Singapore legislation
Section 13
Section 13
Medical examination and treatment
(1)
When notice of an accident has been given to an employer by an employee or on the employee’s behalf, the employer shall, before the expiry of the 5th day after the giving of the notice, offer to have the employee examined free of charge by a medical practitioner, and the employee shall submit himself for such medical examination.
(1A)
Any employee who is in receipt of any periodical payment of compensation for temporary incapacity under this Act shall, if required by the employer, submit himself for such examination from time to time.
(1B)
An employee shall not be required to submit himself for examination otherwise than in accordance with regulations made under this Act.
(2)
[Deleted by Act 5 of 2008]
(3)
If an employee, on being required to do so by the employer under subsection (1) or (1A) or by the Commissioner, at any time fails to submit himself for examination by a medical practitioner, his right to compensation shall be suspended until the examination has taken place; and if the failure extends over a period of 3 months from the date when the employee was required to submit himself for examination by the Commissioner, no compensation shall be payable in respect of any injury to the employee resulting from the accident unless the injury results in the death of the employee or unless the Commissioner is satisfied that there was reasonable cause for the failure.
(4)
If an employee having been so required, and before the expiry of the period within which he is liable under subsection (1) to submit himself for medical examination, voluntarily leaves, without having been so examined, the place at which he was residing at the time of the accident, his right to compensation shall be suspended until he notifies his employer of his new address and offers himself for such examination.
(5)
Where an employee whose right to compensation has been suspended under subsection (3) or (4) dies without having submitted himself for medical examination as required by those subsections, the Commissioner may, if he thinks fit, direct the payment of compensation to the dependants or the estate of the deceased employee.
(6)
Where under subsection (3) or (4) a right to compensation is suspended, no compensation shall be payable in respect of the period of suspension.
(7)
Where an injured employee has refused to be treated by a medical practitioner or has failed to carry out or deliberately disregarded the instructions for his treatment, then —
where the employee is in receipt of any periodical payment of compensation for temporary incapacity under the provisions of this Act, the Commissioner may order the suspension of those payments until the employee accepts such treatment or has carried out such instructions, and may further, where the Commissioner is satisfied that the duration of the employee’s incapacity has been prolonged by such refusal, failure or disregard, order those payments to be restricted to such period, calculated from the date of injury, as the disability of the employee might reasonably have been expected to have lasted for, had he accepted treatment and followed instructions; or
where the employee has suffered permanent incapacity and the Commissioner is satisfied that the incapacity has been aggravated by such refusal, failure or disregard, the Commissioner may order that compensation be paid to the employee appropriate to such incapacity as he might reasonably have been expected to have suffered if he had been regularly treated by a medical practitioner.