Research On The Concurrence Between Work-related Injury Compensation And Civil Damage Compensation In China

With the increasing cases of personal damage compensation, there are oftenproblems of concurrence between work-related injury compensation and civilcompensation in the judicial practice，which has become the focus and disputes in thecivil trials. For different legal practitioners, the understanding of the applicable lawsis different, thus the trial results are also different, which is directly relevant to thebalance of interests among workers and employers as well as social insurance system.This paper tentatively interprets legal issues of the concurrence between work-relatedinjury compensation and civil compensation in our country through the analysis ofthe personal injury disputes in traffic accident compensation in the judicial practice.This paper consists of five parts and the first one analyzes the work-relatedinjury compensation and civil compensation cases happened in reality. Local courts inChina always have different understanding of concurrence between the work-relatedinjury and civil compensation in the judicial practice, resulting in different trialresults in similar cases. The second part carries out research on the concurrencebetween work-related injury compensation and civil compensation involved in theabove cases and concludes the causes of the concurrence. The three major causeswhich can arouse concurrence are as follows: firstly, there are multiple claim rightsfor damages cases in China; secondly, the related legislation of compensation forwork-related injury and civil damages is not unified and incomplete; thirdly, there isoverlap in the compensation projects for work-related injury and civil damages. In thethird part, the author summarizes the laws related to the concurrence betweenwork-related compensation and civil compensation in the judicial practice and twoexisting modes to deal with the concurrence, that is repetitive compensation modeand compensatory damages mode. In the fourth part, though the analysis of the waysof dealing with the concurrence problems in the work-related compensation and civilcompensation in the world and based on their respectively different legislationsystems, the author sums up four kinds of processing modes which are commonly used in the foreign countries to solve the concurrence, namely alternative mode,overlay mode, select mode, and supplementary mode. The author discovers theinsufficient parts in dealing with the work-related compensation and civilcompensation in China by analyzing the pros and cons of the above four modes, Inthe fifth part, the author proposes judicial suggestions for the treatment ofconcurrence between work-related compensation and civil compensation in ourcountry and holds the opinion that "supplementary" compensation mode is morereasonable in China. The author also suggests introducing the "paying in advance"system to facilitate rapid access to legal remedies compensation for workers. On thisbasis, the author also puts forward ideas to perfect work-related injury compensationand the civil damage compensation system. China should improve the legislativesystem, establish unified standard of compensation, clear the compensation mode andconnect work-related injury compensation and civil compensation effectively andreasonably.In this paper, the author uses case studies, comparative analysis, empiricalanalysis and other research methods to analyze how to solve the concurrence betweenwork-related injury compensation and civil compensation through related cases, andtries to seek better relief approach under the existing legal system in China.This article specifically points out that China should adopt a "supplementary"compensation mode, which has some certain advantages. First, this model accordswith the original intention of the creation of the work-related injury insurance, whichis to appropriately reduce the economic pressure of the employing units or employersand transfer the liability. The complete replacement and partial replacement in thecreation of work-related injury compensation are shown as “alternative” mode and“supplementary” mode respectively. If the alternative mode is adopted, the injuredparty who allows work-related injury can still request tort compensation according totort law after it completes the compensation for work-related injury. Although thiscan strengthen the rights of workers and ensure the workers’ compensation behavior,it is inconsistent with the work-related injury system. While if using the“supplementary” mode, the workers can choose to be paid by work-related injuryinsurance and the civil tort compensation is only a supplement for work-related injury accidents, which is consistent with the purpose of work-related injury insurancesystem and provides maximum protection for lawful rights and interests of injuredworkers. In addition, the “supplementary mode” is also in conformity with all theprinciples of compensation for damages to the victims in our civil law and with thecore values of our society. It is the combination of tort system and work-related injurysystem, which is more comprehensive than “overlay” mode. Last, the“supplementary” mode also strengthens the sanction and preventive function in theterms of compensation. From the view point of the workers, in addition to getcompensation for all the damages by work-related injury insurance, they can stillrequire the responsible person to compensate according to the tort law. From theemployers’ point of view, relevant responsibility of undertaking fault acts isconducive to give play to prevention and punishment function of the law. Therefore,in the judicial practice of our country, the author suggests adoption of“supplementary” compensation mode, which can maximize the protection of theinterests of the workers and realize the balanced interests between employers andinjured workers without aggravating the compensation pressure of the employers.