Changes to the Work Injury Compensation Act to Benefit Both Employees and Employers

1. The Ministry of Manpower (MOM) will be amending the Work Injury Compensation Act (WICA), as the Work Injury Compensation (WIC) Bill is first read in Parliament today.
2. Singapore aspires to provide employees with among the safest and healthiest workplaces in the world, as outlined in the Workplace Safety and Health 2028 strategy. The proposed changes to the Act will help to realise this vision by better protecting injured employees, and influencing employers to do more to prevent injuries from occurring.
3. The key proposed changes to the Act aim to balance the interest of both employees and employers. Employees will benefit through the expansion of WICA coverage. Employers will benefit from greater assurance of buying policies that meet WICA requirements, and from enhanced recourse to fraudulent claims. In addition, faster and simpler work injury claims processes will be established, to benefit both employees and employers.
   
   Feedback Sought from Public and Tripartite Partners
4. A public consultation exercise was held in January 2019 to seek views on the proposed changes to the WICA, in addition to extensive consultations with the tripartite partners. The proposals have been refined following the feedback received. In particular, the tripartite partners recognised the balance that is needed, and thus supported the proposed changes. MOM has provided responses to the feedback on the REACH portal.
   
   Protection for Both Employees and Employers
5. The proposed changes to the WICA are part of MOM’s regular review of the Act to ensure that it remains fair and expeditious for both employees and employers. While the expanded coverage and higher compensation amounts benefit employees, the Bill, when passed, will also protect employers against inadequate insurance coverage and fraudulent claims. The enclosed Annex contains the full list of the proposed changes.
   
   Important for All to Take Workplace Safety and Health Seriously 
6. While the WICA changes are introduced to offer greater protection against work injury, employees should continue to be responsible for their personal safety at work. Likewise, employers must continue with their efforts to improve workplace safety records.
7. The Second Reading of the WIC Bill 2019 will be tabled at the next Parliament sitting in September 2019.