>> ASIAONE / NEWS / THE STRAITS TIMES / STORY

Job injury claims for office staff set to rise
Theresa Tan Thu, Feb 28, 2008 The Straits Times
ABOUT 5 per cent of the close to 15,000 claims that the Manpower Ministry (MOM) processed for on-the-job injuries last year came from white-collar workers. These non-manual workers, all of whom earned $1,600 or less a month, filed about 750 claims last year. This number looks set to rise once a new law, the Work Injury Compensation Act, kicks in in April. The law will, for the first time, extend coverage to all workers involved in non-manual work regardless of their income.

The Act will replace the Workmen's Compensation Act, which now covers all manual and non-manual workers earning $1,600 or less a month.

Last year, non-manual workers received only about $1.6 million in compensation, a fraction of the $71 million given out in all.

Those who were compensated included a customer service officer who was serving a client when a door slammed against her fingers.

Another injured worker was an accounts executive who fractured her toes when a truck ran over her foot.

The woman had been checking stocks in a warehouse at the time.

The MOM did not give more details about these two cases.

Meanwhile, the new Act, passed in Parliament last month, has some firms scrambling to see if they need insurance for their white-collar workers and how much this cover would cost.

Under the new law, employers are not mandated to buy work injury compensation insurance for their non-manual staff earning over $1,600 a month.

However, companies have to compensate staff injured in workplace accidents even if they had not bought insurance.

The OCBC Bank told The Straits Times earlier this month that it had not bought such insurance for its staff members who earned over $1,600 a month, but is reviewing this policy.

Other banks, such as Swiss bank UBS AG and HSBC, have bought coverage for all staff.

It was too early to determine the impact of the new law on businesses, said Mr Koh Juan Kiat of the Singapore National Employers Federation.

Insurers such as Great Eastern expect premiums to go up. The company said it was working out pricing issues and could not give specifics.

Besides workplace accidents, office workers will also be able to make claims for things such as noise-induced deafness and poisoning by chemicals such as arsenic.

Repetitive strain disorder of the arm will also be covered. Doctors interviewed said that this condition, caused by repetitive motions such as typing, was common among office workers.

The self-employed, maids and officers of the Singapore Armed Forces and Home Affairs uniformed services will be the only exceptions to the new coverage.

theresat@sph.com.sg