WORK INJURY COMPENSATION

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WORK INJURY COMPENSATION:

(Raising of maximum compensation amounts): 11.

Mr Christopher de Souza asked the Minister for Manpower in view of the recent award of approximately $1 million by the High Court to a worker who was paralysed from a workplace accident and

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that the Commissioner of Labour awarded him only $182,000, whether the Ministry will consider raising the maximum compensation amounts in the Work Injury Compensation Act so that the maximum amount in the Act is in tandem with what the Courts award.

Mr Hawazi Daipi (for the Minister for Manpower): Sir, the Work Injury Compensation Act (WICA) is a "no-fault" compensation system that expedites the determination of claims and payment of compensation. However, this means that work injury compensation is payable by the employer or his insurer as long as the claimant can show that his injury arose out of and in the course of employment, regardless of whether the employer was at fault for the work injury. It is therefore necessary to limit the liability of employers under the Act. In contrast, under common law, compensation is awarded only if the claimant is able to prove that the employer is at fault. Since the two systems are based on different principles, it would be inappropriate to directly benchmark WICA’s compensation limits to awards for common law claims. Claimants may choose the appropriate avenue based on the specific circumstances of the injuries.

In 2008, the caps for compensation under WICA were raised: for permanent incapacity compensation, the maximum amount payable was raised from $147,000 to $180,000, with an additional 25%, or a total of $225,000 payable for total permanent incapacity; for death compensation payable to dependants of the deceased worker, the maximum amount payable was raised from $111,000 to $140,000.

I would like to assure Mr de Souza that MOM will regularly review the compensation caps to keep in step with changes in wages and medical expenses

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to ensure that WICA remains an effective means of support for employees suffering from work injuries.

Mr Christopher de Souza: Thank you, Senior Parliamentary Secretary, for your comprehensive reply. I would like to ask a question based on the disconnect between the Work Injury Compensation scheme and what is currently being awarded as just compensation by our Courts. For example, in my parliamentary question, I referred to the $182,000 award limit under the Act, yet the Court awarded $1 million. So, there seems to be a divergence of about $800,000. Given the principle of compensating a workman for his injury, would MOM consider raising the cap because there is a need to pay legal expenses to go to Court and you cannot choose between the two, and you have to either choose one or the other.

Mr Hawazi Daipi: Sir, workers who have been injured can decide on either one – the WICA way or the common law. As I said earlier, we revised the cap only in 2008. I think it is a bit too early now to revise it. However, it is a continuous process that we do at MOM to ensure that compensation is consistent with cost of living, cost of medical treatment, and so on. When the time comes for review, we will review it very seriously. I am not so sure how to describe this case. The difference between the WICA cap and the amount awarded to the injured worker was huge. But, then, that is the nature of common law. If the claimant can prove that the employer was at fault, leading to his injury, then the court will take that into consideration. I think this may be the case in this particular claim.

Mr Hri Kumar Nair (Bishan-Toa Payoh): Mr Speaker, may I ask the Senior Parliamentary Secretary what is the average time taken to resolve a workman's compensation claim and is the Ministry taking steps to reduce the waiting time?

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Mr Hawazi Daipi: The majority of claims, about 75% of permanent incapacity or fatal claims, are resolved within six months of the claims being filed. For workers with complicated injuries, more time would be needed for investigation. However, we try to speed it up. All claims must be made within one year. In a nutshell, I would say that we try to speed it up and most of the cases, about 75%, are resolved within six months.

Mr Christopher de Souza: Given that the review was only done two years ago in 2008, and this is a moving target and a review looks to be on the cards, would the Ministry of Manpower take bearing from the common law cases and the judgments of the courts as to what a just and equitable compensation amount is when factoring in how much or, if at all, the cap under the Act is raised?

Mr Hawazi Daipi: Sir, we take many factors into consideration in determining the cap for WICA – loss of income, medical cost and other expenses that may be borne by the family of the deceased or the person who has been injured. We may not be able to take into account an amount that has been awarded to past cases in determining WICA per se , because the amount can vary from case to case. It is best that we use what we have been using so far, ie, loss of income, cost of medical treatment, and so on.