On 19/06/2013,
you requested for the version in force on 19/06/2013
incorporating all amendments published on or before 19/06/2013.
The closest version currently available is that of 01/06/2012.
PART II
COMPENSATION FOR INJURY
3.
—(1) If in any employment personal injury by accident arising out of and in the course of the employment is caused to an employee, his employer shall be liable to pay compensation in accordance with the provisions of this Act.
[5/2008]
(2) An accident happening to an employee while he is, with the express or implied permission of his employer, travelling as a passenger by any means of transport to or from his place of work shall be deemed to arise out of and in the course of his employment if at the time of the accident the means of transport is being operated by or on behalf of his employer or by some other person by whom it is operated in pursuance of arrangements made with his employer and is not being operated in the ordinary course of a public transport service.
[5/2008]
(3) An accident happening to an employee in or about any premises at which he is for the time being employed for the purposes of his employer’s trade or business shall be deemed to arise out of and in the course of his employment if it happens while he is taking steps, on an actual or supposed emergency at those premises, to rescue or protect persons who are, or are thought to be or possibly to be injured or imperilled, or to avert or minimise damage or loss to property.
[5/2008]
(4) An accident happening to an employee shall be deemed to arise out of and in the course of his employment notwithstanding that he was at the time of the accident acting in contravention of any written law or other regulations applicable to his employment, or of any orders given by or on behalf of his employer, or that he was acting without instructions from his employer, if —
(a)
the accident would have been deemed so to have arisen had such act not been done in contravention as aforesaid or without instructions from his employer, as the case may be; and
(b)
such act was done for the purposes of and in connection with the employer’s trade or business.
[5/2008]
(5) An employer shall not be liable to pay compensation in respect of —
(a)
any injury to an employee resulting from an accident if it is proved that the injury to the employee is directly attributable to the employee having been at the time thereof under the influence of alcohol or a drug not prescribed by a medical practitioner;
(b)
any incapacity or death resulting from a deliberate self-injury or the deliberate aggravation of an accidental injury; or
[5/2008]
(c)
any injury to an employee suffered in a fight or an attempted assault on one or more persons unless —
(i)
the employee did not assault or attempt to assault any other person in the fight or attempted assault, or did assault any such person in the exercise of the right of private defence in accordance with sections 97 to 106 of the Penal Code (Cap. 224); or
(ii)
the employee was, at the time when the injury was received, breaking up or preventing the fight or assault, or in the course of safeguarding life or any property of any person or maintaining law and order, under any instruction or with the consent (whether express or implied) of his employer or a principal referred to in section 17.
(5A) In this section, “drug” means —
(a)
a controlled drug within the meaning of the Misuse of Drugs Act (Cap. 185); or
(b)
a prescription only drug specified for the purposes of section 29 of the Medicines Act (Cap. 176) that is not prescribed by a medical practitioner for the employee’s consumption or use.
[5/2008]
(6) For the purposes of this Act, an accident arising in the course of an employee’s employment shall be deemed, in the absence of evidence to the contrary, to have arisen out of that employment.
[5/2008]
4.
—(1) If —
(a)
an employee who is employed in any occupation specified in the second column of the Second Schedule contracts an occupational disease specified in the first column of that Schedule opposite that occupation; or
(b)
an employee who has been employed in that occupation contracts that disease within the period specified in the third column of that Schedule opposite that occupation (referred to in this section as the limitation period for that occupational disease) after ceasing to be so employed,
and the incapacity or death of the employee results from that disease, compensation shall be payable as if the disease were a personal injury by accident arising out of and in the course of that employment, and all the other provisions of this Act shall apply accordingly, subject to this section.
[5/2008]
(1A) If an employee contracts, on or after the date of commencement of the Work Injury Compensation (Amendment) Act 2011 (referred to in this section as the appointed day), a disease which is not specified in the first column of the Second Schedule but which is directly attributable to an exposure, arising out of and in the course of his employment, to a chemical or biological agent and the incapacity or death of the employee results from that disease, compensation shall be payable as if the disease were a personal injury by accident arising out of and in the course of that employment and all the other provisions of this Act shall apply accordingly, subject to this section.
(1B) Subsection (1A) shall apply only if the exposure to a chemical or biological agent commences on or after the appointed day, or commences before and continues on or after the appointed day.
(2) When an employee enters into a contract of service or apprenticeship with any employer to work in any occupation specified in the Second Schedule or is, with his consent, transferred by his employer to such an occupation, the employee shall, if requested to do so by the employer, submit himself for examination by a medical practitioner, the fee for which shall be paid by the employer; but he shall not be required to submit himself for such examination otherwise than in accordance with regulations made under this Act.
[5/2008]
(3) No compensation shall be payable by an employer under this section in respect of the incapacity or death of an employee resulting from an occupational disease specified in the first column of the Second Schedule or other disease referred to in subsection (1A) if —
(a)
in the case of an occupational disease —
(i)
the employee is, on or after the appointed day, employed by the employer in the occupation specified opposite the occupational disease;
(ii)
the occupational disease is contracted on or after the appointed day; and
(iii)
the employee’s incapacity commences or his death happens after ceasing to be so employed and after the lapse of the limitation period for that occupational disease; or
(b)
in the case of other disease referred to in subsection (1A), the employee’s incapacity commences or his death happens more than one year after the employee ceases to be exposed to the chemical or biological agent referred to in that subsection.
(3A) Subsection (3) shall not apply to the death of an employee where his death has been preceded, whether immediately or not, by any period of incapacity in respect of which compensation is payable under this section.
[5/2008]
(4) For the purposes of calculating the monthly earnings of the employee in a claim for compensation under this section, the date of commencement of the incapacity of the employee or the date of his death, if there has been no previous period of incapacity, shall be treated as the date of the happening of the accident, if he is then employed by the employer from whom compensation is claimed in any employment to the nature of which the occupational disease referred to in subsection (1) or other disease referred to in subsection (1A) is due, and if he is not then so employed, the last day on which he was so employed shall for this purpose be deemed to be the date of the happening of the accident.
[5/2008]
(5) For all other purposes of this Act, in a claim for compensation under this section, the date of commencement of the incapacity of the employee, or the date on which a medical practitioner certifies that in his opinion the employee is suffering from such occupational disease referred to in subsection (1) or other disease referred to in subsection (1A), whichever date is the earlier, or the date of his death if there has been no previous period of incapacity shall be deemed to be the date of the happening of the accident.
[5/2008]
(6) If the occupational disease referred to in subsection (1) or other disease referred to in subsection (1A) has been contracted by a gradual process, so that 2 or more employers are severally liable to pay compensation in respect thereof under this section, the aggregate amount of such compensation shall not exceed the amount that would have been payable if those employers had been a single employer, and in such case each of those employers shall, in default of agreement, be liable for such proportion of the compensation payable as the Commissioner thinks just.
[5/2008]
(7) The Minister may appoint such medical practitioners to be medical referees for the purpose of determining whether the disease in respect of which compensation is claimed is in fact an occupational disease referred to in subsection (1) or other disease referred to in subsection (1A), and any other matter which is material for the determination of any claim for compensation under this Act.
[5/2008]
(8) The report of a medical referee appointed under subsection (7) may be acted upon by the Commissioner as if it were conclusive evidence of the facts certified in such report.
5. Except as provided in sections 3 and 4, no compensation shall be payable to an employee in respect of any disease unless the disease is directly attributable to a specific injury by accident arising out of and in the course of the relevant employment.
[5/2008]
6.
—(1) Compensation under this Act shall be payable to or for the benefit of the employee or, where death results from the injury, to the deceased employee’s estate or to or for the benefit of his dependants as provided by this Act.
[5/2008]
(2) Where a dependant dies before a claim under this Act is determined by the Commissioner, the legal personal representative of the dependant shall have no right to payment of compensation, and the amount of compensation shall be calculated and apportioned as if that dependant had died before the employee.
[5/2008]
(3) Where a deceased employee has no dependant, the compensation shall be paid into a fund to be known as the Workers’ Fund which shall be established, maintained and applied in accordance with regulations made under this Act and the person managing the Fund shall be entitled to claim the compensation.
[5/2008]
7. The amount of compensation under this Act in respect of any personal injury of an employee caused by accident arising out of and in the course of his employment shall be computed in accordance with the Third Schedule.
[5/2008]
8.
—(1) For the purposes of this Act, the earnings of an employee shall be computed in such manner as is best calculated to give his true monthly earnings at the date of the accident, subject to the following provisions:
(a)
where the employee has been employed by the employer for whom he was working at the time of the accident for a continuous period which is more than a month immediately preceding the accident, his monthly earnings shall be the average amount of his earnings during the continuous period of not more than 12 months immediately preceding the accident;
(b)
where the employee has been employed by the employer for whom he was working at the time of the accident for a continuous period which is a month immediately preceding the accident or shorter, his monthly earnings shall be the actual earnings he would have received for the whole month immediately preceding the accident; and
(c)
where reliable evidence of the earnings of the relevant employee under paragraph (a) or (b) does not exist or cannot be adduced without undue delay or expense, regard may be had to evidence of the earnings of employees employed on similar work in the same locality at or about the date of the accident.
[5/2008]
(2) Where an employee is employed under contracts of service with 2 or more employers under which he worked at one time for one such employer and at another time for another such employer, his monthly earnings shall be computed as if his earnings under all such contracts were earnings in the employment of the employer for whom he was working at the time of the accident, except contracts of service that the last-mentioned employer does not know.
[5/2008]
9.
—(1) Subject to subsection (1A), no payment of compensation in respect of an employee whose injury has resulted in death or permanent incapacity shall be made otherwise than by deposit with the Commissioner, and any such payment made directly to the employee or his dependant shall be deemed not to be payment of compensation for the purposes of this Act.
[5/2008]
(1A) The Commissioner may —
(a)
in respect of injury which has resulted in the death or permanent incapacity of the employee, authorise payment of compensation to be made directly to —
(i)
an employee who is not less than 18 years of age;
(ii)
one or more of the dependants of the deceased employee and in such proportion as the Commissioner thinks fit, except that where a will has been produced, such payment may instead be made directly to the estate of the deceased employee; or
(iii)
where the employee has become mentally incapacitated, any deputy appointed or deemed to be appointed for the employee by the High Court under the Mental Capacity Act 2008 with power to receive such payment;
(b)
take into account any amount paid otherwise than in accordance with subsection (1) in assessing the compensation payable under this Act if he considers it fair and reasonable to do so.
[5/2008]
(2) The receipt of the Commissioner shall be a sufficient discharge for any compensation deposited with him.
(3) On the deposit of any money under subsection (1) as compensation in respect of an accident resulting in the death of an employee, the Commissioner may deduct therefrom the actual amount of the expenses of the funeral of the employee or $250, whichever is the less, and may pay the same to the person by whom such expenses were incurred.
[5/2008]
(4) Compensation deposited in respect of an accident resulting in the death of an employee may be apportioned among one or more of the dependants of the deceased employee and in such proportion as the Commissioner thinks fit, except that where a will has been produced, such compensation may instead be paid to the estate of the deceased employee.
[5/2008]
(4A) Compensation deposited in respect of an accident resulting in the permanent incapacity of an employee who, before the payment of such compensation is made, becomes mentally incapacitated may be payable to —
(a)
any one or more of the dependants of the employee; or
(b)
any deputy appointed or deemed to be appointed for the employee by the High Court under the Mental Capacity Act 2008 with power to receive such payment.
[5/2008]
(5) Where any lump sum deposited with the Commissioner is payable to a person who is under any legal disability or in any other case where the Commissioner considers it desirable to do so, the Commissioner may, in his discretion, order such sum to be invested, applied or otherwise dealt with for the benefit of that person in such manner and for such period as the Commissioner may determine.
(5A) Where any periodical payment of compensation for temporary incapacity is payable to any employee under a legal disability, the Commissioner may, of his own motion or on application made to him in that behalf, order that the payment be made during the disability to any dependant of the employee or to any other person whom the Commissioner thinks best fitted to provide for the welfare of the employee.
[16/90; 5/2008]
(6) If the Commissioner is satisfied after such inquiry as he may consider necessary that no dependant of a deceased employee exists or can be traced and the circumstances are such that there is no reasonable likelihood that any dependant can be traced, the Commissioner shall pay the balance of the money deposited with him under subsection (1) to the Workers’ Fund.
[5/2008]
(7) Where after inquiry made of his own motion or on application made to him the Commissioner is satisfied that by reason of any change in the circumstances of any dependant, or for any other sufficient cause, an order of the Commissioner made under this section ought to be varied, the Commissioner may make such order for the variation of that order as he thinks just in the circumstances of the case.
(8) No order prejudicial to any person shall be made under subsection (7) unless that person has been given an opportunity of showing cause why the order should not be made, and no such order shall require the repayment by a dependant of any sum already paid to him except where such payment has been obtained by fraud or other improper means.
10. Subject to the provisions of this Act, no payment of compensation payable under this Act shall in any way be capable of being assigned or charged or be liable to attachment or pass to any person other than the employee by operation of law nor shall any claim be set off against the same.
[16/90; 5/2008]
11.
—(1) Except as provided in this section, proceedings for the recovery of compensation for an injury under this Act shall not be maintainable unless —
(a)
notice of the accident has been given to the employer by or on behalf of the employee as soon as practicable after the happening thereof;
(b)
a claim for compensation with respect to that accident has been made within one year from the happening of the accident causing the injury, or, in the case of death, within one year from the date of the death; and
(c)
the claim has been made in such form and manner as the Commissioner may determine.
[34/80; 5/2008]
(2) No notice to the employer shall be necessary where a fatal accident has occurred.
(3) The want of or any defect or inaccuracy in a notice shall not be a bar to the maintenance of proceedings if —
(a)
the employer is proved to have had knowledge of the accident from any other source at or about the time of the accident; or
(b)
it is found in the proceedings for settling the claim that the employer is not, or would not be, if a notice or an amended notice were then given and the hearing postponed, prejudiced in his defence by the want, defect or inaccuracy, or that such want, defect or inaccuracy was occasioned by mistake, absence from Singapore or other reasonable cause.
(4) Subject to subsection (4A), the making of a claim after the lapse of the period specified in subsection (1) shall not be a bar to the maintenance of proceedings if it is found that the delay was occasioned by mistake, absence from Singapore or other reasonable cause.
(4A) The making of a claim after the lapse of the period specified in subsection (1) shall be a bar to the maintenance of proceedings in respect of an accident if it is found that the delay was occasioned by the claimant having instituted an action for damages in any court for compensation with respect to that accident if —
(a)
the accident occurs on or after the date of commencement of the Work Injury Compensation (Amendment) Act 2011 (referred to in this subsection as the appointed day); or
(b)
the accident occurred before the appointed day, and the claim is made after the expiry of the period of 12 months beginning on the appointed day.
(4B) For the purposes of subsections (4) and (4A), it is immaterial whether there were any previous claims made in respect of that accident.
(5) Notice to the employer (or, if there is more than one employer, to one of such employers) in respect of an injury may be given either in writing or orally or to the foreman or other person under whose supervision the employee was employed, or to any person designated for the purpose by the employer, and shall state in ordinary language the cause of the injury and the date on which and the place at which the accident happened.
[5/2008]
(6) The notice if in writing may be given by delivering the notice at, or sending it by registered post addressed to, the residence or place of business of the person to whom it is to be given.
12.
—(1) Every employer shall give notice to —
(a)
the Commissioner in such form and manner as the Commissioner may determine; and
(b)
his insurer in writing,
of the occurrence of every prescribed event that may give rise to a claim for compensation under this Act within the time prescribed for that event.
[5/2008]
(2) [Deleted by Act 5 of 2008]
(3) For the purposes of this section, “employer” shall include the person, if any, referred to in section 17 as the principal.
12A.
—(1) Where any claim for compensation has been made under this Act by an employee or by a person acting on behalf of an employee who is dead or mentally incapacitated, and the Commissioner has reason to believe that there is a change during the currency of the claim in the address used by the employee or the person for the purposes of the claim, the Commissioner may serve a notice on the employee or the person, as the case may be, requesting for particulars of any change in address.
[5/2008]
(2) Subject to subsection (3), the employee or the person acting on behalf of an employee who is dead or mentally incapacitated, as the case may be, on whom the Commissioner has served a notice under subsection (1) shall, within a period of 14 days after the service of the notice, inform the employee’s employer and the Commissioner, in writing or in person, of any change in address.
[5/2008]
(3) Subsection (2) shall not apply if the compensation has been fully paid in accordance with this Act.
[5/2008]
(4) Notwithstanding section 13(4), if an employee or the person acting on behalf of an employee who is dead or mentally incapacitated fails, without reasonable cause, to notify the Commissioner of any change in the address as is required by subsection (2), the employee’s right to compensation shall be suspended from the 15th day after the Commissioner has served a notice under subsection (1) on the employee or the person, as the case may be.
[5/2008]
(5) Any suspension under subsection (4) shall cease upon the employee or the person acting on behalf of an employee who is dead or mentally incapacitated, as the case may be, providing the particulars of any change in the address used by the employee or the person for the purposes of the claim.
[5/2008]
(6) If at the end of 3 months after the Commissioner has served a notice referred to in subsection (1), the employee or the person acting on behalf of an employee who is dead or mentally incapacitated, as the case may be, still fails to provide the particulars of any change in the address to the Commissioner as requested by that notice, then notwithstanding section 13(4), no compensation under this Act shall be payable in respect of the claim to which the notice relates unless the Commissioner is satisfied that there was reasonable cause for the failure.
[5/2008]
13.
—(1) When notice of an accident has been given to an employer by an employee or on the employee’s behalf, the employer shall, before the expiry of the 5th day after the giving of the notice, offer to have the employee examined free of charge by a medical practitioner, and the employee shall submit himself for such medical examination.
[5/2008]
(1A) Any employee who is in receipt of any periodical payment of compensation for temporary incapacity under this Act shall, if required by the employer, submit himself for such examination from time to time.
[16/90; 5/2008]
(1B) An employee shall not be required to submit himself for examination otherwise than in accordance with regulations made under this Act.
[16/90; 5/2008]
(2) [Deleted by Act 5 of 2008]
(3) If an employee, on being required to do so by the employer under subsection (1) or (1A) or by the Commissioner, at any time fails to submit himself for examination by a medical practitioner, his right to compensation shall be suspended until the examination has taken place; and if the failure extends over a period of 3 months from the date when the employee was required to submit himself for examination by the Commissioner, no compensation shall be payable in respect of any injury to the employee resulting from the accident unless the injury results in the death of the employee or unless the Commissioner is satisfied that there was reasonable cause for the failure.
[34/80; 5/2008]
(4) If an employee having been so required, and before the expiry of the period within which he is liable under subsection (1) to submit himself for medical examination, voluntarily leaves, without having been so examined, the place at which he was residing at the time of the accident, his right to compensation shall be suspended until he notifies his employer of his new address and offers himself for such examination.
[5/2008]
(5) Where an employee whose right to compensation has been suspended under subsection (3) or (4) dies without having submitted himself for medical examination as required by those subsections, the Commissioner may, if he thinks fit, direct the payment of compensation to the dependants or the estate of the deceased employee.
[5/2008]
(6) Where under subsection (3) or (4) a right to compensation is suspended, no compensation shall be payable in respect of the period of suspension.
(7) Where an injured employee has refused to be treated by a medical practitioner or has failed to carry out or deliberately disregarded the instructions for his treatment, then —
(a)
where the employee is in receipt of any periodical payment of compensation for temporary incapacity under the provisions of this Act, the Commissioner may order the suspension of those payments until the employee accepts such treatment or has carried out such instructions, and may further, where the Commissioner is satisfied that the duration of the employee’s incapacity has been prolonged by such refusal, failure or disregard, order those payments to be restricted to such period, calculated from the date of injury, as the disability of the employee might reasonably have been expected to have lasted for, had he accepted treatment and followed instructions; or
(b)
where the employee has suffered permanent incapacity and the Commissioner is satisfied that the incapacity has been aggravated by such refusal, failure or disregard, the Commissioner may order that compensation be paid to the employee appropriate to such incapacity as he might reasonably have been expected to have suffered if he had been regularly treated by a medical practitioner.
[16/90; 5/2008]
14.
—(1) The Minister shall from time to time prescribe which hospitals are approved hospitals for the purpose of this Act.
[5/2008]
(2) Where personal injury by accident arising out of and in the course of employment is caused to —
(a)
an employee and the injured employee receives medical treatment by a medical practitioner or at an approved hospital for his injury, being medical treatment that is certified by any attending medical practitioner to be necessary; or
(b)
an employee referred to in section 2(4) or (4A) and the injured employee receives medical treatment —
(i)
outside Singapore for the accident which occurs outside Singapore; and
(ii)
which, in the view of the Commissioner, requires immediate medical treatment due to the nature of injury suffered by the employee,
the employer of the employee shall be liable to pay compensation in accordance with paragraph 5 of the Third Schedule for the medical treatment received by the employee.
[5/2008]
(3) Any compensation under subsection (2) for medical treatment received by an employee at an approved hospital for personal injury by any accident arising out of and in the course of the employment shall be paid directly to the proprietor of the approved hospital, after deducting any amount previously paid by the employee in relation to the medical treatment; and the proprietor of an approved hospital shall be entitled to recover such compensation (less those deductions) directly from the employer.
[5/2008]
(4) Where an employee has paid for the cost of any medical treatment which an employer is liable to pay under subsection (2), the employee shall be entitled to recover such cost from the employer.
[5/2008]
(5) If the injured employee refuses treatment at an approved hospital and the treatment is certified by a medical practitioner to be necessary, any order of compensation made to him may, at the instance of the employer, be suspended or reviewed by the Commissioner.
[5/2008]
14A.
—(1) Where any injury by accident arising out of and in the course of employment results in the temporary incapacity of an employee, the compensation the employer shall pay to the employee shall be a periodical payment of the amount prescribed in paragraph 4 of the Third Schedule.
[5/2008]
(2) Such compensation in respect of injury resulting in temporary incapacity of an employee shall be in accordance with paragraph 4 of the Third Schedule, and shall be payable not later than the same day as earnings would have been payable to the employee under the contract of service or apprenticeship under which he was employed at the time of the accident (except that the interval between periodical payments shall in no case exceed one month) even though —
(a)
no claim for compensation in respect of that injury is made under this Act; or
(b)
a claim for compensation in respect of that injury has not been assessed or determined by the Commissioner.
[5/2008]
(3) Notwithstanding any other provision of this Act, the Commissioner may order the employee to refund to the employer any payment made by the employer under subsection (1) if —
(a)
the employee fails to make any claim for compensation within the time limited by and in accordance with section 11;
(b)
the employee withdraws his claim for compensation;
(c)
the Commissioner has determined that no compensation be paid to the employee; or
(d)
it has come to the attention of the Commissioner that the employee has made a false claim.
[5/2008]
15.
—(1) Any periodical payment for temporary incapacity payable under this Act may be reviewed by the Commissioner on the application of the employer or of the employee accompanied by a certificate of a medical practitioner that there has been a change in the condition of the employee.
[16/90; 5/2008]
(2) Any periodical payment for temporary incapacity may, on review under this section, and subject to the provisions of this Act, be continued, increased, decreased or ended.
[16/90; 5/2008]
16. Any periodical payments for temporary incapacity may, where the payments have been continued for not less than 6 months, be commuted into a lump sum of such amount as may be agreed to by the parties and consented to by the Commissioner.
[16/90; 5/2008]
17.
—(1) Where any person (referred to in this section as the principal) in the course of or for the purpose of his trade or business contracts with any other person (referred to in this section as the employer) for the execution by the employer of the whole or any part of any work, or for the supply of labour to carry out any work, undertaken by the principal, the principal shall be liable to pay to any employee employed in the execution of the work any compensation which he would have been liable to pay if that employee had been immediately employed by him.
[5/2008]
(1A) For the purposes of this section, the Commissioner shall, in his discretion and notwithstanding any claim by the employee, determine that a claim for compensation be made, or a recovery of compensation be obtained, against the principal or the employer.
[5/2008]
(2) Where a claim has been determined by the Commissioner to be made against the principal for compensation under subsection (1), this Act shall apply as if references to the principal were substituted for references to the employer, except that the amount of compensation shall be calculated with reference to the wages of the employee under the employer by whom he is immediately employed.
[5/2008]
(3) Where the principal is liable to pay compensation under this section, he shall be entitled to be indemnified by the person who would have been liable to pay compensation to the employee independently of this section.
[5/2008]
(4) Nothing in this section shall be construed as preventing the Commissioner from ordering the compensation under this Act to be recovered from the employer instead of the principal, and a claim so determined by the Commissioner to be made against a principal or an employer, as the case may be, shall not bar subsequent proceedings under this Act against the other to recover so much of the compensation as may remain unpaid.
[5/2008]
(5) This section shall not apply in any case where the accident occurred elsewhere than at or about the place where the principal has undertaken to execute work or which is under his control or management.
18.
—(1) Where any injury for which compensation is payable under this Act was caused under circumstances creating a legal liability in some person other than the employer (referred to in this section as the third party) to pay damages in respect thereof —
(a)
the employee may take proceedings against the third party to recover damages and may claim against any person liable to pay compensation under this Act, but he shall not be entitled to recover both damages and compensation; and
(b)
if the employee has recovered compensation under this Act, the person by whom the compensation was paid, and any person who has been called upon to pay an indemnity under section 17(3), shall be entitled to be indemnified by the third party so liable to pay damages as aforesaid.
[5/2008]
(2) Where any injury is caused to an employee by accident arising out of and in the course of his employment under circumstances which give a right to recover reduced damages in respect thereof from a third party by virtue of any wilful act or negligence of the employer or employee, any right conferred by subsection (1) on —
(a)
the person by whom any compensation under this Act was paid; and
(b)
any person who has been called upon to pay an indemnity under section 17(3),
to be indemnified by the third party shall be limited to a right to be indemnified in respect of such part only of the total compensation paid or payable in such proportion as the court may determine as is appropriate to the degree to which the injury was attributable to the act, default or negligence of the third party.
[5/2008]
19.
—(1) Where any employer has entered into a contract with any insurer in respect of any liability under this Act to any employee, then, in the event of the employer becoming bankrupt or making a composition or scheme of arrangement with his creditors, or, if the employer is a company, in the event of the company having commenced to be wound up or a receiver or manager of the company’s business or undertaking having been duly appointed or possession having been taken by or on behalf of the holders of debentures secured by a floating charge of any property comprised in or subject to the charge, the rights of the employer against the insurer as respecting that liability shall, notwithstanding anything in any written law relating to bankruptcy or the winding up of companies for the time being in force in Singapore, be transferred to and vest in the employee.
[5/2008]
(1A) Upon any such transfer under subsection (1), the insurer shall have the same rights and remedies and be subject to the same liabilities as if the insurer were the employer, but the insurer shall not be under any greater liability to the employee than it would have been to the employer.
[5/2008]
(2) If the liability of the insurer to the employee is less than the liability of the employer to the employee, the employee may prove for the balance in the bankruptcy or liquidation or, as the case may be, may recover the balance from the receiver or manager.
[5/2008]
(3) Where in any case such as is referred to in subsection (1) the contract of the employer with the insurer is void or voidable by reason of non-compliance on the part of the employer with any terms or conditions of the contract (other than a stipulation for the payment of premiums), that subsection shall apply as if the contract were not void or voidable, and the insurer shall be entitled to prove in the bankruptcy or liquidation for the amount paid to the employee.
[5/2008]
(3A) Subsection (3) shall not apply in any case in which the employee fails to give notice to the insurer of the happening of the accident and of any resulting incapacity as soon as practicable after he becomes aware of the institution of the bankruptcy or liquidation proceedings and that the employer was insured and with whom.
[5/2008]
(4) There shall be included among the debts which —
(a)
under section 90 of the Bankruptcy Act (Cap. 20) are to be paid in priority to all other debts;
(b)
under section 328 of the Companies Act (Cap. 50) are to be paid in priority to all other debts; and
(c)
under section 226 of the Companies Act are to be paid in priority to any claim for principal or interest in respect of debentures,
the amount due in respect of any compensation or liability for compensation accrued before the following dates:
(i)
in the case mentioned in paragraph (a), the date of the bankruptcy order;
(ii)
in the case mentioned in paragraph (b), the date of the commencement of the winding up of the company or, where the company is ordered to be wound up compulsorily and had not previously commenced to be wound up voluntarily, the date of the winding up order; and
(iii)
in the case mentioned in paragraph (c), the date of the appointment of the receiver or of possession being taken as mentioned in section 226 of the Companies Act (Cap. 50).
(5) Where the compensation is a periodical payment for temporary incapacity, the amount due in respect thereof shall, for the purposes of this section, be taken to be the amount of the lump sum into which the periodical payment for temporary incapacity could, if commutable, be commuted if application were made for the purpose under section 16 and a certificate of the Commissioner as to the amount of such sum shall be conclusive proof thereof.
[16/90; 5/2008]
(6) Subsection (4) shall apply in the case of any amount for which an insurer is entitled to prove under subsection (3), but otherwise subsection (4) shall not apply where the bankrupt or the company being wound up has entered into such a contract with the insurer as is referred to in subsection (1).
(7) This section shall not apply where a company is wound up voluntarily for the purpose only of reconstruction or of amalgamation with another company.
20. This Act shall apply to seamen who are employees within the meaning of this Act, subject to the following modifications:
(a)
the notice of the accident and the claim for compensation may, except where the person injured is the master of the ship, be served on the master of the ship as if he were the employer, but where the accident happened and the incapacity commenced on board the ship, it shall not be necessary for any seaman to give any notice of the accident;
(b)
in the case of the death of a master or seaman the claim for compensation shall be made within 6 months after the news of the death has been received by the claimant or, where the ship has been or is deemed to have been lost with all hands, within 18 months after the date on which the ship was or is deemed to have been so lost;
(c)
where an injured master or seaman is discharged or left behind in any territory in the Commonwealth or in a foreign country, depositions respecting the circumstances and nature of the injury may be taken by any judge or magistrate in that territory or by a consular officer in the foreign country, and if so taken and transmitted by the person by whom they are taken to the Minister, they or certified copies thereof shall, in any proceedings for enforcing the claim, be admissible in evidence as provided by sections 184 and 186 of the Merchant Shipping Act (Cap. 179), and those sections shall apply accordingly;
(d)
no periodical payment for temporary incapacity shall be payable in respect of the period during which the owner of the ship is, under any law relating to shipping in force for the time being in Singapore or any part thereof, liable to defray the expenses of maintenance of the injured master or seaman.
[S 22/89; 16/90; 5/2008]
21. Any contract or agreement whereby an employee relinquishes any right of compensation from the employer for personal injury arising out of or in the course of the employment shall be void in so far as it purports to remove or reduce the liability of any person to pay compensation under this Act.
[5/2008]
Commissioner may receive and pay to dependants, etc., money due to dead or mentally incapacitated employee from employer
22.
—(1) Notwithstanding anything in any written law relating to the administration or distribution of estates of deceased persons for the time being in force in Singapore, where it appears to the Commissioner that compensation or interest is payable to an employee under this Act and the employee has died before such payment is made, it shall be lawful for the Commissioner to receive and pay the compensation or interest, without production of a grant of representation, to any one or more of the dependants of the deceased employee or to the estate of the deceased employee.
[5/2008]
*(2) Where it appears to the Commissioner that compensation or interest is payable to an employee under this Act and the employee is mentally incapacitated before such payment is made, it shall be lawful for the Commissioner to receive and pay the compensation or interest to any one or more of the dependants of the employee for the benefit of the employee without the appointment of any deputy for the employee under the Mental Capacity Act 2008.
[5/2008]
* The words “committee or committees of the employee and estate of the employee required under the Mental Disorders and Treatment Act (Cap. 178)” in section 22(2) will be substituted with the following words when item 1(54)(b)in the Second Schedule to the Mental Health (Care and Treatment) Act 2008 (Act 21 of 2008) is brought into operation:
“deputy for the employee under the Mental Capacity Act 2008”.
23.
—(1) Every employer shall insure and maintain insurance under one or more approved policies with an insurer within the meaning of the Insurance Act (Cap. 142) against all liabilities which he may incur under the provisions of this Act in respect of any employee employed by him unless the Minister, by notification in the Gazette, waives the requirement of such insurance in relation to any employer.
[5/2008]
(2) The Minister may, from time to time, prescribe the minimum amounts for which an employer shall insure himself in respect of any of his liabilities under this Act.
[5/2008]
(3) For the avoidance of doubt, an employer shall be liable to pay any liability that he may incur under this Act in excess of the insurance limits that the Minister may prescribe under subsection (2).
[5/2008]
(4) In this section, “approved policy” means a policy of insurance not subject to any conditions, exclusions or exceptions prohibited by regulations made under this Act.
[5/2008]
(5) Any conditions, exclusions or exceptions imposed in a policy of insurance by any insurer which are prohibited by regulations made under this Act shall not absolve the insurer from any liability under the policy which the insurer may incur under the provisions of this Act.
[5/2008]