Foreign experience of application of special systems of restitution for damages to health as a result of work accidents and occupational diseases (on the example of Germany and Great Britain) and prospects of borrowing it by Russia
The subject of this research is the legislation and practice of its implementation, as well as the legal doctrine of Russia, Germany and Great Britain on the existing special systems of compensation for damage inflicted to health as a result of work accidents and occupational diseases. The author examines the special systems of restitution for occupational damage that represent starkly different versions of implementation of basic models developed in global practice (Bismarck and Beveridge). Attention is focused on the key issues of compensation for occupational damage using the legal means available in the Russian Federation. Analysis is conducted on the existing foreign experience on the matter. The author’s special contribution to the research of the topic consists in the statement that for establishing balance within the system of restitution for occupational damage it is necessary to clearly demarcate the three types of compensations: guaranteed social security paid from the budget funds in terms of obligations assumed by government to support vulnerable population groups; obligations in tort recovered from the tortfeasor, considering the grounds and limits of civil liability; insurance payments, which represent partial coverage of inflicted damage based on the terms of insurance contract. The scientific novelty lies in determination of the prospects for improving the national special system of restitution for occupational damage. It is substantiated that in such system the distribution of losses between different types of compensations should be based on the criteria of preferred form of compensation (payment in kind or financial compensation); legal nature of separate elements of reparation (incapacitation, occupational disease, etc.); type of payments (recurring or lump sum), purpose of compensation; calculation of payments.