When may an employer end all later compensation liability under the Labour Standards Act by paying a worker a lump sum?
General information · Not legal advice
Material to check
For this exercise, we read the paper showing that the worker receives compensation under the provision on compensation for occupational injury or disease, the medical record fixing when treatment began and whether a cure has been reached, and the employer's average wage records with proof of the lump sum paid.
These are types of material to look for, not evidence already verified by PRO SE.
Where readings differ
One reading makes the lump sum an option for the employer rather than a duty: where a worker receiving compensation under the occupational injury provision is not fully cured when the period the provision sets after treatment began has passed, the employer may pay the number of days' average wage the provision fixes and thereby be released from all liability to compensate under this Act thereafter.
Another reading limits what that release reaches: it covers liability 'under this Act' only, and only after the lump sum has been paid, so an offer or part payment leaves later liability standing, and a worker whose claim has not been accepted under the compensation provision falls outside the conditions this provision sets.
Your judgment
Does the file show the lump sum paid in full and by whom it was received, so that the argued release can be tied to that payment?
PRO SE does not make this decision or keep a case record on this public site.When to reconsider
We look at this again if the provision is amended to change the period after treatment begins or the number of days' average wage paid, or if a court decision explains whether a later worsening of the injury revives liability after the release.