Workers Compensation

Employers are required by law to hold a current policy of workers compensation insurance. This is to cover the amount payable to any of your workers who suffer a work-related injury or compensable industrial disease. It’s certainly not an area to neglect; an accident doesn’t even need to occur to be hit by steep financial penalties. For starters, it’s important to be aware that failing to have workers compensation insurance can incur a penalty from your workers compensation authority. If an injured worker brings a claim during the period when you were uninsured, you will be responsible for the entirety of costs associated with that claim.

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No, sole traders or partnerships cannot take out cover for themselves. If you are a Working Director of a Proprietary Limited (Pty Ltd) company, you can opt-in to cover yourself for workers compensation. A Working Director is a director who executes work in the form of personal manual labour or services for, or on behalf of, the company.

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A family member residing with the employer and employed within the business is defined as a ‘worker’ under workers compensation legislation. There is no need to disclose their names to have cover, however, their wages must be included when declaring wages.

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Contractors and subcontractors who have been engaged by you for the purpose of your trade or business are considered to be your ‘workers’ under the workers compensation legislation. Contractors are considered workers provided they are under a contract for service (i.e. not direct employees) and receive remuneration by whatever means as a return for their personal manual labour or service. If contractors and subcontractors have been or are likely to be engaged, they need to be declared when declaring wages. The workers compensation legislation makes an employer jointly and severally liable for injury to the workers of any of your contractors or subcontractors. It’s important that you satisfy yourself that all contractors and subcontractors have insurance covering their own workers.

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Typically remuneration in workers compensation legislation includes the following:

All wages, salaries, remuneration, commissions, bonuses, overtime, allowances and the like directors’ fees, superannuation contributions (except those made by force of law), fringe benefits, and all other benefits paid (whether paid in cash or non-cash benefits such as vehicles, equipment, mortgage payments, travel, school fees etc.) to or in relation to a worker (including working directors declared as such to us) or to contractors, before deduction of income tax. Remuneration does not include termination payments, retirement pay, retrenchment pay in lieu of notice, pensions, “golden handshakes”, or weekly payments of workers compensation.

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If an injury occurs, you must ensure that the worker receives immediate first aid treatment if required and that the worker visits a qualified medical practitioner. Please notify your team at Gallagher Workplace Risk who will advise and assist you with the claims lodgement process and injury management process.

Please notify your team at Gallagher Workplace Risk who will advise and assist you with this process. We are here to guide you through the process and clear up any confusion. The injured worker will be required to complete a claim form and return this to you with a medical certificate. We will check to ensure all the required information has been provided before lodging the claim to the insurer. Please note that all claims should be lodged in a timely fashion to avoid penalties from the workers compensation authority.

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Injury management is the management of workers’ injuries in a manner directed at enabling injured workers to return to work. It is the responsibility of employers and injured workers to cooperate in this process. An injury management system describes the steps the employer and worker need to take when a workplace injury occurs.

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Under workers compensation legislation, you must establish an injury management system in your workplace. For example, WorkCover WA has issued a Code of Practice (Injury Management) 2005 (the Code). The Code explains your legal responsibilities. To support the Code WorkCover WA has also issued the Injury Management: A Guide for Employers publication (available in the Employer publications section) which provides information to assist employers to understand their legal obligations, provides guidance on developing an injury management system and contains a three step approach to effective injury management. Financial penalties apply to employers who do not comply with the obligations set out in the Code.

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Unless it is not reasonably practicable to return the worker to their pre-injury employment or find them alternative work, you must typically maintain an injured worker’s employment for 12 months from the day the worker becomes entitled to receive weekly payments of compensation. This also goes a long way to minimising the cost of the workers compensation claim and the impact on your premium.

There are some exceptions to this rule. For example, in WA if you wish to dismiss a worker receiving compensation you must complete a notice of intention to dismiss form 15G and provide 28 days notice to the worker; attach a letter to the Form 15G and forward to WorkCover WA explaining: the terms of the dismissal, the current medical certification of the worker and whether the worker is still in receipt of weekly payment.

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Yes. Gallagher Workplace Risk has in-house Occupational Therapists (OTs).

Occupational Therapy is a client-centred health profession concerned with promoting health and wellbeing both mentally and physically through occupation.