, a monthly payment of a sum equal to 60 per cent of the total monthly remuneration of the deceased employee, and
(iv) who, at the date of the death of the employee is not an invalid spouse, is under the age of 50 years and has no dependent children; a monthly payment of a sum that is equal to the product of the percentage determined by subtracting 1 per cent from 60 per cent for each year for which the age of the dependant, at the date of death of the employee, is under the age of 50 years, and provided that the total percentage shall not be less than 30 Per cent ;
(b) where there is no surviving spouse eligible for monthly payments under this section, and the-
(i) dependant is a child, a monthly payment of a sum equal to 40 per cent of the total monthly rate of compensation under this Act that would have been payable if the deceased employee had, at the date of death, sustained a permanent total disability,
(ii) dependants are 2 children, a monthly payment of a sum equal to 60 per cent of the monthly rate or compensation under this Act that would have been payable if the deceased employee had, at the date of death, sustained a permanent total disability, or
(iii) dependants are 3 or more children, a monthly payment of a sum equal to 80 per cent of the total monthly rate of compensation under this Act that would have been payable if the deceased had, at the date of death, sustained a permanent total disability;
(c) monthly payments to eligible children under this Act shall be made to children up to the age of 21 or until they complete undergraduate studies, whichever comes first;
(d) where the surviving child is disabled, the Board shall determine the period of the monthly payment for such time as the Board believes that the disabled child would not have been dependent on the deceased employee;
(e) where the deceased employee does not leave a dependent spouse or child entitled to compensation under this section, but leaves other dependants or next of kins who were wholly dependent on him or her, the Board shall determine a sum reasonable and proportionate to the pecuniary loss suffered by such dependants or next of kins by reason of death of the employee;
(f) where-
(i) no compensation is payable under subsection (r) (a)-(e) of this section; or
(ii) the compensation is payable only to a spouse, a child or children or a parent or parents; but the employee leaves a spouse, child or parent who, though not dependent on the remuneration of the employee at the time of the death of the employee, had a reasonable expectation of pecuniary benefit from the continuation of the life of the employee, the Board shall make monthly payment of an amount to be determined by the Board to such spouse, child or children, parent or parents; and
(g) where the employee leaves no dependent widow or widower, or the widow or widower subsequently dies, and the Board considers it desirable to continue the existing household, and when a suitable person acts as a foster parent or an administrator of the estate of the deceased employee in keeping up the household and taking care of and maintaining the children entitled to compensation, in a manner satisfactory to the Board, the same allowance shall be payable to the foster parent or administrator and on behalf of the children as would have been payable to a widow or widower and children, and shall be continued as long as those conditions continue.
(2) Where a disabled spouse ceases to be disabled, or a widow or widower with dependent children no longer has dependent children or there is a reduction in the number of dependent children, the spouse, widow, widower or children shall be entitled to the same category of benefits as would have been payable if the death of the employee had occurred on the date the disabled spouse ceases to be disabled or the widow or widower no longer has dependent children or the number of dependent children is reduced, as the case may be.
(3) Where there is a widow or widower and a child or children, and the widow or widower subsequently dies, the allowances to the children shall, if they are in other respects eligible, continue and be calculated in the same manner as if the employee had died leaving no dependent spouse.
(4) Where at the date of death a spouse is not disabled, but is suffering from a disability that results in a substantial impairment of work ability and earning capacity, the Board may, having regard to the degree of disability or the extent of impairment of work ability or earning capacity, pay the spouse a proportion of the compensation that would have been payable if the spouse had been disabled.
(5) For the purpose of this Act, where 2 employees in a workplace are married to each other and both are contributing to the support of a common household, each is deemed to be a dependant of the other.
(6) Where 2 parents contribute to the support of a common household in which their children also reside, the children are deemed to be dependants of the parent whose death is compensable under this Act.
(7) Where compensation is payable as the result of the death of an employee, or of injury resulting in death, and where at the date of death the employee and dependant spouse were living separate and apart and there was-
(a) in force at the date of death a court order or separation agreement providing periodic payments for support of the dependent spouse or children living with that spouse, no compensation under sub-section (1) of this section shall be payable to the spouse or children living with the spouse, but monthly payments shall be made in respect of that spouse and those children equal to the periodic payments due under the order or agreement; or
(b) no court order or separation agreement in force at the date of death providing periodic payments for support of the dependent spouse, or children living with that spouse, and the employee and dependent spouse were-
(i) living separate and apart for a period of less than 3 months preceding the date of death of the employee, compensation shall be payable in accordance with the provisions of sub-section (1) of this section, or
(ii) separated with the intention of living separate and apart for a period of 3 months or longer preceding the death of the employee, monthly payments shall be made up to the level of support which the Board believes the spouse and those children would have been likely to receive from the employee if the death had not occurred.
(8) The compensation payable under sub-section (7) of this section shall not exceed the compensation that would have been payable under sub-section (1) of this section had there been no separation.
(9) Where an employee has lived with and contributed to the support and maintenance of a wife or husband and the employee and the wife or husband have-
(a) no children, for a period of 3 years; or
(b) children, for a period of one year, immediately preceding the death of the employee, and where the employee does not leave a dependent widow or widower, the Board may pay the compensation to which a dependent widow or widower would have been entitled under this Act to the wife or husband.
(10) Where-
(a) an employee has lived with and contributed to the support and maintenance of a wife or husband for the period set out in sub-section (9) of this section;
(b) an employee also left, surviving, a dependent widow or widower from whom, at the date of death, the employee was living separate and apart; and
(c) there is a difference in the amount of compensation payable to the widow or widower by reason of the separation and the amount of compensation that would have been payable to that spouse if that spouse and the employee had not been living separate and apart, the Board may pay compensation to the wife or husband up to the amount of the difference.
(11) Where in any situation there is a need to apportion allowances payable to dependants among those dependants, the formula for apportionment shall be determined by the Board, unless the Board has grounds for a different apportionment, the sharing formula shall be where there-
(a) is a dependent spouse and one child, two-thirds to the dependent spouse and one-third to the child;
(b) is a dependent spouse and more than one child, half to the dependent spouse and half among the children in equal shares; and
(c) are children but no dependent spouse, among the children in equal shares.
(12) If a dependant is entitled to receive compensation as a result of the-
(a) death of an employee; and
(b) subsequent death of another employee,
the total compensation payable for the dependant as a result of those deaths shall be an amount that the Board has reasonable grounds to believe is appropriate, provided that the compensation payable to a dependant shall not be-
(a) less than the highest of the amounts that would otherwise be payable in respect of the death of any of the employees; and
(b) more than 90 per cent of the average remuneration of an employee.
(13) Where a situation arises that is not expressly covered by this section, or where some special additional facts are present that would, in the opinion of the Board, make the strict application of this section inappropriate, the Board may make rules and take decisions it considers fair in the circumstances.