The parents jointly may maintain an action for loss of wages or services of the minor child when such loss is occasioned by injury wrongfully or negligently inflicted upon the child. If either the father or mother is dead or has abandoned the child or has been deprived of its custody by court decree or refuses to sue, the other parent may sue alone. Nothing contained in this section shall be deemed to supersede, limit, modify or affect the workers' compensation laws of this State.