Seek compensation when injured in the line of duty

When Kenneth Mukudde got injured on duty, his employer was there to take care of his medical bills for about a year.
The company paid his bills and salary for all that time but eventually, the general manager felt they had done a little too much and started consulting on how they could terminate the arrangement.
Mukudde got wind of this and a lawyer advised him to ask for termination which became a good ground to sue the company. He sued and demanded for some significant amount of money.
But before the matters could take a deeper legal course, the company asked to settle the matter out of court.
This was in breach of contract because, Mukudde, who was a permanent staff of the company had been injured in the line of duty and was entitled to workers compensation.
Under the Workers Compensation Act, injuries attained in the line of duty are subject to compensation through a properly drawn out insurance scheme facilitated by the company.
“The compensation is payable from accidents that create a legal liability on the employer, either directly or vicariously, or on some other person,” the Act reads in part.
According to the Act, every employer must insure workers against injuries or damages attained in the line of duty.
To put this in perspective, Angela Dragu, a client relations manager at Marsh Uganda, says that the policy is legal instrument compensate an injured or sick worker in respect of accidental death and or bodily injury and or illness arising out of and in the course of employment.
“An employee reports the accident to their employer who lodges a claim with their insurer under the policy. An employee can also report a claim to the labour office. The employee is required to submit a number of supporting documents as evidence to support the claim,” she says.
The Act, according to Dragu, provides for computation of monthly payments of the worker for 12, which informs the amount of compensation due to an incapacitated worker.
“The computation of annual earnings shall be a multiple of 12 of that sum,” she says quoting what the law requires.

Level of compensation
The compensation, she adds, is based on, the employee’s injury or level of incapacitation, is arrived at by the attendant doctor or the labour office.
The benefits as per the Act, which varies from one insurer to another, shall in case of death of an employee; their family are given an equivalent of five years of his or her earnings.