The Work Injury Compensation Act (WICA) lets employees make claims for work-related injuries or diseases without having to file a civil suit under common law. It is a low-cost and quicker alternative to common law for settling compensation claims.
You can claim under WICA if you were injured in a work accident or suffered a disease due to work. You don’t have to engage a lawyer to file a WICA claim.
Who needs to be covered:
The Work Injury Compensation Act (WICA) covers any local or foreign manual employee who is:
● Doing manual work regardless of their salary, age or citizenship
● Doing non-manual work, earning less than S$2600/month, regardless of their salary, age or citizenship
It does not cover:
● Independent contractors and the self-employed.
● Domestic workers.
● Uniformed personnel – members of the Singapore Armed Forces, Singapore Police Force, Singapore Civil Defence Force, Central Narcotics Bureau and Singapore Prison Service.
You must have insurance for both local and foreign employees. Failure to provide adequate insurance is an offense carrying a fine of up to $10,000 or jail of up to 12 months, or both.
For other employees, you have the flexibility to decide whether to buy insurance for them. However, if those employees make a valid claim, you will have to compensate them regardless of whether they are insured.
Who can claim:
Your employee can claim compensation if they have been injured or contracted a disease as a result of work.
They remain eligible to claim for compensation even if:
● They no longer work for the employer or their work pass is canceled.
● The accident happened while they were on an overseas assignment.
● The accident happened while on a work from home or other flexi-work arrangement that they agreed with your company.
Dependents of an employee who died because of a workplace accident can also make a claim on behalf of the employee.
What is covered:
The following types of benefit compensation can be claimed under WICA:
● Medical leave wages
Calculated based on the injured employee’s average monthly earnings (AME) for days where the injured employee is issued with the following due to the work injury or disease:
○ Outpatient medical leave (MC)
○ Hospitalization leave
● Medical expenses
Incurred due to work injury or disease. Some examples of medical expenses include:
○ Cost of medication
○ Medical consultation fees
○ Medical surgery, treatment and report fees
○ Cost of surgery and surgery appliances
○ Emergency medical transport charges (ambulance fees)
○ Occupational Therapy, Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) and Physiotherapy only if prescribed and billed by a Singapore registered medical practitioner/doctor
● Lump sum compensation
○ Death
○ Permanent incapacity (based on doctor’s assessment)
How can we assist you?
We go through a thoughtful approach to obtain important information in order to prevent frequent problems while arranging for coverage. We use this information to work with insurers to put together adequate protection at a fair price for your company.
The Foreign Worker Medical Insurance (FWMI) is a mandatory requirement for employers of foreign workers who are Work Permit and S-Pass holders.
Employers are required to purchase and maintain a minimum medical insurance coverage of at least $15,000 per year for each Work Permit and S-Pass holder for non-work-related accident or illness, inpatient hospitalization and day surgery.
Who needs to be covered:
The Foreign Worker Medical Insurance (FWMI) covers all foreign workers who are Work Permit and S-Pass holders.
What is covered:
Foreign Worker Medical Insurance covers the following non-work related hospitalization or day surgery expenses:
How can we assist you?
We go through a thoughtful approach to obtain important information in order to prevent frequent problems while arranging for coverage. We use this information to work with insurers to put together adequate protection at a fair price for your company.
A security bond is a binding pledge to pay the government if either you or your worker breaks the law, Work Permit conditions or Security Bond conditions. The bond is in the form of a banker’s or insurer’s guarantee.
You must buy a $5,000 security bond for each non-Malaysian Work Permit holder you employ. You cannot ask your worker to pay for the bond.
When to buy the bond:
You will be discharged from the security bond liability for a worker only if you meet all of these conditions:
If all conditions are met, the security bond will usually be discharged one week after the worker left Singapore.
You’ll be notified by post when the security bond is discharged.
When will the bond be forfeited:
Your security bond may be forfeited if any of these happens:
You will not be liable for your workers’ violations (such as those relating to pregnancy) if you can prove that you have:
How can we assist you?
We go through a thoughtful approach to obtain important information in order to prevent frequent problems while arranging for coverage. We use this information to work with insurers to put together adequate protection at a fair price for your company.
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