Newsletter
ASSESSMENT OF INDUSTRIAL INJURIES
On 23 September 2003, the PRC Ministry of Labor and Social Security promulgated its Regulations on Assessment of Industrial Injuries, which will take effect on 1 January 2004.
Under the regulations, within 30 days from the date on which an employee is accidentally in-jured or is diagnosed or assessed as having a statutory industrial disease, the employer must apply to the local municipal-level labor and so-cial security administration for an industrial in-jury assessment. If the employer fails to apply within the above time limit, the injured employee, or his immediate family (parents, spouse or children), or labor union, may apply to the local municipal-level labor and social security ad-ministration for an industrial injury assessment within one year from the date of the injury or of the diagnosis or assessment.
If an employee or his immediate family members believe that the employee has suffered an indus-trial injury, but the employer disagrees, the bur-den of proof lies with the employer. If the em-ployer puts forward no evidence, the labor and social security administration may make an as-sessment on the basis of the evidence provided by the employee. In principle, the labor and so-cial security administration must make a deter-mination within 60 days from receiving an ap-plication. If the employee or his immediate family, or the employer, do not accept the ad-ministration's decision, they may apply for an administrative review or bring administrative litigation in accordance with the relevant law.