Injured at work, and now everyone has an opinion
The supervisor says just take the MC. Someone in the canteen says you should sue. HR sends a form and asks you to sign it today. Meanwhile the pay has stopped and the medical bills haven’t.
I’m Wahab, and this work is handled at A.W. Law by Roy, who runs our injury files. There is really only one decision that matters early on, and most people make it by accident: whether you claim through the Ministry of Manpower or sue your employer. You can’t do both.
The first 10 minutes are free, and nothing commits you.
What a WICA claim in Singapore actually is
The Work Injury Compensation Act 2019 gives employees a way to be compensated for a workplace injury without proving anybody was at fault. It is run by the Ministry of Manpower, not the courts. Your employer reports the accident, MOM processes the claim, and you receive a Notice of Assessment setting out what you are owed.
It pays three things:
- Medical leave wages for the period a doctor says you cannot work.
- Medical expenses, up to the limit the Act sets.
- A lump sum if you are left with permanent incapacity, or to the family if a worker dies.
It covers employees of every nationality and pass type, including work permit holders. What it does not pay for is pain and suffering. That is the trade-off at the heart of this: no need to prove fault, but a capped, formula-driven number.
The other route is a common law claim: suing the employer for negligence in the ordinary courts. Here you must prove the employer failed in its duty to keep you safe. It takes far longer. But nothing is capped, and pain and suffering is compensated, so where an injury is serious and a safety failure is obvious, it usually pays more. The same principles apply as in any other negligence claim, and our personal injury page covers injuries that happen outside work.
You must choose. Pursuing the WICA claim to its conclusion closes the common law door. That is why the first conversation matters more than anything that comes after it.
When each route makes sense
WICA usually fits when the injury is modest, recovery is expected, nobody was obviously careless, and you need money soon rather than eventually. Most workplace injuries land here, and that is fine.
A common law claim deserves a look when:
- The injury is permanent or life-changing: an amputation, a spinal injury, a serious head injury.
- There was a clear safety failure: no guard on a machine, no harness at height, a known hazard reported and ignored.
- Future earnings are gone. WICA’s formula rarely reflects a career that has ended at 34.
- A third party contributed, such as a contractor or an equipment supplier.
And a case where we’ll tell you to take the simpler route: a minor injury with a good recovery and a careful employer. Running a negligence suit on that is years of your life for a worse result. We’d rather say so at the free session than take the file.
If the injury has come with a dismissal, a cancelled pass, or unpaid salary, those are separate claims that run alongside. See employment disputes.
What to expect, honestly
How long it takes.
A WICA claim commonly runs three to nine months, longer if the permanent incapacity assessment is disputed or your condition has not stabilised. A common law claim runs one to three years, sometimes more. There is a hard deadline on the WICA side: one year from the accident.
How much it costs.
Straightforward WICA assistance runs S$1,500 to S$3,500 at A.W. Law. A contested assessment or a common law negligence claim is quoted in stages, typically S$8,000 to S$25,000 through to trial, with each stage agreed in writing before it starts. Singapore does not permit no-win-no-fee arrangements, so be wary of anyone who offers one. The 10-min Work Injury Discovery Session is free, and if the numbers do not justify a claim we will tell you that in it.
What’s the hard part.
The medical assessment. Your compensation under WICA turns on a percentage of permanent incapacity assigned by a doctor, and that single figure moves the money more than anything else. Assessments made before your condition has settled tend to come in low. The second hard part is pressure: a form pushed across a desk while you are on painkillers, a settlement offered before anyone knows how the injury will heal. Do not sign anything you have not had read to you.
How we handle work injury claims at A.W. Law
- The route decision first. WICA or common law, with real numbers attached, before anything is filed.
- We check the Notice of Assessment rather than assuming MOM’s figure is final, and object where the incapacity percentage is too low.
- Fees staged and in writing. You approve each phase before it begins.
- Bahasa, Tamil, Mandarin, or Vietnamese through the firm’s translation staff, which matters on a lot of these files.
- WhatsApp until 10pm on weekdays, because shift workers can’t call at 3pm.
We’re at 133 New Bridge Road, #20-03 Chinatown Point. Two minutes’ walk from Chinatown MRT, Exit E.
What happens next
Book a free 10-min Work Injury Discovery Session using the form on this page, or send us a WhatsApp with photos of your MCs.
Bring what you have: medical certificates, payslips, the incident report if one exists. You’ll leave knowing which route fits your case, a realistic range for what it’s worth, and how long each takes. If you’re close to the one-year deadline, say so when you book and we’ll bring you in sooner.
