It’s that time of the year for many organizations where the perennial discussions around Workers Compensation costs are discussed: – discussed and then all too often abandoned due to other competing priorities at end of Financial Year.

It’s not too late to get our experts to investigate your Workers Compensation costs in order to assure your executive team that the correct arrangements are in place to minimize your total costs.

As well as examining Premiums, Classifications and claims history, you may not be aware, but partnering with a Workplace Rehabilitation Provider with a proven record of facilitating safe and timely return to work can be a great way to ensure that your staff are returned to work rapidly with a minimum of premium impacting lost wages.  There are many benefits for NSW Employers who maintain a safe workplace and support early return to work after injury occurs.

New scheme reforms were introduced in August 2015 whereby high performing employers can achieve a performance discount of between 5-20% off their premiums. About 70% of employers currently perform better than the scheme average. These employers have achieved low workers compensation claim costs through good safety systems and proactive support of injured workers resulting in early return to suitable work after an injury. (See insurancereforms.nsw.gov.au)

Under the reforms, premiums continue to be calculated based on claims costs however the medical and rehabilitation claims costs are now excluded from the calculation. The intent of this change is to ensure that workers are given rapid access to the medical and rehabilitation interventions that will support recovery and return to work. The flipside of this is that the claims costs associated with weekly payments now impact more heavily than before, with the wages bill being recouped up to three times in the premium calculation.