Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2025, published 114th ILC session (2026)

Workmen's Compensation (Accidents) Convention, 1925 (No. 17) - Antigua and Barbuda (Ratification: 1983)

For more than 30 years, the Committee has been raising the issues under Articles 5, 7, 9, and 10 of the Convention. The Committee notes with concern that, according to the Government’s report, no legislative amendments have been made to the Workmen’s Compensation Act No. 24 of 1956 to ensure compliance with the Convention in this respect.

Article 5 of the Convention. Compensation in the form of a lump sum. The Committee strongly requests the Government to take the necessary measures to amend section 8 of Act No. 24 of 1956 to ensure that the compensation due in the event of work-related accidents resulting in permanent incapacity or death is paid in the form of periodic payments, or exceptionally in a lump sum if the competent authority is satisfied that it will be properly utilized.

Article 7. Additional compensation for assistance by a third person. The Committee strongly requests the Governmentto take the necessary measures to amend section 9 of Act No. 24 of 1956 to provide additional compensation for victims of work-related accidents who need the assistance of a third person in cases of permanent incapacity, and not only in cases of temporary incapacity.

Article 9. Medical and pharmaceutical treatment. The Committee strongly requests the Government to take the necessary measures to amend section 6(3) of Act No. 24 of 1956, so as not to prescribe any limit to the expenses and costs of medical treatment due to a work-related accident and include an express provision for coverage of related surgical and pharmaceutical costs.

Article 10. Provision of surgical appliances and artificial limbs. The Committee strongly requests the Government to take the necessary measures to amend section 10 of Act No. 24 of 1956 to provide for surgical appliances and artificial limbs in all cases in which they are necessary, and not only with a view to improving the earning capacity of the person concerned.

The Committee recalls that the ILO Governing Body at its 346th Session, October–November 2022, on the recommendation of the Standards Review Mechanism Tripartite Working Group, acknowledged the classification of Convention No. 17 as outdated, and placed an item on the Agenda of the 121st Session of the International Labour Conference (2033) for the consideration of its abrogation.

The Governing Body requested the Office to undertake follow-up action to actively encourage the ratification of up-to-date instruments, Convention No. 121 or Convention No. 102 (Part VI), concerning employment injury benefits. In this context, the Committee encourages the Government to consider ratifying the most up-to-date instruments in this subject area.