PART III AWARDS IN RESPECT OF DEATH
AND PERSONAL INJURY |
[S 725/2022 wef 02/09/2022] 38. In this Part —| “Approving Authority” has the meaning given by regulation 39; |
“dependant”, in relation to a deceased special police officer, means a person receiving regular and substantial support or benefit from the deceased special police officer —| (a) | where the special police officer’s death occurred during his or her service, throughout the period of 6 months ending with the special police officer’s death; | | (b) | in any other case, throughout the period beginning 6 months prior to the end of the special police officer’s service and ending with the special police officer’s death; or | | (c) | throughout the period determined by the Approving Authority in the exceptional circumstances of a case; |
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| “disablement” means physical or mental injury or damage, or loss of physical or mental capacity; |
| [Deleted by S 1045/2022 wef 01/01/2023] |
“injury received in and which is attributable to service” includes the following:| (a) | any injury received in consequence of some act lawfully performed in the discharge of a special police officer’s duty; | | (b) | any injury received while a special police officer travels to report for duty or to return home after duty; [S 725/2022 wef 02/09/2022] [S 1045/2022 wef 01/01/2023] |
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“medical professional” means a person who —| (a) | is a registered medical practitioner under the Medical Registration Act 1997 or exempt from registration under that Act; or | | (b) | is a registered dentist under the Dental Registration Act 1999; |
[S 1045/2022 wef 01/01/2023] |
“non-attributable medical condition” means an adverse medical condition that —| (a) | existed in a special police officer before service; or | | (b) | arose during but which was not attributable to service; |
[S 1045/2022 wef 01/01/2023] |
| “overseas medical professional” means any medical practitioner or dentist registered to practise under the law of a jurisdiction other than Singapore; [S 1045/2022 wef 01/01/2023] |
“service end date” means —| (a) | in the case of an operationally ready national serviceman — the date immediately after the last date of the period that the operationally ready national serviceman was liable to perform national service during which he sustained the injury mentioned in regulation 52A(1)(a) or 52B(1)(a), as the case may be; or | | (b) | in the case of a volunteer or volunteer ex-NSman — the date immediately after the last date of the period that the volunteer was liable to perform voluntary service during which he or she sustained the injury mentioned in regulation 52A(1)(a) or 52B(1)(a), as the case may be. |
[S 1045/2022 wef 01/01/2023] |
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| Approving Authority may grant award, etc. |
| 39. The Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Home Affairs (called in this Part the Approving Authority) may grant to special police officers and to their dependants or personal representatives awards and gratuities in accordance with this Part. [S 725/2022 wef 02/09/2022] |
40.—(1) For the purpose of this Part, the Approving Authority may appoint a medical board, either generally or for a particular case.| (2) A medical board appointed under this regulation must consist of at least 2 medical practitioners, one of whom must either be a medical practitioner registered under the Medical Registration Act 1997 or a medical officer of the Singapore Civil Defence Force or the Police Force. [S 725/2022 wef 02/09/2022] |
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| Benefits from provident fund, etc., not to be taken into account |
| 41. A benefit accruing under a contributory pension or death benefit scheme, provident fund, life assurance or insurance against personal injuries must not be taken into account when assessing an award under this Part. [S 725/2022 wef 02/09/2022] |
| Division 2 — Awards and gratuities in respect of death |
| Award payable where special police officer dies of injury received in and which is attributable to service |
| 42.—(1) Where a special police officer dies on or after 1 January 2023 as a result of an injury received in and which is attributable to service, the Approving Authority may pay to the special police officer’s dependants or personal representatives (if he or she has no dependants) an award of a sum to be determined by the Approving Authority. [S 1045/2022 wef 01/01/2023] | (2) If the injury was received by the special police officer in the course of operations or training, the Approving Authority may (in addition to the total sum under paragraph (1)) pay a special award of a sum to be determined by the Approving Authority. |
| (3) If the special police officer was injured under exceptional circumstances or was rendering service beyond the call of duty, the Approving Authority may (in addition to the total sum under paragraph (1) and, where applicable, the special award under paragraph (2)) pay an additional award of a sum to be determined having regard to the principles on which a claim for damages would be determined in a civil court. |
(4) Where a special police officer’s death ––| (a) | is caused as a result of the aggravation by service of an adverse medical condition that ––| (i) | existed in him or her before service; or | | (ii) | had arisen during but that was not attributable to service; and |
| | (b) | occurred within 7 years of the aggravation of such a medical condition, |
| the award payable to the special police officer’s dependants or personal representatives (as the case may be) may be equal to half of the award payable under paragraph (1) and half of any award payable under paragraph (2) or (3), had his or her death occurred as a result of an injury received in and which is attributable to service. |
[S 725/2022 wef 02/09/2022] [S 1045/2022 wef 01/01/2023] |
[S 1045/2022 wef 01/01/2023] |
| Gratuity payable where special police officer dies in service |
| 43. Where a special police officer dies while in the service of the Special Constabulary, the Approving Authority may pay any of the special police officer’s dependants or personal representatives (if he or she has no dependants) a gratuity that is at least 12 months’ monthly gross salary of a police officer of equivalent rank. [S 725/2022 wef 02/09/2022] |
| Division 3 — Awards and gratuities in respect of personal injury |
| Determination of degree of disablement |
44.—(1) For the purpose of any award in respect of disability in this Division, the degree of disablement is to be assessed and certified according to this regulation.| (2) The degree of the disablement attributable to service of a special police officer is to be assessed by comparing the condition of the special police officer with the condition of a normal healthy person of the same age. |
| (3) The assessment under paragraph (2) must not take into account the earning capacity of the special police officer in his or her disabled condition in his or her own or any other specific trade or occupation, nor the effect of any individual factor or extraneous circumstance; but where the disablement is due to more than one injury, a composite assessment of the degree of disablement is to be made by reference to the combined effect of all such injuries. |
| (4) The assessment under paragraph (2) must be certified by way of a percentage, total disablement being represented by 100% (which is the maximum assessment) and a lesser degree or partial disablement being represented by a percentage that bears to 100% the same proportion as the lesser degree of disablement bears to total disablement. [S 1045/2022 wef 01/01/2023] |
(5) Where a disablement of a special police officer is due to an injury —| (a) | that is specified in the Fourth Schedule to the Work Injury Compensation Act 2019, or is a disablement so specified; and | | (b) | that has reached a settled condition, |
| the degree of the disablement must (in the absence of any special features) be certified at the percentage equivalent to the percentage of loss of earning capacity specified in that Schedule as appropriate to that injury or to that disablement. |
[S 725/2022 wef 02/09/2022] |
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| Eligibility for award or gratuity in respect of total disability |
45. For the purpose of regulations 46, 47, 48 and 49, a special police officer is eligible for an award or a gratuity in respect of total disability if ––| (a) | he or she is disabled from an injury received in and which is attributable to service; | | (b) | [Deleted by S 1045/2022 wef 01/01/2023] | | (c) | his or her degree of disability amounts to total disability; and | | (d) | he or she has, as a result of his or her disablement, been released from service as a result of sustaining, on or after 1 January 2023, any injury received in and which is attributable to service. [S 725/2022 wef 02/09/2022] [S 1045/2022 wef 01/01/2023] |
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| Amount payable in respect of total disability of special police officer |
46. Where a special police officer is eligible under regulation 45 for an award or a gratuity in respect of total disability, the Approving Authority may pay the special police officer —| (a) | an award of a sum to be determined by the Approving Authority; and [S 1045/2022 wef 01/01/2023] | | (b) | a gratuity that is at least 12 months’ monthly gross salary of a police officer of equivalent rank. [S 725/2022 wef 02/09/2022] |
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| Special award in respect of total disability arising from operations or training |
| 47. Where a special police officer who is eligible for an award or a gratuity under regulation 45 has suffered total disability as a result of an injury received in the course of operations or training, the Approving Authority may award the special police officer a special award (in addition to the award granted to him or her under regulation 46) a sum to be determined by the Approving Authority. [S 725/2022 wef 02/09/2022] |
| Additional award in respect of total disability arising from exceptional circumstances or service beyond call of duty |
| 48. Where a special police officer who is eligible for an award or a gratuity under regulation 45 has suffered total disability as a result of an injury received under exceptional circumstances or while rendering service beyond the call of duty, the Approving Authority may (in addition to the award granted to the special police officer under regulation 46 and, where applicable, regulation 47) grant the special police officer an award to be determined having regard to the principles on which a claim for damages would be determined in a civil court. [S 725/2022 wef 02/09/2022] |
| Award in respect of total disability caused by aggravation of existing condition |
49.—(1) This regulation applies to a special police officer who suffers a disability, the degree of which is determined by the Approving Authority to be total disability —| (a) | that is caused as a result of aggravation, which starts on or after 1 January 2023, by service of a non-attributable medical condition; and | | (b) | that occurs within 7 years after the aggravation of the non-attributable medical condition. |
(2) The special police officer mentioned in paragraph (1) is eligible for an award of half of the amount of the following awards which the special police officer would have been eligible for if the total disability had occurred as a result of an injury received in and which is attributable to service:| (a) | the award under regulation 46; | | (b) | any special award under regulation 47 or additional award under regulation 48, or both. |
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[S 1045/2022 wef 01/01/2023] |
| Award for partial disability |
50.—(1) Paragraphs (2) and (3) apply where —| (a) | a special police officer sustains, on or after 1 January 2023, an injury received in and which is attributable to service; and | | (b) | the Approving Authority determines that the special police officer suffers from a partial disability that is permanent as a result of the injury. |
(2) Where the special police officer mentioned in paragraph (1) would have been eligible in the case of total disability for an award under regulation 45, the special police officer is eligible for the following awards:| (a) | in the case of an injury specified in the Fourth Schedule to the Work Injury Compensation Act 2019 — an award in accordance with the formula A × B, where —| (i) | A is the percentage equivalent to the percentage of loss of earning capacity specified in that Fourth Schedule in respect of that injury; and | | (ii) | B is the award specified in regulation 46(a); |
| | (b) | in the case of any other injury — the proportion of the award specified in regulation 46(a), as the degree of the special police officer’s partial disability bears to total disability. |
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| (3) Where the special police officer mentioned in paragraph (2) would have been eligible in the case of total disability for a special award under regulation 47 or an additional award under regulation 48, the special police officer is eligible for the proportion of the special award or additional award as the degree of the special police officer’s partial disability bears to total disability. |
(4) Paragraph (5) applies to a special police officer whose partial disability —| (a) | is determined by the Approving Authority to be caused by aggravation, which starts on or after 1 January 2023, by service of a non-attributable medical condition; and | | (b) | occurs within 7 years of the aggravation of the non-attributable medical condition. |
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| (5) The special police officer mentioned in paragraph (4) is eligible for an award of half of the amount of the awards under paragraphs (2) and (3) which the special police officer would have been eligible for if the partial disability had occurred as a result of an injury received in and which is attributable to service. |
| (6) For the purposes of an award under paragraph (2), (3) or (5) (which may be paid provisionally or on any other basis), the degree of the special police officer’s partial disability must be assessed on an interim basis unless the special police officer’s condition permits a final determination of the extent (if any) of the partial disability. |
[S 1045/2022 wef 01/01/2023] |
| 51. [Deleted by S 1045/2022 wef 01/01/2023] |
| Medical expenses for disablement |
52. Where the disablement of a special police officer is attributable to service, the Approving Authority may defray any necessary expenses for the special police officer’s medical, surgical or rehabilitative treatment, subject to —| (a) | the amount that the Approving Authority determines such defraying of necessary expenses must not exceed; and | | (b) | any condition imposed by the Approving Authority to such defraying of necessary expenses. [S 725/2022 wef 02/09/2022] |
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| Award for hospitalisation or medical leave for operationally ready national servicemen, volunteers and volunteer ex-NSmen |
52A.—(1) This regulation applies to an operationally ready national serviceman, volunteer or volunteer ex-NSman —| (a) | who sustains, on or after 1 September 2020, any injury received in and which is attributable to service while performing national service or volunteer service, as the case may be; | | (b) | who, because of the injury, is on hospitalisation leave or medical leave on or after his or her service end date; and | | (c) | to whom any of the following applies:| (i) | while on the hospitalisation leave or medical leave (as the case may be), he or she is employed under a contract of service and suffers a loss of earnings under the contract of service as a result of the hospitalisation leave or medical leave; | | (ii) | while on the hospitalisation leave or medical leave (as the case may be), he or she is engaged under a contract for services or engaged in any trade, business, profession or vocation and suffers a loss of income derived from the contract for services, trade, business, profession or vocation (as the case may be) as a result of the hospitalisation leave or medical leave; | | (iii) | he or she —| (A) | within 25 consecutive weeks immediately before sustaining the injury, has not been employed under a contract of service, engaged under a contract for services or engaged in any trade, business, profession or vocation; | | (B) | before or after sustaining the injury —| (BA) | has entered into a contract of service, been engaged under a contract for services, or been engaged in any trade, business, profession or vocation; or | | (BB) | has applied to enter into a contract of service or to be engaged under a contract for services, or made efforts to be engaged in any trade, business, profession or vocation; and |
| | (C) | because of the injury, is unable to —| (CA) | continue to work under the contract of service or contract for services, or in the trade, business, profession or vocation, as the case may be; or | | (CB) | enter into the contract of service, be engaged under the contract for services, or be engaged in the trade, business, profession or vocation, as the case may be. |
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| (2) Subject to paragraphs (3), (4) and (6), a person mentioned in paragraph (1) is eligible, starting on the person’s service end date, to an award payable at a rate determined by the Approving Authority for each day the person is on hospitalisation leave or medical leave. |
(3) Paragraph (2) does not apply to hospitalisation leave or medical leave granted on any day after the earlier of the following:| (a) | where within one year after the person’s service end date, the person mentioned in paragraph (1) is paid an award in respect of total disability under regulation 46 — the expiry of one year starting on the person’s service end date; | | (b) | in any other case — the earlier of the following:| (i) | the date on which the award in respect of total disability under regulation 46 is paid; | | (ii) | the 720th day starting on the person’s service end date. |
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| (4) The person mentioned in paragraph (1) must apply for the award mentioned in paragraph (2) no later than 720 days after the person’s service end date or any later date that the Approving Authority may allow in any particular case. |
| (5) Where a person mentioned in paragraph (1) is eligible for any award under paragraph (2), that award must not be deducted from any other award or gratuity granted to the person under this Part. |
| (6) If a person mentioned in paragraph (1) has, before 1 January 2023, received any award from the Government in respect of hospitalisation leave or medical leave in the circumstances specified in paragraph (1), the award mentioned in paragraph (2) is to be reduced by the amount of the firstmentioned award. |
(7) For the purpose of this regulation —| (a) | where a person mentioned in paragraph (1) is certified by a medical professional of an approved medical institution specified in the Second Schedule or an overseas medical professional of such a medical institution to be ill enough to need to be hospitalised, but the person is not hospitalised for any reason, the person is considered to be on hospitalisation leave; and | | (b) | the person is not taken to be on hospitalisation leave or medical leave on any day when the person takes a rest day or paid leave under the Employment Act 1968 or the Child Development Co-Savings Act 2001. |
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[S 1045/2022 wef 01/01/2023] |
| Award for loss of earnings from light duty for operationally ready national servicemen, volunteers and volunteer ex-NSmen |
52B.—(1) This regulation applies to an operationally ready national serviceman, volunteer or volunteer ex-NSman who —| (a) | sustains, on or after 1 September 2020, an injury received in and which is attributable to service; and | | (b) | because of the injury, is on light duty on or after his or her service end date and suffers —| (i) | a loss of earnings under a contract of service; or | | (ii) | a loss of income from the contract for services or a trade, business, profession or vocation. |
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| (2) Subject to paragraphs (3), (4) and (6), the person mentioned in paragraph (1) is eligible, within a period of one year starting on the person’s service end date, for an award payable at a rate determined by the Approving Authority for each day of light duty. |
| (3) The award under paragraph (2) must not exceed $33,000. |
| (4) The person mentioned in paragraph (1) must apply for the award mentioned in paragraph (2) no later than one year after the person’s service end date or any later date that the Approving Authority may allow in any particular case. |
| (5) Where a person mentioned in paragraph (1) is eligible for any award under paragraph (2), that award must not be deducted from any other award or gratuity granted to the person under this Part. |
| (6) If a person mentioned in paragraph (1) has, before 1 January 2023, received any award from the Government in respect of light duty in the circumstances specified in paragraph (1), the award mentioned in paragraph (2) is to be reduced by the amount of the firstmentioned award. |
(7) For the purpose of this regulation —| (a) | the light duty must be granted to the person mentioned in paragraph (1) by —| (i) | a medical officer of the Singapore Civil Defence Force or the Police Force; or | | (ii) | a medical professional of an approved medical institution specified in the Second Schedule; |
| | (b) | the entitlement of a person mentioned in paragraph (1) to an award under paragraph (2) does not apply during any period when the person is absent when required to be present for work under the person’s contract for services or trade, business, profession or vocation; and | | (c) | the person mentioned in paragraph (1) is not taken to be on light duty on any day when the person takes a rest day or paid leave under the Employment Act 1968 or the Child Development Co-Savings Act 2001. |
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[S 1045/2022 wef 01/01/2023] |
| Division 4 — Review of Approving Authority’s decisions, etc. |
53.—(1) To ensure prompt assistance to a person eligible for an award or a gratuity under this Part, the Approving Authority may fix a provisional and interim rate of payment.| (2) The amount received by any person must be subsequently adjusted when the correct rate payable has been determined. [S 725/2022 wef 02/09/2022] |
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| Award or gratuity not of right and powers to cancel, withhold or reduce award or gratuity |
54.—(1) No special police officer or other person has an absolute right to an award or a gratuity under this Part.(2) The Approving Authority may cancel, withhold or reduce an award or a gratuity in respect of a special police officer in the following circumstances:| (a) | the special police officer has been guilty of negligence, irregularity or misconduct; | | (b) | the award or gratuity was obtained by the wilful suppression of material facts; | | (c) | the award or gratuity was granted in ignorance of facts which, had they been known before the special police officer is released from the Special Constabulary, would have justified a reduction in his or her emoluments or resulted in his or her dismissal or discharge; | | (d) | the special police officer dies in disgrace; | | (e) | for an award or a gratuity in respect of the special police officer’s death, where the death is attributable to a deliberate self-injury, a deliberate aggravation of an accidental injury or a reason within his or her control; | | (f) | for an award or a gratuity in respect of the special police officer’s disablement —| (i) | where he or she voluntarily ends his or her service; or | | (ii) | his or her disablement is attributable to a deliberate self-injury, a deliberate aggravation of an accidental injury or a reason within his or her control. |
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| (3) Where an award or a gratuity has been cancelled, withheld or reduced under paragraph (2), the Approving Authority may, if it is equitable to do so, grant or restore the award or gratuity or a portion of the award or gratuity. [S 725/2022 wef 02/09/2022] |
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| No review except in certain circumstances |
55.—(1) Where the Approving Authority makes a final assessment of the degree or nature of the disablement of a special police officer, or a final decision that there is no disablement or that the disablement has come to an end, an award under this Part made on the basis of that assessment, or any such final decision, must not (subject to any decision given by a Compensation Board under regulation 56) be reviewed unless —| (a) | in the case of a final assessment, there is a substantial increase in the degree of disablement which is attributable to service; | | (b) | in the case of a final decision, there is a substantial degree of disablement which is attributable to service; | | (c) | the rate of the award has been fixed in error at a figure that is not appropriate under these Regulations to the assessment of the degree or nature of the disablement; | | (d) | the award has been made in error; or | | (e) | the Approving Authority has reason to believe that the award has been obtained by the wilful suppression of material facts or other improper means. |
| (2) Except for an award made on the basis of a final assessment mentioned in paragraph (1), an award under this Part may (subject to a decision by a Compensation Board under regulation 56) be reviewed at any time on any of the grounds referred to in paragraph (1). |
| (3) On a review under this regulation, the Approving Authority may continue or vary an award, or make a fresh award in place of the award, or cancel the award, or in the case of a final decision that is mentioned in paragraph (1), may make an award that is appropriate having regard to this Part. [S 725/2022 wef 02/09/2022] |
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| Appeal to Compensation Board |
56.—(1) For the purpose of this Part, the Minister may appoint a Compensation Board that must consist of at least 3 members.(2) The Compensation Board has the power to make a final decision —| (a) | to make an award, where the Approving Authority declined to make an award; or | | (b) | to vary an award made by the Approving Authority in respect of the death or disablement of a special police officer (whether by increasing or decreasing the award). |
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(3) The Compensation Board has the power —| (a) | to call for a document relating to the service of a special police officer appealing a decision of the Approving Authority (called in this regulation the appellant) from an Officer-in-charge of Records and to order the appellant to undergo a medical examination by a medical officer to be appointed by the Compensation Board in a particular case; and | | (b) | to certify to an Officer-in-charge of Records any reasonable travelling and other expenses that may have been incurred by —| (i) | the appellant in appearing before the Compensation Board or before any medical officer appointed to make a medical examination of the appellant under this regulation; or | | (ii) | a representative mentioned in paragraph (4) in appearing before the Compensation Board. |
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| (4) An appellant has the right to appear before the Compensation Board in person, or by a representative, but the Compensation Board may hear and determine any appeal in the appellant’s absence. |
| (5) An appeal in respect of the Approving Authority’s decision under this regulation must be brought within 12 months of the date on which an appellant is notified of the decision, but the Compensation Board may allow an appeal to be brought after the expiry of that period if it considers that there is a reasonable excuse for the delay. [S 725/2022 wef 02/09/2022] |
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| Division 5 — Miscellaneous |
| Assignments, etc., to be void |
| 57. An assignment of, or charge on, and any agreement to assign or charge, any payment awarded or to be awarded under this Part is void, and, on the bankruptcy of a person to whom such a payment has been awarded, the payment does not pass to the Official Assignee or any other person acting on behalf of the bankrupt person’s creditors. [S 725/2022 wef 02/09/2022] |
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