On 19/05/2013,
you requested for the version in force on 19/05/2013
incorporating all amendments published on or before 19/05/2013.
The closest version currently available is that of 01/06/2012.
PART IV
POWERS, OFFENCES, PENALTIES AND PROCEEDINGS
30A. The Commissioner and any investigation officer shall, for the purposes of the execution of this Act, have power to do all or any of the following:
(a)
to enter, inspect and examine at any time any workplace;
(b)
to enter, inspect and examine at all reasonable times any place which the Commissioner or investigation officer has reasonable cause to believe to be —
(i)
a workplace; or
(ii)
a place of which a workplace forms a part;
(c)
to inspect and examine any machinery, equipment, plant, installation or article in any place referred to in paragraphs (a) and (b);
(d)
where the Commissioner, or an investigation officer, is a registered medical practitioner, to carry out on any person who is or had been working in a workplace such medical examinations as may be necessary for the purposes of this Act;
(e)
to take samples of any material or substance found in a workplace or being discharged from any workplace for the purpose of analysis or test;
(f)
to assess the levels of noise, illumination, heat or harmful or hazardous substances in any workplace and the exposure levels of persons at work therein;
(g)
to take such photographs or video recording as the Commissioner or investigation officer thinks necessary of the premises and persons reasonably believed to be acquainted with the facts and circumstances relevant to the carrying out of the provisions of this Act;
(h)
to require any person whom the Commissioner or investigation officer has reason to believe has any document, including documents of identity or documents containing information relevant to the carrying out of the provisions of this Act, to produce any such document;
(i)
to take into custody any article in the workplace which is required for the purpose of any investigation under this Act;
(j)
to require any person to attend at such time and place as may be specified in a notice served on that person, which is necessary for the purpose of any investigation under this Act;
(k)
to examine orally any person supposed to be acquainted with the facts and circumstances relevant to the carrying out of the provisions of this Act, and to reduce into writing the answer given or statement made by that person who shall be bound to state truly the facts and circumstances with which he is acquainted; and the statement made by that person shall be read over to him and shall, after correction, be signed by him;
(l)
to report any failure by any person to attend as required by a notice under paragraph (j), to a Magistrate who may thereupon issue a warrant to secure the attendance of that person as required by the notice.
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31. All costs of and incidental to any proceedings before the Commissioner shall, subject to regulations made under this Act, be in the discretion of the Commissioner.
32.
—(1) Where an employer has incurred any liability to pay compensation or interest under this Act in respect of any accident occurring while there was in force an approved policy of insurance covering that liability, proceedings to enforce a claim in respect of that liability under sections 24, 28, 28A and 29 may be brought against the insurer as if he were the employer.
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(2) In any proceedings brought against an insurer by virtue of subsection (1), the employer shall render all reasonable assistance to the insurer to enable the insurer to conduct any such proceedings and to defend any claim which the insurer decides to defend; and if the employer fails to do so he shall be liable to pay to the insurer any amount which has been paid or may become payable by the insurer as a result of those proceedings.
33.
—(1) Nothing in this Act shall be deemed to confer any right to compensation on an employee in respect of any injury if he has instituted an action for damages in respect of that injury in any court against his employer or if he has recovered damages in respect of that injury in any court from his employer.
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(2) Subject to subsections (2A) and (2B), no action for damages shall be maintainable in any court by an employee against his employer in respect of any injury by accident arising out of and in the course of employment —
(a)
if he has a claim for compensation for that injury under the provisions of this Act and does not withdraw his claim within a period of 28 days after the service of the notice of assessment of compensation in respect of that claim;
(b)
if he and his employer have agreed or are deemed to have agreed to the notice of assessment under section 24(2)(a) for that injury; or
(c)
if he has recovered damages in respect of the injury in any court from any other person.
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(2A) Where —
(a)
a claim for compensation under this Act is made for an employee’s injury by accident arising out of and in the course of the employment;
(b)
there is no objection by the employee to the notice of assessment of compensation in respect of that claim;
(c)
the compensation ordered by the Commissioner thereafter in respect of that claim is of a lesser amount than that stated in that notice of assessment of compensation in respect of that claim;
(d)
within a period of 28 days after the making of the order, the employee notifies the Commissioner and the employer in writing that he does not accept the compensation so ordered, and has not received or retained any part of such compensation earlier paid (if any) by the employer; and
(e)
no appeal under section 29 is made against the order,
the employee may institute an action in any court against his employer for damages in respect of that injury and any order made by the Commissioner in respect of that injury shall be void.
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(2B) Where —
(a)
the Commissioner assesses or makes an order that no compensation shall be payable for a claim for compensation for an employee’s injury by accident arising out of and in the course of employment because —
(i)
the injury did not arise out of and in the course of the employee’s employment; or
(ii)
the injured person is not an employee within the meaning of this Act; or
(b)
an appeal to the High Court under section 29 from an order made by the Commissioner has failed because of any reason mentioned in paragraph (a)(i) or (ii),
the employee may institute an action in any court to recover damages independently of this Act for injury caused by that accident.
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(3) If an action is brought within the time specified in section 11 in any court to recover damages independently of this Act for injury caused by any accident and it is determined in the action or on appeal that the injury is one for which the employer is not liable but that he would have been liable to pay compensation under the provisions of this Act, the action shall be dismissed; but the court shall, if the employee so chooses, proceed to assess the compensation and may deduct therefrom all or any part of the costs which, in its judgment, have been caused by the employee instituting the action instead of proceeding under this Act.
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(4) In any proceedings under subsection (3) when the court assesses the compensation, it shall give a certificate of the compensation it has awarded and the direction it has given, if any, as to the deduction of costs and such certificate shall have the same effect as a judgment of the court.
34. Where an arrangement has been made between the Government and the government of any other State whereby sums awarded under the law relating to work injury compensation in Singapore to persons resident or becoming resident in the territory administered by any such government, and sums awarded under the law relating to work injury compensation in any such territory to persons resident or becoming resident in Singapore, may at the request of the authority by which the award is made be transferred to and administered by a competent authority in any such territory or by the Commissioner in Singapore, as the case may be, money in the hands of the Commissioner shall be transferred, and money received by him shall be administered, in such manner as may be prescribed.
[5/2008]
35.
—(1) Any employer who —
(a)
for the purpose of defraying or partly defraying the cost of insurance in respect of his liability to pay compensation under this Act, makes any deduction from the earnings of an employee in his employment; or
(b)
fails to insure himself in accordance with section 23(1) or (2),
shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable —
(i)
in the case of an offence under paragraph (a), on conviction to a fine not exceeding $5,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 6 months or to both; and
(ii)
in the case of an offence under paragraph (b), on conviction to a fine not exceeding $10,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12 months or to both.
[5/2008]
(2) Any person who —
(a)
fails to pay compensation in accordance with and within the time specified in this Act;
(b)
fails to pay the interest in accordance with section 28A(1);
(c)
makes any statement or furnishes any information to the Commissioner or an investigation officer under this Act which he knows or ought reasonably to know is false in any material particular or is misleading by reason of the omission of any material particular;
(d)
abets the commission of an offence under this Act;
(e)
wilfully obstructs or delays the Commissioner or an investigation officer in the exercise of his powers under section 30A; or
(f)
fraudulently makes any claim for compensation under this Act which he knows to be false in order to induce or deceive the employer or insurer or the Commissioner in making payment of such compensation to him or any other person,
shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable —
(i)
in the case of an offence under paragraph (a) or (b), on conviction to a fine not exceeding $10,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12 months or to both;
(ii)
in the case of an offence under paragraph (c) or (e), on conviction to a fine not exceeding $5,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 6 months or to both;
(iii)
in the case of an offence under paragraph (d), on conviction to be punished with the punishment provided for that offence; and
(iv)
in the case of an offence under paragraph (f), on conviction to a fine not exceeding $15,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12 months or to both.
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36.
—(1) Where an offence under this Act or any regulations made thereunder is committed by a body corporate and it is proved to have been committed with the consent or connivance of, or to be attributable to any act or default on the part of, any officer of the body corporate, the officer as well as the body corporate shall be guilty of the offence and shall be liable to be proceeded against and punished accordingly.
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(2) Where the affairs of a body corporate are managed by its members, subsection (1) shall apply in relation to the acts and defaults of a member in connection with his functions of management as if he were a director of the body corporate.
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(3) Where an offence under this Act or any regulations made thereunder is committed by a partnership of individuals or bodies corporate and it is proved to have been committed with the consent or connivance of, or to be attributable to any act or default on the part of, any partner of the partnership or any officer of the body corporate, the partner or the officer of the body corporate as well as the partnership shall be guilty of the offence and shall be liable to be proceeded against and punished accordingly.
[5/2008]
(4) Where an offence under this Act or any regulations made thereunder is committed by an unincorporated association (other than a partnership), any officer of the unincorporated association or member of its governing body and it is proved to have been committed with the consent or connivance of, or to be attributable to any act or default on the part of, any officer of the unincorporated association, or any person who was purporting to act in any such capacity, he as well as the unincorporated association shall be guilty of the offence and shall be liable to be proceeded against and punished accordingly.
[5/2008]
(5) In this section —
“body corporate” includes a limited liability partnership which has the same meaning as in section 2(1) of the Limited Liability Partnerships Act (Cap. 163A);
“officer” —
(a)
in relation to a body corporate, means any director, partner, member of the committee of management, chief executive, manager, secretary or other similar officer of the body corporate and includes any person purporting to act in any such capacity; or
(b)
in relation to an unincorporated association (other than a partnership), means the president, the secretary, or any member of the committee of the unincorporated association, or any person holding a position analogous to that of the president, secretary or member of the committee and includes any person purporting to act in any such capacity;
“partner” includes a person purporting to act as a partner.
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(6) Regulations may provide for the application of any provision of this section, with such modifications as the Minister considers appropriate, to any body corporate or unincorporated association formed or recognised under the law of a territory outside Singapore.
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37. For the purpose of section 151 of the Criminal Procedure Code 2010, on receiving the complaint in writing and signed by the Commissioner, the Magistrate must proceed to issue a summons or warrant in accordance with section 153 of the Criminal Procedure Code 2010.
38. Notwithstanding any provision to the contrary in the Criminal Procedure Code, a District Court shall have jurisdiction to try any offence under this Act and shall have power to impose the full penalty or punishment in respect of the offence.
[5/2008]
39.
—(1) The Commissioner or an Assistant Commissioner so authorised by the Commissioner may compound any offence under this Act which is prescribed as a compoundable offence by collecting from a person reasonably suspected of having committed the offence a sum not exceeding —
(a)
one half of the amount of the maximum fine that is prescribed for the offence; or
(b)
$5,000,
whichever is the lower.
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(2) On payment of such sum of money, no further proceedings shall be taken against that person in respect of the offence.
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(3) All sums collected under this section shall be paid to the Consolidated Fund.
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40.
—(1) The court before which any conviction for an offence under section 35(2)(a) or (b) is had may, on the application of the Commissioner, and in addition to the fine prescribed in that section, order the person convicted to pay the amount of any compensation ordered by the Commissioner or interest due.
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(2) The court may order that the amount ordered to be paid under subsection (1) —
(a)
be paid directly to the person to whom the compensation amount or interest is due; and
(b)
be recoverable according to the law for the time being in force relating to the recovery of fines.
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(3) Any amount ordered by the court under subsection (1) shall cease to be payable if the person convicted under that subsection has served a default sentence of imprisonment in relation to that amount.
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