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Contents

Long Title

Part I PRELIMINARY

Part II COMPENSATION FOR INJURY

Division 1 — Entitlement and liability for compensation

Division 2 — Computation of compensation

Division 3 — Making claims

Division 4 — Liability and indemnity

Division 5 — Insurance and other general provisions

Part III ASSESSMENT AND PAYMENT OF COMPENSATION

Part IV POWERS, OFFENCES, PENALTIES AND PROCEEDINGS

Part V GENERAL

FIRST SCHEDULE Injuries Deemed to Result in Permanent Incapacity

SECOND SCHEDULE Occupational Diseases

THIRD SCHEDULE Amount of Compensation

FOURTH SCHEDULE Classes of Persons Not Covered

Legislative History

 
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On 20/06/2013, you requested for the version in force on 20/06/2013 incorporating all amendments published on or before 20/06/2013. The closest version currently available is that of 01/06/2012.
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Division 1 — Entitlement and liability for compensation
Employer’s liability for compensation
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]
Compensation for diseases
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.
Compensation limited to injuries received at work
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]
Persons entitled to compensation
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.
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(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]