In July 2026, CNA reported on a woman who successfully brought a wrongful dismissal claim against her former employer at Singapore's Employment Claims Tribunal (ECT), after being dismissed on grounds of poor performance. The ECT found in her favour and awarded compensation. The published decision is [2026] SGECT 7.
The case is one of seven written decisions the ECT has published since May 2026. Before this year, the ECT did not publish written decisions with detailed reasons. The change matters: written, publicly reasoned decisions mean that employers and employees alike can now read how the tribunal applies the law, what evidence it found persuasive, and what it did not.
For Singapore employers, the case raises a practical question that is worth answering before a claim arrives rather than after: what does a Directors and Officers policy actually cover, and does it cover an employment practice claim like this one?
The answer depends on how the policy is structured, and on understanding what the different components of a D&O liability insurance policy are each designed to do.
What a D&O liability insurance policy actually contains
In Singapore, Directors and Officers insurance is sometimes arranged with several distinct coverage components bundled under one policy. The label varies between insurers. Understanding what each component covers, and what it does not, is the starting point for knowing whether your company is protected against a claim like the one in the CNA case.
The three components most commonly found in a Singapore D&O liability insurance policy are Directors and Officers liability, Company Reimbursement cover, and Employment Practices Liability cover. Each addresses a different category of risk, and each responds to a different party making a claim.
Component 1: Directors and Officers liability
This is the core component. It covers the personal legal costs of the individual directors and officers of the company where claims are made against them personally in their capacity as decision-makers.
The scenarios it is designed for: a shareholder who brings a claim against the directors for decisions that damaged the value of their shareholding. A creditor who claims the directors acted recklessly or improperly in a period leading up to insolvency. A regulatory body such as ACRA or MAS that investigates the conduct of individual directors. A business counterparty who brings a claim against the directors for their governance decisions.
What it is not designed for: claims brought by an employee against the company as an entity. The D&O component covers the people on the board, not the company itself. A wrongful dismissal claim, a discrimination claim, or a harassment claim brought by a former employee against the company is directed at the company, not at the individual directors personally.
This is the distinction that the CNA case illustrates. The compensation award was made against the employer company. That is a company-level liability. The D&O component of a D&O liability insurance policy responds to claims against individual directors, not to company-level employment awards.
Component 2: Company Reimbursement cover
This component addresses the scenario where the company has indemnified a director for legal costs or damages, and the policy reimburses the company for that expenditure. It is sometimes called Side B cover in reference to the industry terminology for this component.
When a claim is made against a director personally and the company's constitution permits or requires the company to advance the director's defence costs or indemnify them against a judgment, the company steps in first to support the director. Company Reimbursement cover then reimburses the company for what it paid out on the director's behalf.
This component is relevant when the director and the company are aligned in defending the same claim, and when the company has the financial capacity to advance costs before the insurer reimburses. For smaller companies where the company's own resources are limited, the interaction between the D&O component paying the director directly and the Company Reimbursement component reimbursing the company matters for how the policy is structured.
Component 3: Employment Practices Liability cover
This is the component that responds to the scenario in the CNA case: a claim brought by a current or former employee against the company for a wrongful employment practice.
In Singapore, Employment Practices Liability (EPL) cover is not available as a standalone policy. It is arranged as a component of a D&O liability insurance policy, according to market practice confirmed by specialist intermediaries operating in Singapore, Hong Kong, and China. This means it is not a separate product to be purchased independently; it is a coverage component that either is or is not included in the D&O liability insurance policy the company holds.
The EPL component covers the company's legal defence costs and any compensation award or settlement arising from employment practice claims. The categories of claim typically covered include the following.
Wrongful dismissal. A claim that the employee's termination was not justified by just cause or excuse, or was in breach of the Employment Act 1968. The ECT's published decisions in 2026 have set out what the tribunal expects in terms of documented performance standards, due inquiry, and opportunity to improve before a dismissal decision is made.
Discrimination. A claim that the employee was treated unfairly on the basis of a protected characteristic. Singapore's Workplace Fairness Act 2024 (WFA), being implemented in stages from 2026, introduces statutory protections against workplace discrimination on grounds including age, nationality, sex, marital status, pregnancy status, caregiving responsibilities, race, religion, language, and disability. The WFA creates a new statutory basis for discrimination claims in Singapore that did not previously exist in legislation.
Harassment. A claim arising from workplace harassment, whether by a colleague, a manager, or a third party in a work context.
Retaliation. A claim that the employee was dismissed or treated adversely because they raised a workplace concern, filed a complaint, or exercised an employment right.
The EPL component covers both the cost of defending these claims and any resulting award, up to the policy limit. For smaller claims, the defence costs are often the larger component: the TADM mediation process, HR adviser engagement, document preparation, and ECT attendance all cost money regardless of whether the claim ultimately succeeds.
Why the three components need to be understood together
The three components address three distinct layers of liability that can arise within the same organisation.
The D&O component protects the individuals on the board. The Company Reimbursement component protects the company when it stands behind its directors. The EPL component protects the company when an employee brings a claim against it as an entity.
In the same set of circumstances, more than one component may be relevant. A senior employee who brings a wrongful dismissal claim may simultaneously claim that the specific director who made the dismissal decision acted improperly in their personal capacity, triggering both the EPL component at the company level and the D&O component at the individual level. Understanding which component responds to which claim, and at what limit, is what distinguishes a well-structured D&O liability insurance policy from one that was arranged without a clear understanding of the company's actual exposure.
For any Singapore company reviewing its D&O liability insurance policy, three questions are worth confirming: does the policy include an EPL component, and if so, at what limit? Does the EPL component cover the categories of claim most relevant to the company's workforce and sector? And is the aggregate policy limit structured so that a large claim on one component does not exhaust the limit available to the others?
The Workplace Fairness Act and what it changes
Before the WFA, Singapore did not have a single piece of legislation that expressly prohibited workplace discrimination and provided a statutory claim route for affected employees. The Tripartite Guidelines on Fair Employment Practices provided guidance, but they were not directly enforceable by employees through a tribunal.
Once the WFA is fully in force, employees who believe they have been discriminated against on a protected characteristic in a hiring, promotion, or dismissal decision will have a statutory right to bring a claim through TADM and, if unresolved, to the ECT. This mirrors the existing wrongful dismissal claim route.
For employers, this means employment decisions that previously carried primarily reputational risk now carry statutory legal risk. Reviewing whether the D&O liability insurance policy's EPL component reflects this change in the claims environment is worth doing at the next renewal if not sooner.
What employers can do alongside insurance
The EPL component responds after a claim is made. The more effective approach is to reduce the likelihood of a claim arising in the first place through clear employment processes, and to ensure that if a claim does arise, the employer's documentation supports its position.
The ECT's published decisions in 2026 are a useful practical guide to what the tribunal expects. They are publicly available on the Singapore eLitigation portal. Employers should seek qualified legal advice from a Singapore-qualified employment lawyer on their specific obligations and processes. This post does not constitute legal advice on employment law or the ECT process.
You can read more about our D&O cover on the products page and about director governance liability in our posts on Director Penalties Singapore 2026 and What Actually Happens When a D&O Claim is Made.
If you would like to understand how the components of your current D&O liability insurance policy are structured, and whether the EPL component reflects your company's current employment practices exposure, we would be glad to work through it with you.
This article provides general information only. It is not insurance or legal advice. The ECT decision referenced is [2026] SGECT 7, publicly available on the Singapore eLitigation portal. The Workplace Fairness Act 2024 implementation timeline and provisions are subject to change. Employers should seek qualified legal advice from a Singapore-qualified employment lawyer on their specific employment law obligations and processes. Policy availability, terms, conditions, and exclusions vary by insurer and product, and cover is subject to the full policy wording. Please contact TZY CO for advice on your specific insurance situation.