Workmen's Compensation Act, 1923

Fighting for adequate compensation for injured miners and their families was one of S.O. Davies' most important tasks.

The Workmen's Compensation Act (1923) was created to provide for the payment by certain classes of employers to their workmen of compensation for injury by accident.

The Act was widely disliked by the Parliamentary Labour Party and by the wider trade union movement. Labour had called for compensation of up to £800 for fatal injury at work, but the government initially pitched maximum compensation at £500. Labour successfully negotiated this up to £600 as the Bill passed through parliament, but it was still lower than the rates provided in Labour's own draft legislation. More difficult for Labour was the insistence on the government on listening to employers' views on matters such as weekly benefit payments and medical referrals.