Employees’ Compensation Insurance, Covid-19 and Working from Home

The spread of the Covid-19 virus has raised many issues for employers as we all try to do our bit in halting the spread of the virus in our community. Employers here have various responsibilities under a range of legislation, but we felt it would be useful to address a few basic items around the Work Injury Compensation Act (WICA) insurance in this note.

WICA is statutory insurance required by the Ministry of Manpower (MOM). It is designed to cover the statutory and common law liability attaching to an employer for death or injury sustained by an employee resulting from an accident arising out of and in the course of employment. An injured employee can claim both statutory compensation and under common law where they allege that the employer has been negligent. Certain diseases have been classed as occupational diseases for which employers will be held liable.

While Covid-19 is covered under WICA insurance, companies are required to provide evidence that it was contracted during and in the course of work. WICA insurance does not provide coverage if it was contracted through non-work related activities or exposure.

Many employers are instructing employees to work from home (WFH). WICA covers the employer’s place of work (with extensions for travel to and from in some cases) and on a flexi-work arrangement agreed between employer and employees. However, it must be remembered that employers have no control over the working conditions of employees at home and so, in theory, their risk exposure is greater.

We would encourage drafting a work from home guideline for your company. This may help address issues such as a clean, tidy and safe working environment as well as maintaining properly functioning equipment (including tables and chairs). Some companies will start to adopt work from home arrangements on a more long-term basis, even when the Covid-19 threat recedes, and this can open liability for occupational disease. For clerical employees, this includes repetitive strain injury even though the employer has not provided the desk, table or chair used by the employee. Provision of WFH guidelines and asking employees to acknowledge them will not eliminate the risk but will help mitigate it.