Provisional Measures of Shenzhen Economic Zone on Working Ability Appraisal for Workers under Injury, Illness or Disability

 (Promulgated by Shenzhen Municipal People’s Government on July 6, 1989; Promulgated again by Decree No.16 of Shenzhen Municipal People’s Government on October 21, 1993)

Chapter Ⅰ  General Provisions

Article 1 In order to meet the needs of reformation and development of economic system and labor personnel system, make success of working ability appraisal for workers under injury, illness or disability, and safeguard the legal rights and interests of employers and employees, these measures are formulated in accordance with the Regulations of People’s Republic of China on Labor Insurance and the principles implied in the national rules on reforming labor personnel system, combining with the actual situations of Shenzhen Special Economic Zone. 

        Article 2 These Measures shall apply to enterprises (including enterprises owned by the whole people, domestically associated enterprises, collectively-owned enterprises at district level or above, enterprises under township or street, joint-stock enterprises, private enterprises of science and technology, privately operated enterprises, individual enterprises, enterprises stationed in Shenzhen under central authorities and authorities of other provinces, cities and counties, and enterprises with foreign investment), state organs, mass associations and public institutions.

Chapter Ⅱ  Organizational Structures

Article 3  Shenzhen Municipal Committee of Medical and Labor Appraisal shall be established and be composed of the leading officials of the municipal departments of labor, sanitation, personnel and civil administration, and those of the federation of trade unions. An office shall be established under the committee in Shenzhen Municipal Bureau of Labor.     

Groups of medical and labor appraisal shall be established in every district competent bureau, group company and parent company, and be composed of their respective administrative leaders and the leading officials of the departments of labor (personnel), medical treatment, trade unions and security.  Special persons shall be appointed to take charge of daily work. The appraisal groups shall be responsible for putting forward preliminary opinions on working ability appraisal for worker under injury, illness, disability or occupational disease, and shall make proper arrangement. 

Article 4 The Shenzhen Municipal Committee of Medical and Labor Appraisal shall appoint relevant medical technicians to form three medical and technical appraisal groups. The three groups are composed of a physician (including neuropathy physician and nervous physician) group, a surgery (including ordinary surgery, thoracic surgery, urinary surgery, burning surgery and orthopedics) group and an occupational disease group. The groups shall make medical, scientific and technical appraisals to the working ability of a worker under injury, illness, disability or occupational disease.                

Chapter Ⅲ Responsibilities and Tasks

Article 5  The municipal medical and labor appraisal committee shall fulfill the following responsibilities:

1. carrying out medical and labor appraisal, publicizing the significance of the appraisal work, making and revising the working procedures, appraisal standards and grading standards of disability for the medical and labor appraisal work in this Municipality;

2. urging and supervising enterprises and hospitals in rescuing and treating workers under injury, illness, disability and occupational disease; examining, appraising and confirming the circumstance, reported by a unit, under which an employee suffers work-related injury, occupational poisoning, occupational disease or suffers other injury or illness; confirming the ending of a medical treatment, grading work-related disability, and confirming the seriousness of disability; issuing certificate of work-related disability; reexamining the seriousness of disability when situation changes, regarding a worker’s disability, directing workers in body recovery; and undertaking other medical appraisal jobs;     

3. concluding and spreading the experiences of medical and labor appraisal; collecting, rearranging and preserving the appraisal opinions and dealing suggestions for employees facing retirement on account of illness or under injury, disability or occupational disease.

4. putting forward opinions for revising and improving these Measures according to the actual needs of construction and development of Shenzhen Special Economic Zone.    

Article 6 Every district medical and labor appraisal group shall fulfill the following responsibilities:  

1. carrying out relevant national, provincial and municipal policies and regulations;

2. regularly organizing reexamination for employees resting on account of work-related injury, work-related illness or other injury or illness; putting forward suggestions to allow an employee under injury or illness going back to work or other dealing suggestion, and submit the suggestions to the municipal medical and labor appraisal committee for examination and approval;

3. collecting, rearranging and preserving materials concerning occupational poisoning, injury and accident(such as accident reports, original copies or abstracts of medical records, medical certificates, X-ray pictures and field descriptions); putting forward opinions on the accident materials required to be studied and examined, and providing the opinions to relevant administrative departments;

4. confirming an injured or ill employee having entirely lost his working ability on the strength of the effective certificate issued by an institution of medical prevention and cure, and submitting the confirmation to the municipal committee of medical and labor appraisal for approval so that the employee may transact the formalities of retirement according to stipulated procedures.           

Chapter Ⅳ   Administration System

Article 7 The medical and labor appraisal committee shall establish and improve all working systems, and set up special systems to manage seals, various records, materials, archives and reports and the systems of submission, examination and approval. Important modifications to appraisal standards and important policy making issues in working ability appraisal shall be discussed and determined by more than half of the members of committee. The full-time or part-time staffs of the medical and labor appraisal committee shall take charge of daily work, and shall regularly report work to the committee every year.  

Article 8 When a hospital or epidemic-prevention station is entrusted by a medical and labor appraisal committee or is appointed by the municipal sanitation bureau to make diagnosis to a worker under injury, illness, disability or occupational disease, it shall indicate the nature of illness or injury (such as ordinary disease, occupational disease, work-related injury or other injury) and appraisal conclusion in medical and appraisal certificates.  The certificates shall be signed by a doctor in charge or a chief doctor of the appointed or entrusted hospital or epidemic-prevention station, and be stamped by the hospital or epidemic-prevention station.

Article 9 When a medical and labor appraisal committee require a worker to be reexamined because there is dispute in the appraisal of illness or disability, there shall be more than three medical staffs signing for approval. If a worker refuses to be reexamined without proper excuse, he shall be considered as having recovered or having completed the final treatment, and shall not be arranged to any other reexamination or appraisal.

Article 10  Every person engaged in medical and labor appraisal shall adhere to principles, seek truth from facts and handle matters impartially when fulfilling his responsibilities.

If a person engaged in medical and labor appraisal violates the provisions stipulated in the preceding paragraph, the medical and labor appraisal committee shall put forward a dealing suggestion, the unit which he belongs or the competent department shall impose administrative penalty on him. If the circumstance is serious, the violator shall be investigated for criminal responsibility.

Chapter Ⅴ Assessment Procedures and Standards

Article 11  Any party who needs an appraisal of illness, disability or occupational disease shall apply to his unit in writing, fill in a form of working ability appraisal for worker under injury or disability, go to an appointed hospital or epidemic-prevention station for examination and appraisal, and require for relevant materials such as the certificate of diagnosis and relevant appraisal conclusion.  

Article 12 If a party or his unit has dispute with an appointed hospital or epidemic-prevention station about the appraisal conclusion and can not settle the dispute through mediation, he or it may apply to the municipal medical and labor appraisal committee for reappraisal within 15 days upon receiving the conclusion notice. The appraisal made by the municipal medical and labor appraisal committee shall be the final appraisal.

Article 13 Any unit or party who applies for a new diagnosis or appraisal shall present all previous original medical records, certificates of diagnosis, materials of examination and test, statements and investigation reports which are produced by the appointed hospital or epidemic-prevention station. All the original materials shall not be modified, forged, concealed or destroyed. If any original material is modified, forged, concealed or destroyed, the municipal medical and labor appraisal committee shall not make any new conclusion, the unit or party shall be responsible for all the consequences.      

Article 14  Every party who applies for reappraisal shall pay the reexamination fees to the municipal medical and labor appraisal committee in advance. If the previous appraisal conclusion is changed because the original hospital made a wrong diagnosis, or the preliminary appraisal conclusion is wrong, the reappraisal fees shall be paid by the unit making the wrong conclusion.  If the original appraisal is upheld, the reappraisal fees shall be paid by the party applying for the reappraisal. The reappraisal fees shall be used to pay experts and to pay for the check and diagnosis of hospital. The charging standards of reappraisal fees shall be made separately by the municipal labor bureau and the municipal sanitation bureau jointly with the price department.         

Article 15 Any employee who suffers work-related injury, work-related disability or occupational disease shall accept examination and get approval from the municipal medical and labor assessment committee.  The committee shall make relevant conclusions on whether the medical treatment is completed, on whether the working ability is recovered, on the grading of disability, or on whether the employee still needs recuperation, and shall inform his unit of the conclusion. The unit shall inform the employee of the conclusion. The administrative department of unit shall make arrangements for its employee to let him go back to work, exchange his original post or recuperate according to the appraisal conclusion made by a medical and labor appraisal committee. A circumstance of a worker who looses his working ability completely and permanently on account of an illness or disability irrelevant with his work shall be examined and confirmed by the municipal medical and labor appraisal committee.     

Article 16 Anyone who satisfies the requirements of early retirement for illness, or suffers from work-related injury or occupational disease through appraisal, his unit shall go to the municipal labor bureau and municipal social insurance company to conduct various procedures of social insurance and welfare on the strength of the appraisal conclusion. 

Article 17 The standards of working ability appraisal for employees suffering from occupational injury or disease shall be consistent with the relevant appraisal standards stipulated in present national regulations. 

Article 18 The grading of work-related injury or disability shall be carried out according to the grading standards of disability stipulated in the Regulations of Shenzhen Special Economic Zone on Insurance of Work-related Injury.

Chapter Ⅵ Supplementary Provisions

Article 19 The working outlay required by Shenzhen Municipal Medical and Labor Appraisal Committee shall be paid by Shenzhen Municipal People’s Government from local finance according to its yearly budget.

Article 20  The municipal medical and labor appraisal committee shall be responsible for interpreting these Measures.