It will be remembered that when the National Health Insurance Act, 1933, was originally introduced it provided compensation under Section 22 for three classes of persons in the service of approved societies who might lose their employment by reason of the amalgamation of societies contemplated under the Act. These three classes were: Secretaries of approved societies, whole-time employees of approved societies, and part-time employees whose earnings from their societies were their principal means of livelihood.
This question of compensation for persons losing their employment gave rise to much discussion during the passage of the Bill, and a number of amendments were eventually agreed to, one of which made provision for compensation on a special scale for part-time officers and for the remaining part-time employees. This was effected by the insertion of Section 23, which provided compensation for part-time officers of approved societies and for part-time employees whose earnings from their societies were not their principal means of livelihood.
Under the rules of societies, however, the secretary is designated as one of the officers, and the phrase "part-time officer" in Section 23 would therefore include a part-time secretary. But Section 22 had already made provision for all secretaries, whether whole-time or part-time. There is, therefore, a possibility that under the 1933 Act as it stands a part-time secretary might claim his compensation as a secretary under Section 22, and then make an additional claim as an officer under Section 23; in other words, he might claim two separate compensations for the one position. The object of the present Bill is to remove any doubt that may exist on the point by making it clear that a second claim of this nature is not sustainable.
