The Answer in 60 Seconds

The Work Injury Compensation Act 2019 (WICA) 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. Two duties follow. First, you must insure that liability: section 24 requires every employer to maintain an approved WIC insurance policy with a MOM-designated insurer for every employee doing manual work (any salary) and every non-manual employee earning $2,600 or less a month, per the MOM WIC insurance rules. Second, you must report work accidents to MOM within 10 days and let the designated insurer process the claim.

WICA covers three things: medical leave wages, medical expenses, and a lump sum for permanent incapacity or death, all subject to limits the Government reviews periodically (last raised on 1 November 2025). Get the insurance wrong and the exposure is real: failing to insure a mandatory group is an offence carrying a fine of up to $10,000 and up to 12 months' imprisonment on a first conviction. This guide walks the whole regime, and links to the detailed articles on each step.

The Sourced Detail

WICA is the floor of every Singapore SME's people-risk. It is not optional, it is not the same as a group personal-accident plan, and it does not turn on fault. The structure below follows the order an employer actually meets it: who is covered, who you must insure, what is payable, how a claim runs, and what happens when it goes wrong. Each part links to the deeper article when you need the full mechanics.

What WICA is, and who it covers

Under WICA 2019, an employee can claim compensation from the employer for an injury or occupational disease arising out of and in the course of employment, and the employer is liable regardless of fault, even if the employee has since left. The MOM employer guide sets out who is in and who is out: covered are all employees engaged under a contract of service or apprenticeship, regardless of salary; not covered are the self-employed, independent contractors, and domestic workers, who sit under separate regimes.

That distinction, employee versus contractor, is where many SMEs misread their exposure, because the label on the invoice does not decide it. The substance of the working relationship does.

Which employees you are legally required to insure

Coverage under the Act and the duty to insure are two different things. Every employee is covered by WICA, but the compulsory insurance line is narrower. Under section 24 and the MOM insurance rules, you must hold an approved WIC policy for:

  • every employee doing manual work, regardless of salary; and
  • every non-manual employee earning $2,600 or less a month (this threshold has applied since 1 April 2021).

For non-manual employees earning above $2,600, insurance is optional, but you remain liable to pay any valid claim yourself if you choose not to insure them. The mechanics of the provision are unpacked in WICA section 24: the mandatory insurance provision.

A second rule catches employers out: the policy must come from a MOM-designated insurer, not any insurer. Only designated insurers can write approved WIC cover, and they auto-process claims. How that list is set and why it matters is covered in the WICA designated insurer regulations and how the MOM designated panel works.

What compensation is payable

WICA pays three types of compensation, and understanding the shape matters more than memorising figures the Government periodically revises:

  • Medical leave wages, based on the employee's average monthly earnings, for outpatient medical leave and hospitalisation leave up to defined caps.
  • Medical expenses, payable by the employer up to a maximum limit or one year from the accident, whichever comes first.
  • A lump sum for permanent incapacity or death, computed from the employee's average monthly earnings and an age multiplying factor, between a statutory minimum and maximum.

The dollar limits are reviewed to track wages and healthcare costs and were most recently increased on 1 November 2025; always read the current figures from that update and the MOM types of compensation page rather than an old number. Because the lump sum is formula-driven, two businesses with the same headcount can face very different exposures depending on wages and ages, which is the whole reason adequate cover and accurate payroll declarations matter.

WICA is also not the same product as a group personal-accident plan, and the difference is frequently misunderstood at renewal. WICA vs group personal accident sets out which does what, and WICA panel cover vs a common-law / employer's liability extension explains the gap above the WICA schedule.

How a claim runs

The process is now largely automated through the designated insurer. In outline: the employee is injured; the employer provides treatment and a letter of guarantee if the hospital requires it; the employer notifies MOM; the designated insurer processes the claim automatically; medical leave wages and expenses are paid; a treating doctor assesses any permanent incapacity; the insurer issues a Notice of Computation; and, absent objection within 14 days, the compensation is paid within 21 days of the Notice.

The single hard deadline an employer owns is notification: a reportable accident must be submitted to MOM within 10 calendar days of the employer first having notice that the employee needs hospitalisation, medical leave, or light duties. The full mechanics are in how to file a WICA accident notification within MOM's 10-day window, and the end-to-end claim in how to file a WICA claim with MOM.

Penalties: what getting it wrong costs

The MOM employer guide sets out the offences, and they are not nominal:

  • Failure to insure a mandatory group under an approved policy: a fine of up to $10,000 and/or up to 12 months' imprisonment on a first conviction, rising to $20,000 and/or 12 months for repeat offences.
  • Failure to notify a reportable accident in time: up to $5,000 on a first conviction, up to $10,000 and/or 6 months thereafter.
  • Failure to pay compensation: up to $15,000 and/or 12 months on a first conviction, up to $30,000 and/or 12 months thereafter.
  • Providing false information: up to $5,000 and/or 6 months on a first conviction.

The offence of failing to insure is set out in statute at section 25 of WICA, examined in the WICA section 25 offence. The practical point: an uninsured employer is not merely exposed to the claim, but to the claim plus a fine plus, in the worst case, prison.

Common Mistakes

  1. Treating contractors as outside the risk. WICA turns on the substance of the working relationship, not the label on the invoice. Misclassifying an employee as a contractor does not remove the liability.

  2. Insuring with a non-designated insurer. Only a MOM-designated insurer can write approved WIC cover. A policy from anyone else does not discharge the section 24 duty.

  3. Under-declaring payroll or headcount. Premiums and valid cover depend on accurate payroll and workforce data; under-declaring can let the insurer recover what it paid out from the employer.

  4. Confusing WICA with group personal accident. They are different products with different triggers. See WICA vs GPA.

  5. Missing the 10-day notification. The clock starts when you first have notice the employee needs hospitalisation, medical leave, or light duties, not when it is convenient.

  6. Letting the policy lapse at renewal. A lapse leaves you personally liable for any accident in the gap. Renewal discipline is the cheapest risk control you have.

  7. Forgetting to update cover when the workforce changes. New hires, new job categories, and wage changes all change the mandatory group. Adding a new employee to an existing WICA policy should be routine, not an afterthought.

What This Means for Your Business

For a Singapore SME, WICA is the one people-cover you cannot opt out of, so treat it as infrastructure, not a discretionary purchase.

Start by drawing the line between who is covered and who you must insure: list every person under a contract of service, mark the manual workers and the non-manual staff earning $2,600 or less, and confirm those are all on an approved policy with a designated insurer. Keep the payroll and headcount you declare accurate, because the cheapest way to lose a claim is to have under-declared.

Build the operational muscle around the two deadlines that bite: the 10-day notification and the renewal date. Both fail silently, and both fail worst when the person who used to handle insurance has left. Tie them to the business, not to an individual.

Finally, size the cover to the exposure. Because permanent-incapacity and death compensation are formula-driven on wages and age, a business with higher-paid or older staff carries more exposure than headcount alone suggests. When wages rise or the team grows, the cover should be reviewed, not assumed.

Covarage keeps the moving parts in one place: the WIC policy and schedule, the designated-insurer details, the renewal date with reminders before it lapses, and a route to a licensed adviser when you need to arrange or review cover. The compliance is yours; the admin that usually causes the lapse is what we take off your desk.

Questions to Ask Your Adviser

  1. Is every employee in our mandatory group, manual workers and non-manual staff earning $2,600 or less, on an approved policy with a MOM-designated insurer?
  2. Does our declared payroll and headcount match reality, and when did we last update it?
  3. How is our permanent-incapacity and death exposure sized against our actual wage and age profile, not just headcount?
  4. What is our process to notify MOM within 10 days, and who owns it if the usual person is away?
  5. When does the policy renew, and what stops it lapsing if no one actively chases it?

Related Information

Foundations and the law:

Insurers and the panel:

Claims and process:

Comparisons and decisions:

Published 31 May 2026. Source verified 31 May 2026. COVA is an introducer under MAS Notice FAA-N02. We do not recommend insurance products. We provide factual information sourced from primary regulators and route you to a licensed IFA who can match a policy to your specific situation.