Liability of Organizations

under Soviet law, the liability borne by enterprises, institutions, and organizations in cases of impaired health or death suffered by workers during performance of their jobs. The liability of organizations is affirmed in Article 91 of the Basic Principles of Civil Legislation of the USSR and the Union Republics, Article 67 of the Basic Principles of Labor Legislation of the USSR and the Union Republics, in the Civil Code, and in the Labor Code. It is specified in detail by the Rules for Compensation by Enterprises, Institutions, and Organizations for Damage Caused to Production and Office Workers Through Work-related Injury or Other Impairment of Health, as ratified by a joint decree of the State Committee on Labor and the presidium of the All-Union Central Council of Trade Unions on Dec. 22, 1961, and in other official documents.

Organizational liability is based on the principle of full compensation of the victim’s financial loss. The organization must make monetary payments beyond the disability pension given to the victim if the pension is less than the earnings lost by the worker because of the accident. When a worker is temporarily transferred to a lower-paying job, the difference between his former and his new earnings is to be paid until either his working ability is restored or his disability is established. Organizations must also pay for additional expenditures incurred by working people in regaining their health, such as for therapy and artificial limbs. In cases of a worker’s death, the organization is liable to his dependents who are unable to work.

Organizational liability ensues only if the worker had a work relationship with the organization, the damage was work-related, and the organization was at fault. Any organization that has entered into a labor contract with a worker and is obligated to make social insurance payments on his behalf is liable for damage. The obligation to compensate for financial loss is borne by the management of the organization. Where the injured party protests the decision of the management, the dispute is resolved by the factory trade union committee. If either the injured party or the management protests the order of the committee, the dispute is heard in people’s court.