Work injury compensation insurance
You need to get work injury compensation insurance for all employees doing manual work, as well as all employees earning $2,600 or less a month.
From 1 January 2021, all WIC insurance policies must be issued by a designated insurer, and must comply with MOM’s compulsory terms. Finalise all insurance contracts and provide the information required to your insurer at least 21 days before policy commencement.
Who needs to be insured
If you are an employer, you are required to buy work injury compensation insurance for:
- All employees doing manual work, regardless of salary level.
- All employees doing non-manual work, earning a salary of $2,600 or less a month, excluding any overtime payment, bonus payment, annual wage supplement, productivity incentive payment and any allowance.
You must have insurance for both local and foreign employees. Failure to provide adequate insurance is an offence carrying a fine of up to $10,000 or jail of up to 12 months, or both.
For other employees, you have the flexibility to decide whether to buy insurance for them. However, if those employees make a valid claim, you will have to compensate them regardless of whether they are insured.
Choosing insurance coverage
When you are buying or reviewing your company’s work injury compensation insurance coverage, do the following:
For insurance policies that started before 1 January 2021Show
For insurance policies that start from 1 January 2021Show
Discontinue project WIC insurance
From 1 September 2020, you should not get new project WIC policies.
There are WIC claims that are covered under both project WIC policy and employer’s WIC policy. Such duplicate coverage can lead to delays and disputes over who should compensate the injured employee or to reimburse the employer. Companies can potentially reduce insurance premiums by avoiding duplicate coverage.
What is a project WIC policy
A project WIC policy refers to the portions of project insurance policies that provide coverage for work injury sustained at a project site, or while doing work for a specific project.
For employers
You must get WIC insurance for your employees, even if they are covered by project WIC policies.
If your employees are only covered under a project WIC policy, you may be charged for non-insurance. This is because project WIC policies do not cover some instances of work injury, such as injury that occurred in company transport or while working outside the project site.
For insurers
You can keep your existing project WIC policies. They will be considered double coverage because employers, i.e. sub-contractors, must get their own insurance. If there’s a claim, it will be made against the employer’s policy.
You should not sell new project WIC policies from 1 September 2020. Employers must buy their own WIC insurance policy.
We recommend that you work with developers to terminate the WIC portion of your existing project policies.
For main contractor and developers
You are allowed to keep your existing project WIC policies. They will be considered double coverage as employers, i.e. sub-contractors, must get their own insurance. If there’s a claim, it will be made against the employer’s policy.
You should not renew or buy new project WIC policies. Instead, you should ensure that each of your sub-contractors buy insurance to cover their own employees.
You can also buy insurance to cover common law liabilities. Such insurance is not governed under WICA.
We recommend that you work with your insurers to terminate the WIC portion of your project policies.