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The Work Injury Compensation Act 2019 makes a Singapore employer liable to compensate an employee who is injured or contracts a disease because of work, regardless of who was at fault (MOM WIC Guide for Employers). Section 24 requires every employer to insure that liability with one or more MOM-designated insurers, and MOM sets the mandatory group: every employee doing manual work, at any salary, and every non-manual employee earning $2,600 or less a month, unless the employees fall in a class the WIC (Insurance) Regulations exclude, such as those of banks, retailers and hotel-keepers. Since 1 January 2021 the policy must come from a designated insurer and comply with MOM's compulsory terms.

For accidents from 1 November 2025, MOM's compensation limits are $269,000 for death, $346,000 for permanent incapacity, with a further 25% added where the incapacity is assessed at 100%, and $53,000 for medical expenses. A reportable accident is submitted to MOM within 10 days of first notice. Failing to insure a mandatory group is an offence under section 25: a fine of up to $10,000, imprisonment of up to 12 months, or both.

The Sourced Detail

WICA is a people-cover a Singapore employer cannot opt out of, subject to the excluded classes. It does not turn on fault, it is not the same as a group personal accident plan, and it comes with two clocks the employer owns: the 21 days before a policy starts (MOM) and the 10 days after an accident (MOM WIC Guide for Employers). The sections below follow the order an employer meets the regime: who is covered, who must be insured, what is payable, how a claim runs, and what the law does when it goes wrong.

Who WICA covers

MOM states the scope: WICA covers any local or foreign employee under a contract of service or contract of apprenticeship, regardless of salary, age or citizenship. It does not cover independent contractors and the self-employed, domestic workers, or uniformed personnel of the Singapore Armed Forces, Singapore Police Force, Singapore Civil Defence Force, Central Narcotics Bureau and Singapore Prison Service.

Section 24(1) was amended by Act 30 of 2024 with effect from 1 January 2025, when the Platform Workers Act extended the regime to platform operators and platform workers; Part 3A of WICA now applies Parts 2 and 3 to them. The mechanics for a platform operator are in how to comply with the Platform Workers Act 2024: WIC insurance procedures.

The line between an employee and a contractor is where exposure is misread. WICA turns on the contract of service, not on the label on the invoice.

Who you must insure, and with whom

Coverage under the Act and the duty to insure are different lines. Every employee is covered; the compulsory insurance line is narrower. Section 24(1) states the duty: "Every employer must insure and maintain insurance under one or more approved employee insurance policies with one or more designated employer's insurers against all liabilities that the employer may incur under this Act in respect of every employee of the employer", subject to the excluded classes the regulations prescribe. MOM's insurance page states the rule in general terms: all employees doing manual work, regardless of salary level, and all employees earning $2,600 or less a month. That summary does not list the other excluded classes, such as the employees of banks, retailers and hotel-keepers, whom the employer need not insure. The $2,600 threshold has applied since 1 April 2021; it was $2,100 from 1 April 2020 (MOM WIC Guide for Employers).

For other employees, MOM states that the employer "has the flexibility to decide whether to buy insurance for them", and that if those employees make a valid claim "you will have to compensate them regardless of whether they are insured".

Three conditions attach to the policy itself, all from MOM:

  • From 1 January 2021, every WIC insurance policy must be issued by a designated insurer and must comply with MOM's compulsory terms (MOM).
  • The employer must finalise all insurance contracts and provide the information required to the insurer at least 21 days before policy commencement.
  • The employer must have insurance for both local and foreign employees.

The designated-insurer list, how insurers are added and removed, and what the compulsory terms contain are set out in WICA designated insurer regulations: how the MOM list actually works and MOM designated insurer WICA list 2026.

What compensation is payable, with the limits from 1 November 2025

WICA pays three kinds of compensation. MOM's types of compensation page sets the rates and the limits.

Medical leave wages. Payable, per MOM, for working days on medical certificate, hospitalisation leave or light duty granted by a Singapore-registered doctor. For hospitalisation leave: full average monthly earnings (AME) for up to 60 days, then two-thirds of AME from the 61st day to one year from the accident. For outpatient medical leave or light duties: full AME for up to 14 days, then two-thirds from the 15th day to one year. For light duties the medical leave wage is the shortfall between actual wages and AME, and CPF is still contributed on the actual wages paid.

Medical expenses. Payable for treatment received within one year from the date of the accident, or up to $53,000, whichever is reached first, for accidents from 1 November 2025; the previous cap was $45,000 (MOM).

Lump sum for permanent incapacity or death. Computed from the employee's average monthly earnings and age, between a statutory minimum and maximum. The limits for accidents from 1 November 2025, against the limits that applied before:

Compensation (MOM)Before 1 November 2025From 1 November 2025
Death, minimum$76,000$91,000
Death, maximum$225,000$269,000
Permanent incapacity, minimum$97,000 x % PI$116,000 x % PI
Permanent incapacity, maximum$289,000 x % PI$346,000 x % PI
Medical expenses, maximum$45,000$53,000

Where the doctor or dentist awards 100% permanent incapacity, a further 25% is added on top of the compensation amount (MOM). MOM's press release of 8 February 2024 states the purpose: the additional 25% "is paid for total PI to offset the cost of care for the injured employee". At the maximum, that is $346,000 plus 25%, which is $432,500. The same release describes the 2025 rises as "about 19%" on death and permanent incapacity and 17% on medical expenses.

One consequence follows from the formula: two businesses with the same headcount carry different exposures, because wages and ages drive the lump sum.

WICA is not a group personal accident plan and it is not employers' liability. WICA vs group personal accident sets out which does what; WICA designated panel cover vs a common-law / employer's liability extension explains the route above the WICA schedule.

How a claim runs

MOM states that a claim is made up to one year from the accident. Under WICA 2019, claims are processed by the designated insurer; the MOM WIC Guide for Employers states that MOM takes over claims processing for cases without a designated insurer.

The employer's own deadline is notification. The MOM guide instructs: "Submit an incident report to MOM within 10 days from the date when you first have notice of the accident that requires your employee to be hospitalised or given any instance of medical leave or light duty", and to inform the designated insurer. Any instance of medical leave starts the clock; there is no three-day threshold. The mechanics of the report are in how to file a workplace accident notification under WICA 2019, and the separate reporting duties under the Workplace Safety and Health Act are in how to file a workplace incident with MOM through the WSH Incident Reporting eService.

Permanent incapacity is assessed by a doctor after the medical condition has stabilised. A notice of assessment or notice of computation is then issued to all parties for the lump sum, and MOM states that "the insurer must pay the employee within 21 days from the date of service on the NOA or NOC". The end-to-end sequence is in how to file a WICA claim with MOM.

The offences and the penalties

Section 25(1) makes an employer who contravenes section 24(1) liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $10,000 or imprisonment not exceeding 12 months or both. Annex D of the MOM WIC Guide for Employers sets out the full schedule:

Offence (MOM WIC Guide, Annex D)First offenceSecond or subsequent
Failure to insure mandatory groups with a designated insurerFine up to $10,000 and/or imprisonment up to 12 monthsFine up to $20,000 and/or imprisonment up to 12 months
Failure to notify MOM of a reportable accident in time (from 1 June 2024, MOM)Fine up to $10,000Fine up to $20,000, imprisonment up to 6 months, or both (a repeat within 5 years)
Failure to pay compensationFine up to $15,000 and/or imprisonment up to 12 monthsFine up to $30,000 and/or imprisonment up to 12 months
Providing false information or statementFine up to $5,000 and/or imprisonment up to 6 monthsFine up to $10,000 and/or imprisonment up to 6 months

The employee's right to compensation does not depend on the employer having insured. An uninsured employer pays the compensation, and, outside the excluded classes, faces the offence.

Common Mistakes

  1. Treating contractors as outside the risk. MOM excludes independent contractors and the self-employed; a person under a contract of service is an employee whatever the invoice says.
  2. Insuring with a non-designated insurer. Since 1 January 2021 the policy must come from a designated insurer with MOM's compulsory terms. A policy from anyone else does not discharge section 24.
  3. Leaving the policy to the week before. MOM requires the contract finalised and the insurer's information supplied at least 21 days before commencement.
  4. Waiting for "more than three days" of medical leave before reporting. The MOM guide starts the 10-day clock on any instance of medical leave or light duty.
  5. Reading the maximum as $346,000. At 100% permanent incapacity MOM adds 25%, so the maximum is $432,500 (MOM).
  6. Under-declaring payroll or headcount. The lump sum runs on wages. MOM warns that under-declaring employees to the insurer can affect all your claims, and that inaccurate information may lead the insurer to seek back from the employer what it paid out. WICA mid-policy wage adjustment workflow covers the change.
  7. Confusing WICA with group personal accident or employers' liability. Different triggers, different limits. See WICA vs GPA.

What This Means for Your Business

List every person under a contract of service or apprenticeship. Mark the manual workers and the non-manual staff earning $2,600 or less a month, outside the other excluded classes; that is the group section 24 requires you to insure, with a designated insurer, on MOM's compulsory terms. Decide deliberately about the rest, knowing that a valid claim from an uninsured employee is paid by you.

Put two dates in the business's own record, not in one person's memory: the policy start date minus 21 days, which is MOM's deadline for the insurer's information, and the renewal date. Put one procedure beside them: who files the MOM incident report within 10 days of any medical leave, and who covers it when that person is away.

Size the exposure on wages and age, not headcount. The permanent incapacity maximum for accidents from 1 November 2025 is $346,000, and $432,500 at 100% incapacity (MOM). A team with higher earners or younger staff sits closer to those figures than headcount suggests, because the age multiplying factor in the Act falls as age rises.

Covarage holds the WIC policy and schedule, the designated-insurer details and the renewal date in one place, with reminders before it lapses, and introduces you to a licensed intermediary when the cover needs to be arranged or reviewed. The compliance is yours; the record is what we keep.

Questions to Ask Your Adviser

  1. Is every employee in the mandatory group, manual workers and non-manual staff earning $2,600 or less, on an approved policy with a MOM-designated insurer on the compulsory terms?
  2. Does the payroll and headcount we declared match the business today, and what happens to a claim if it does not?
  3. How is our permanent incapacity and death exposure sized against our actual wage and age profile?
  4. Who files the MOM incident report within 10 days of any medical leave, and who covers when they are away?
  5. Was the insurer given its information 21 days before the policy started, and what is the renewal date?
  6. Which employees outside the mandatory group are we choosing not to insure, and have we recorded that decision?

Related Information

The law:

Insurers and the panel:

Claims and process:

Comparisons:

Published 31 May 2026. Source verified 11 September 2026.