Chapter 194 Compensation
Chen Mo accompanied Xu Hongdou to the hospital and met Chen Nanxing.

Xu Hongdou asked, “How are the people doing?”

“I just had a checkup and took some X-rays. My humerus is fractured. The doctor said I need a plate.”

In the hospital corridor, Chen Nanxing briefly explained the situation to the two.

The matter was not complicated. It was just that a decorator missed a step on the ladder and fell off. When he landed on the ground, he subconsciously used his hands to support himself, and the result was what he is now.

After confirming that the person was not seriously injured, Xu Hongdou breathed a sigh of relief.

The most feared thing in construction is this kind of personal accident. Fortunately, nothing irreversible happened.

Chen Mo asked: “What do you say now?”

No one wants to see anyone get hurt, but since it has already happened, the next step naturally involves the allocation of responsibilities and compensation.

On the way here, Chen Mo asked a lawyer in advance.

Normally, when a worker is injured, he or she has to find the employing unit or employer. The two parties have a labor relationship, and the employer has to bear the main responsibility.

If Xu Hongdou is looking for odd jobs, then that would fall into this category.

But Xu Hongdou contracted the entire decoration to the construction team, and the two parties signed a contract, which was a contract relationship.

So in theory, they are not responsible for the workers’ injuries.

But this also involves the issue of employee qualifications.

If the construction unit is a formal decoration company with complete qualifications, then the company will naturally be responsible for the workers’ injuries.

But Xu Hongdou and her friends were looking for a construction team in the village. It was called a construction team, but in fact it was just a contractor who brought some people together to take on the work.

It goes without saying that it is impossible to register a company, apply for a business license, let alone sign formal labor contracts with workers.

For construction teams in villages like this, the contractor basically just calls out for work, verbally mentions the price, and anyone willing to do the work will just go along.

As the construction team of the contractor has problems with the qualifications of its employees, the contracting party also has certain joint and several liabilities.

Chen Nanxing shook his head. “We haven’t discussed anything else yet. We just arranged for the injured worker to be hospitalized. The worker’s family has already rushed over, and the contractor is here too.”

Chen Mo nodded, “Then let’s go in and check it out first. I’ve called Lao Xie and Xin Xin over. When they arrive, we’ll discuss the follow-up issues.”

This construction team was introduced by Xie Zhiyao, and Huang Xinxin acted as a guarantor on behalf of the village, so they had to wait for the two of them to come. With the presence of Xie Zhiyao, a local, and Huang Xinxin as a village committee member, it was easier for everyone to sit down and talk.

Otherwise, if we talk about this kind of thing, it will be a lot of fun.

The reason why Chen Mo followed was that he was afraid that Xu Hongdou and Chen Nanxing had never encountered such a thing and didn’t know how to deal with it. There were only two girls present, and they might suffer losses if something happened.

Many things cannot be solved by just talking about the law. Chen Mo does not want to speculate on people’s hearts with malice, but it is better to prepare for the worst-case scenario in advance to be prepared.

Entering the ward, Chen Mo saw the injured old man.

The man looked to be in his early sixties, with grey hair and dark, rough skin. Due to working under the sun all year round, patches of sunburn and peeling skin were often seen on his cheeks and neck. His depressed face was covered with wrinkles from the weather, and his shoulders and back were slightly hunched.

The loose clothes were frosted with sweat, the overalls were stained with paint and the knees were badly faded, there was a torn and old belt around his waist with a bunch of keys, and on his feet were a pair of worn-out army green sneakers.

As you get closer, you can faintly smell a mixture of sweat, paint and cheap tobacco.

“How much does it cost to add a steel plate? Can’t we just use plaster?”

“Dad, don’t worry about the money for now. Just follow the doctor’s instructions.”

Beside the bed, a conversation between father and son was heard.

“The baby is about to go to school, and the family needs money right now.”

“Dad, don’t worry about these. Jun’er and I can make money. Just heal your wounds first.”

The person who spoke this time was the old man’s daughter-in-law.

[I am a nameless person on this road. I have no news and no one comments. I have to fight for an ordinary script with all my efforts. I can only make a living through twists and turns.]

The old man looked at his son and daughter-in-law and whispered, “But in the future, I may not be able to make money for the family.”

Obviously his hand should be very painful at this time, but the old man didn’t care about feeling sorry for himself.

[I am the person who left the town, the person who ate with tears and laughter, the person who is on the road, the person who supports the family, the silent background of the city]

Xu Hongdou pursed her lips and turned to look at Chen Mo.

With just one look, Chen Mo knew what Xu Hongdou was thinking, but he held Xu Hongdou’s hand and shook his head gently at her.

Xu Hongdou nodded slightly, then stepped forward to express her concern and condolences.

After a while, Xie Zhiyao and Huang Xinxin also arrived.

The old man’s daughter-in-law stayed behind to watch over the patient, while his son and several others went outside the ward to discuss compensation for the medical expenses.

On behalf of the village committee, Huang Xinxin contacted the lawyer on the spot in a neutral manner and inquired about the compensation standards in this situation.

The old man’s son wanted to apply for work-related injury compensation, but was told by his lawyer that the old man was over 60 years old and could not apply for work-related injury compensation.

Moreover, strictly speaking, the relationship between the elderly and the contractor, which is “work when there is work and disband when there is no work”, is only temporary employment, which is a service relationship, not a labor relationship.

Therefore, it can only be calculated according to the compensation standards for personal injury.

The main difference between workers’ compensation and personal injury compensation is that the disability rating standards for workers’ compensation are lower and there is no division of liability.

For example, if a fracture is fixed with internal fixation, the work-related injury can basically be assessed as a level nine disability.

According to the work injury compensation standards of YN Province, the total compensation for the ninth grade disability of work injury is about 200,000 yuan. However, according to the personal injury compensation, the disability may only be rated as the tenth grade, which is not even half of the compensation.

After that, responsibilities must be divided, and some of the responsibilities belong to the injured person himself.

If the injured person is 30% responsible and the compensation amount is 100,000, he can only get 70,000.

Just like this time, the responsibility lies with three parties.

The contractor bears the main responsibility and bears 60% of the liability. Xu Hongdou bears joint liability and bears 20% of the liability. The workers themselves are at fault and bear 20% of the liability.

But fortunately, the medical expenses of the elderly can be reimbursed by medical insurance.

Medical insurance reimbursement and injury compensation are separate and independent. The portion that can be reimbursed by medical insurance must still be counted as compensation.

However, although this is the law, negotiations are not so smooth.

Xu Hongdou’s case is easy to deal with. In this situation, she should just consider herself unlucky and follow the law.

But the contractor and the old man’s son were at a stalemate.

The contractor felt that since he was the one who called the worker, it was “reasonable” for him to compensate for some of the medical expenses.

After deducting the portion that can be reimbursed by medical insurance, the contractor is willing to pay the remaining medical expenses, and he is quite a moral person, so Xu Hongdou doesn’t have to pay for it.

If we only talk about medical expenses, hospitalization and surgery will cost 20,000 yuan. Even if we add some subsequent recovery examinations, 30,000 yuan will be enough.

Excluding medical insurance reimbursement, he is personally willing to pay 20,000 yuan.

In the contractor’s view, this was the utmost that could be done.

Everyone took on the job together, and although he was the leader, he didn’t get much more.

But in the eyes of the old man’s son, it doesn’t work that way.

His father was injured and lost his original ability to earn money, so of course he has to pay for lost wages.

Moreover, he still wanted to fight for the compensation standard for work-related injuries.

He couldn’t understand why the person couldn’t be compensated according to work-related injuries when he was clearly injured at work?

What follows is a long tug of war.

Xie Zhiyao and Huang Xinxin kept persuading both sides.

Seeing that it was getting dark, Chen Mo directly suggested leaving first and notifying them after the two sides had come to a conclusion.

Chen Mo stated that the contractor would take 60% and they would take 20%, so they would pay one-third of whatever the contractor paid.

Upon hearing this, Xie Zhiyao could only smile bitterly.

On the way back, before reaching home, Chen Mo received a call from Xie Zhiyao.

After they left, the contractor relented and was willing to pay 30,000 yuan, with Chen Mo giving 10,000 yuan.

Originally, the father and son were reluctant to agree, but the contractor immediately made a statement.

If you still don’t agree, he won’t give you a penny and will ask someone to sue you in court.

When the father and son heard this, they were also unsure.

Xie Zhiyao also told him frankly that both parties should try their best to resolve the issue through negotiation.

Otherwise, he would have to pay the medical expenses himself first, and then wait until his father recovered and take all the receipts and invoices to appeal for compensation.

However, labor relations are civil disputes, and if such cases go to court, it will take at least half a year to get a verdict.

After hearing this, the old man’s son went back to the ward to discuss it with his family.

In the end, both sides took a step back and the three parties agreed to the plan.

After hearing Chen Mo hang up the phone, Xu Hongdou seemed to be hesitant to talk.

Chen Mo smiled and said, “Do you think I’m a little inhumane?”

Xu Hongdou shook her head. “You are trying to help us gain benefits. But how should I put it? Although I am a little depressed about this happening and feel that it is an unprovoked disaster, this is not what they want.”

Chen Nanxing also felt somewhat sad, “I can only say that life is not easy.”

Obviously, she was moved by the scene in the ward just now, and she could not feel disgusted even if others were asking her for higher compensation.

Chen Mo smiled knowingly and said, “If you can’t bear it, you can give me a red envelope later as a token of sympathy and a little more thought.”

Xu Hongdou asked in confusion: “Weren’t you afraid that we were too easy to talk to and would be considered as stupid people with a lot of money?”

Chen Mo smiled and nodded, then shook his head, “It’s true that we have to deal with each matter separately. It doesn’t matter if the intentions are more or less, but the division of compensation responsibilities must be clear, otherwise if there are other problems later in this matter, it will be easy for others to hold us back.”

“If they had argued a little bit just now, you would have softened your heart and been willing to pay more money, from one side paying 30,000 and the other side paying 10,000 to each paying 20,000. Although the amount is the same, the nature is different.”

“If there is any accident on the construction site in the future, does it mean that both parties are equally responsible?”

Chen Nanxing’s eyes widened. “That shouldn’t be the case, right?”

Chen Mo said calmly: “Morality is sometimes not for restraining oneself, but for kidnapping others.”

“Instead of relying on human nature, it is better not to put yourself in jail in the first place.”

(End of this chapter)