Workmen’s Compensation (Amendment) Bill

Bill No. 22/1980

Read the first time on 31st October 1980.

An Act to amend the Workmen’s Compensation Act, 1975 (No. 25 of 1975).

Be it enacted by the President with the advice and consent of the Parliament of Singapore, as follows: —

Short title and commencement

1. This Act may be cited as the Workmen’s Compensation (Amendment) Act, 1980, and shall come into operation on such date as the Minister may, by notification in the Gazette, appoint.

Amendment of section 2

2. Section 2 of the Workmen’s Compensation Act, 1975 (hereinafter in this Act referred to as the principal Act) is amended by deleting paragraph (a) of the definition of “workman” in subsection (1) and substituting the following: —

“(a)

a person employed otherwise than by way of manual labour whose earnings, calculated in accordance with section 8, exceed —

(i)	one thousand two hundred and fifty dollars a month where no other maximum amount of the earnings is specified under sub-paragraph (ii); or
(ii)	where the maximum amount of the earnings is specified under this sub-paragraph by the Minister from time to time by notification in the Gazette, such amount as may for the time being be so specified;”.

Amendment of section 11

3. Section 11 of the principal Act is amended by deleting subsection (1) and substituting the following: —

“(1) Except as provided in this section proceedings for the recovery of compensation for an injury under this Act shall not be maintainable unless notice of the accident has been given to the employer by or on behalf of the workman as soon as practicable after the happening thereof and unless a claim for compensation with respect to such accident has been made within one year from the happening of the accident causing the injury, or, in the case of death, within one year from the date of the death.”.

Amendment of section 13

4. Section 13 of the principal Act is amended by deleting subsection (3) and substituting the following: —

“(3) If a workman, on being required to do so by the employer under subsection (1) or by the Commissioner, at any time fails to submit himself for examination by a medical practitioner, his right to compensation shall be suspended until the examination has taken place; and if the failure extends over a period of six months from the date when the workman was required to submit himself for examination by the Commissioner, no compensation shall be payable in respect of any injury to the workman resulting from the accident unless the injury results in the death of the workman or unless the Commissioner is satisfied that there was reasonable cause for the failure.”.

Amendment of section 17

5. Section 17 of the principal Act is amended by inserting, immediately after the word “work” in the fifth line of subsection (1), the words “, or for the supply of labour to carry out any work,”.

Amendment of section 24

6. Section 24 of the principal Act is amended by deleting subsection (5) and substituting the following: —

“(5) Where payment is not made in accordance with subsection (4), the employer shall be liable to pay to the Commissioner interest at the rate of one and one-half per centum for each month or part thereof of the assessed amount from the date of the service of the notice under subsection (2) until the expiry of six months from that date and thereafter at the rate of three per centum for each month or part thereof:

Provided that —

(a)	the amount of interest to which the employer is liable shall not exceed fifty per centum of the assessed amount; and
(b)	the Commissioner may in his discretion waive or remit the whole or any part of such interest.”.

Amendment of section 29

7. Section 29 of the principal Act is amended by deleting subsection (4) and substituting the following: —

“(4) Where an employer fails to make a deposit with the Commissioner under subsection (3), he shall be liable to pay to the Commissioner interest at the rate of one and one-half per centum for each month or part thereof of the assessed amount from the date of the Commissioner’s decision until the expiry of six months from that date and thereafter at the rate of three per centum for each month or part thereof:

Provided that —

(a)	the amount of interest to which the employer is liable shall not exceed fifty per centum of the assessed amount; and
(b)	the Commissioner may in his discretion waive or remit the whole or any part of such interest.

(5) Any interest paid to the Commissioner under subsection (4) and under subsection (5) of section 24 shall be payable to or for the benefit of the workman, or, where death results from the injury, to or for the benefit of his dependants; and where a deceased workman has no dependants the interest shall be paid into the Workers’ Fund.”.

Amendment of Third Schedule

8. The Third Schedule to the principal Act is amended —

(a)

by deleting paragraph 1 and substituting the following: —

“1.—(1) Where death results from the injury the amount of compensation payable shall be a lump sum which shall be obtained by multiplying the monthly earnings of the deceased workman by the appropriate factor in the second column of the following Table according to the age on the next birthday of the deceased workman at the time of the accident as specified in the first column thereof: —

<caption>TABLE.</caption>

First column.

Age.

Second column.

Multiplying factor.

40 and below

108

107

106

105

104

103

102

101

100

66 and above

48.

(2) The compensation payable under this paragraph shall in no case exceed forty-five thousand dollars or be less than fifteen thousand dollars.”;

(b)

by deleting sub-paragraphs (1) and (2) of paragraph 2 and substituting the following: —

“(1) Where permanent total incapacity results from the injury the amount of compensation shall be a lump sum which shall be obtained by multiplying the monthly earnings of the workman by the appropriate factor in the second column of the following Table according to the age on the next birthday of the workman at the time of the accident as specified in the first column thereof: —

<caption>TABLE.</caption>

First column.

Age.

Second column.

Multiplying factor.

40 and below

144

142

140

138

136

134

132

130

128

126

124

122

120

118

116

114

111

108

105

102

66 and above

72.

(2) The compensation payable under this paragraph shall in no case exceed sixty thousand dollars or be less than twenty thousand dollars.”; and

(c)

by inserting, immediately after sub-paragraph (5) of paragraph 4, the following sub-paragraph: —

“(6) For the purpose of this paragraph where a workman is certified by a medical practitioner of an approved hospital to be ill enough to need to be hospitalised but the workman is not hospitalised for any reason whatsoever, he shall be deemed to be hospitalised.”.

Transitional provision

9. Section 8 shall not apply with respect to claims for compensation in respect of accidents happening before the date of commencement of this Act and all such claims shall be determined in accordance with the provisions of the Third Schedule in force immediately before that date.

Search within Legislation