§ 90. Mr. WRIGHTasked the Home Secretary whether, in calculating the total earnings for the previous six months of a workman, a member of the Territorial Force, who has met with an accident in the course of his employment, for the purpose of ascertaining the compensation payable to such workman by his employer under the Compensation Act, no allowance is made for the fortnight spent in the course of such six months by the workman in camp and during which he received no wages from his employer; and, if so, whether he will introduce an Amendment to the Act to remedy this state of affairs?
§ The SECRETARY of STATE for the HOME DEPARTMENT (Mr. McKenna)My attention has not been called to any decided case in which the precise point has been raised, and I have, of course, no authority to decide it; but I may point out that is the case of Anslow versus Cannock Chase Colliery Company, Limited, it was held by the Court of Appeal that a period of absence from work in respect of a holiday voluntarily taken by the workman should not be taken into account in computing his average weekly earnings, and would not therefore diminish the compensation to be paid him. This decision was 2099 approved on appeal to the House of Lords, and it appears to apply to the case to which the hon. Member refers.