Parliament passed a bill giving increased compensation to workers hurt in industrial accidents on Friday.

The Workmen?s Compensation Act 2004 updated compensation for families in fatal cases.

Instead of getting three year?s worth of earnings or $42,000, the amendment allows for actual earnings for the three years prior or three years of the average per capita income ? whichever is the lesser.

This drew an angry reaction from who said the legislation was ?nothing short of shameful? because it short changed those who earned above the average wage while didn?t bump up the lump sum for families of workers who earned below that figure.

He said: ?You are not giving to the poor but you are taking from the rich.?

He said Government was tinkering with the legislation.

?Where is the morality of saying I know what you make but I must now give you X??

?If you are injured and you cannot work anymore, your family need it more than ever before. When they need it more let?s say how little we can give them,? he said sarcastically.

Bermuda Industrial Union (BIU) leader said his union had been pushing for an update of the 1965 act for years as it pays just $170 a week for temporary incapacity.

Opposition MP and former Labour Relations Officer said there should have been a provision for new job training for people injured who have had to stop their normal profession.

Former BIU President welcomed the new legislation for taking into account what the general economy was doing with the link to average income.

But Opposition MP John Barritt also questioned why compensation wasn?t linked to real income in the event of death.

cautioned some would take advantage of compensation.

He said: ?One slice of the rationale about keeping it lower is concerning deterrent.?

But the Opposition said it meant the honest people were losing out because of the abuse instead of Government policing the scheme properly.

Government said employment contracts which offered better terms than the act would over-ride the act.

Under the act, people permanently incapacitated get four years of actual earnings or four years worth of the average annual per capita income ? whichever is the lesser. Speedy payments are promised upon Government verification of an insurance company?s investigation into the incident.