Compensation for Occupational Injuries and Diseases Act, 1993 (Act No. 130 of 1993)Chapter VI : Determination and calculation of compensation63. Manner of calculating earnings |
| (1) | In order to determine compensation, the Director-General shall calculate the earnings of an employee in such manner as in his opinion is best to determine the monthly rate at which the employee was being remunerated by his employer at the time of the accident, including— |
| (a) | the value of any food or quarters or both supplied by the employer to the date of the accident; |
| (b) | any overtime payment or other special remuneration in cash or in kind of a regular nature or for work ordinarily performed, |
but excluding—
| (i) | payment for intermittent overtime; |
| (ii) | payment for non-recurrent occasional services; |
| (iii) | amounts paid by an employer to an employee to cover any special expenses; |
| (iv) | ex gratia payments whether by the employer or any other person. |
| (2) | If an employee's remuneration is determined in accordance with a rate calculated upon work performed, his earnings shall be deemed to be his remuneration for similar work upon the same conditions of remuneration for as long a period as possible prior to the accident but not exceeding 12 months. |
| (3) | If by reason of the short duration of the service of an employee with his employer it is impracticable to calculate his earnings in such service, his earnings shall, if possible, be calculated on the basis of the amount which the employee with similar work at the same conditions of remuneration earned with another employer during the 12 months immediately prior to the accident, or on the basis of the amount which during the 12 months immediately prior to the accident was earned by other employees of the first-mentioned employer with similar work and on the same conditions of remuneration, or would have been earned by the employee during the previous 12 months had he been so employed. |
| (4) | If an employee has entered into contracts of service with two or more employers and has in terms of those contracts worked at one time for one employer and at another time for another employer, his earnings shall be calculated as if his earnings under all such contracts were earnings in the employment of the employer for whom he was working at the time of the accident. |
| (5) | If in the opinion of the Director-General it is not practicable to calculate the earnings of an employee in accordance with the preceding provisions, the Director-General may calculate those earnings in such manner as he may deem equitable, but with due regard to the principles laid down in those provisions. |
| (6) | This section shall not be construed as prohibiting the calculation of earnings on a weekly basis, but where earnings are so calculated the monthly earnings shall be calculated as equal to four and one-third times the amount of such weekly earnings. |