Shipping Circulars
No. 5 of 2008

12 Feb 2008

Applicable to:Shipowners, shipmanagers and shipmasters of Singapore ships and the shipping community.

The Workmen's Compensation Act (Cap. 354) (WCA) facilitates the payment of compensation to workers for work-related injury. Proposed amendments to the WCA which were in the form of the Workmen's Compensation (Amendment) Bill was passed in Parliament on 22 Jan 08. These changes will take effect from 1 April 2008.

2.The key amendments include the following:

a.Extending the coverage of the WCA
The WCA currently covers only "workmen" i.e. workers involved in manual labour (regardless of income) and non-manual workers with monthly earnings of $1,600 or less, excluding certain classes such as domestic workers and police officers. With the amendment, the WCA will be extended to all employees (whether manual or non-manual), except members of the Singapore Armed Forces and Home Affairs Uniformed Services (i.e. officers from the Police Force, Civil Defence Force, Central Narcotics Bureau and Prisons Service) as well as domestic workers who are adequately compensated under other regimes.

b.Increasing the compensation for death and permanent incapacity
The maximum and minimum compensation limits for all age groups will be raised to take into account the increase in wages (as shown in the table below). The number of months of earnings that are compensable, or multiplying factors, for younger workers will also be adjusted upwards so that they experience higher increases compared to older workers.

 

 

Limits

New Limits

Death

Minimum

$47,000

 

Maximum

$140,000

Permanent

Incapacity(PI)

Minimum

 $60,000x %PI

 

Maximum

 $180,000x %PI

Compensation for medical expenses will be capped at $25,000 per accident per employee or up to a maximum of one year from date of accident, whichever is reached earlier.

c.Improve efficiency and effectiveness of the work injury compensation system
New and enhanced enforcement powers would be put in place to deter non-payment of compensation by employers and fraudulent claims by employees.

3.For more information relating to the Workmen's Compensation (Amendment) Bill, you may like to refer to the following url link: http://www.mom.gov.sg/legislation/occupational-safety-health/Pages/work-injury-compensation-act.aspx

4.Any queries relating to this circular should be directed to Mr Wong Kai Cheong at Tel: +65 6375 6236 or Ms Irene Goh at Tel: +65 6375 6225.

KHONG SHEN PING
DIRECTOR OF MARINE
MARITIME AND PORT AUTHORITY OF SINGAPORE