Changes proposed to insurance covering work-related injuries

Singapore

MANDATORY insurance for work-related injuries is to provide bigger maximum payouts and cover around 300,000 more workers, under a new law debated in Parliament on Tuesday.

Employees placed on light duties following work injuries can receive their regular pay - as though they are on medical leave - for up to two weeks, and companies with poor safety records may face higher insurance premiums when more information is available to insurers.

These and other proposed changes will make the system better for both employers and employees, said Minister of State for Manpower Zaqy Mohamad as he launched the Work Injury Compensation Bill 2019 for debate.

The Bill seeks to raise the maximum compensation amount from Jan 1 next year to S$225,000 for death and S$289,000 for total permanent incapacity. This is 10 per cent higher than the current caps.

The maximum compensation proposed for medical expenses goes up to S$45,000, from S$36,000, to ensure it continues to cover more than 95 per cent of all medical expenses claims under the legislation.

These caps are being updated to keep pace with rising wages and healthcare costs, he said.

The Bill also aims to cover all non-manual employees earning up to S$2,600 a month, not just factory workers or those earning less than S$1,600. The salary threshold go up in two stages: to S$2,100 on April 1 next year, and S$2,600 the year after.

Under the proposal to give employees placed on light duties similar compensation as those placed on medical leave, workers should be able to get their average monthly earnings, including overtime, bonuses and allowances, for 14 days, and then two-thirds of this amount for up to one year from the accident.

To protect workers' interests, employers will have to report cases of employees on medical leave or light duties due to a work injury. "This is to address the concern that some irresponsible employers may try to avoid reporting work accidents by attempting to influence doctors to give fewer days of medical leave or light duties," said Mr Zaqy. Workers can ask to change doctors if they believe the incapacity assessment was not done fairly.

To expedite claims processing, the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) will approve certain insurers who can provide Work Injury Compensation insurance. These insurers will process all insured claims, instead of MOM processing some types of claims, and the insurers, the rest.

Permanent incapacity compensation should be based on current incapacity at least six months after an accident, instead of waiting for an assessment of the degree of permanent incapacity to be made after a longer period. Mr Zaqy said about 20 per cent of permanent-incapacity claims take more than six months to be resolved due to the time taken for an assessment, which results in higher upkeep expenses for employers and uncertainty for employees. In cases of fatal or serious injuries, claims processing will automatically start once an accident report is made, though employees can opt out.

Industry salary data will be used to calculate workers' average monthly earnings if payslips are unavailable, so that disputes over salary do not hold up the compensation process.

The Bill, if passed, will replace the existing Work Injury Compensation Act (WICA), which was last amended in 2016. Under that, an employee does not need to prove the employer's negligence to be compensated, unlike if he were to claim damages under common law.

An average of about 15,000 work injury compensation claims were awarded each year in the last three years. The total payout was nearly S$115 million a year for wage and lump sum compensation, said Mr Zaqy. Almost all claimants, were compensated by the deadline MOM set.

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