INSURERS LOOK FOR ANOMALIES TO DETECT FRAUD
Responding to CNA’s queries, Income Insurance’s general manager of corporate business Susan Ong said that work injury compensation fraud “rarely occurs”.
When a claim comes in, Income first assesses it based on “prima facie evidence” before considering several factors to decide if it should be investigated further.
“For example, we look for anomalies such as an employee bypassing the employer and filing the accident report directly with MOM without the employer’s knowledge,” said Ms Ong.
A significant delay in reporting the accident, such as months after the date of the alleged injury, can also warrant further investigation.
Another example is when the injuries that are reported seem inconsistent with the accident described, such as a case of a minor slip that somehow led to injuries to multiple parts of the body.
Ms Ong said if a formal investigation is triggered, independent loss adjustors are appointed. They interview the employer, injured worker and any witnesses, review documents and gather more facts.
Income will also obtain a medical opinion from the doctor who treated the worker, and may get an independent medical expert to validate the nature and extent of injuries.
The Migrant Workers’ Centre (MWC) said it handled 602 work injury and medical assistance cases last year, up from 418 cases in 2023.
Despite the increase, MWC said it has not encountered any fraudulent claims in the cases it has supported.
“What we do observe are cases where workers are denied timely or adequate medical care, or are prematurely discharged by employers with the intent of repatriation,” said the group.
MWC, an initiative of the National Trades Union Congress and Singapore National Employers Federation, said it works with the employers and authorities to support the workers in these cases.
It advised workers to lodge their work injury claims through the WICA system “rather than turning to alternative, unverified channels”.
SME ASSOCIATION CALLS FOR MORE EDUCATION, SUPPORT
In a separate statement following MOM’s briefing, the Association of Small and Medium Enterprises (ASME) said a work injury that is not genuine has an impact that goes “far beyond the financial cost”.
“It inflicts significant psychological distress on owners who must continue running their business while managing the dispute,” ASME said in a statement.
“While ASME does not track specific data on such cases, we are attuned to the deeper structural vulnerabilities that make SMEs more exposed.”
Based on feedback ASME receives, many SMEs face a steep learning curve in compliance and human resource (HR) practices.
This association said it saw this as a challenge that stems from a critical gap in foundational business knowledge.
As a result, SME owners are “forced to learn reactively, often only after a major incident occurs”, it said.
One way to address this is preventive education. ASME said it advocates for a structured “Business 101” onboarding programme for new entrepreneurs that integrates HR best practices and HR technology. It has a dedicated committee looking into this.
ASME said it is also exploring how to enhance the support it provides when incidents occur, as it sees a need for “a trusted, central point of guidance”. It is looking at ways to strengthen the advisory role of its SME Centre.
To uphold the integrity of existing policies that are “pro-ecosystem”, the association said there is a need to ensure such measures “are not misused by either employers or employees so as to protect the trust and fairness these policies are built on”.
Helping entrepreneurs build strong foundations will not only protect them from disputes but prepare them for scaling up, it added.
Editor’s note: An earlier version of this article incorrectly stated that the Manpower Ministry receives objections to less than 30 per cent of all WICA claims. The correct figure should be less than 3 per cent. We apologise for the error.
