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Two employers charged for not buying insurance for workers

This article is more than 12 months old

Two employers have been charged for failing to purchase work injury compensation insurance for 25 employees, the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) said on Monday (June 12).

Extrovert Engineering and Mr Suriakumar Ridgeway Ramaiah, the sole proprietor of Ridgeway Marine & Construction, were charged on June 8.

Mr Suriakumar Ridgeway also faces a charge for not paying compensation to an employee injured while working.

In Extrovert’s case, a Bangladeshi worker had dislocated his left shoulder after falling from a ladder while at work last year.

But the company had not bought work injury insurance to cover him and 13 other workers. Only eight of Extrovert’s 22 workers were covered.

The injured worker was later compensated $5,973.14 by the company.

For Mr Suriakumar Ridgeway’s case, a Bangladeshi worker had injured his right elbow and back after falling from a ladder at work in 2015.

But Mr Suriakumar Ridgeway had not bought work injury insurance for the worker and 10 other employees, and also did not pay the injured worker’s compensation of $9,144.97.

MOM said that employers who do not pay work injury compensation to their workers or who do not buy work injury compensation insurance can be fined up to $10,000, jailed for up to 12 months, or both.

Ms Kee Ee Wah, director of MOM’s Work Injury Compensation Department, said that work injury compensation insurance allows employees to claim for work related injuries and helps employers from bearing the burden of hefty compensations and medical costs.

“MOM will not hesitate to deal severely with employers who do not purchase work injury compensation insurance and wilfully abscond from their responsibility to pay work injury compensation,” she added. - THE STRAITS TIMES

MINISTRY OF MANPOWER (MOM)COURT & CRIMEinsurance