Is your Workers Compensation Experience Premium killing your buiness?

How to remove Risk and Cost from your business....

Statutory Workers Compensation Coverage

Workers Compensation cover is built around the concept of "no fault" insurance. This results in the majority of alleged work related injuries being accepted by Insurers.  

The system allows for employees to receive compensation for injuries that occur through their own carelessness or workplace incidents.  The intent behind the scheme is noble, however, it is prone to abuse and it is heavily stilted in favour of the worker. For example when John conceals a weekend sports injury, which miraculously presents 5 minutes after starting work Monday, or declares his duties have exacerbated a chronic condition he‘s suffered since falling over on his 11^th Birthday the business owner pays dearly.

Generally claims result in the business being bundled into a category where it is implied the owner runs an unsafe workplace. Often what follows is that a staggeringly expensive ‘Experience Premium’ is applied to the Workers Compensation renewal. This is a significant risk and has been recognised as being responsible for sending many businesses to the wall.

The incidence of exaggerated or opportunistic claims is far higher than authorities will admit. Unfortunately business owners know this but are powerless to fight against the system. As casual employment increases the culture of using a worker’s compensation claims as a surrogate holiday plan or income protection policy, if the worker senses they are likely to be put off, becomes more entrenched in the workforce.  

Re-engineering your workforce can reduce this risk substantially. Putting in place a correctly structured architecture of contract or contingency workers allows private sector insurers to provide the cover. The incidence of injuries plummets because these insurers provide 24/7 cover so there is no reason for weekend injuries to be concealed as workplace incidents. The private sector appears to manage medical providers more efficiently. Our experience is that because MediCare rates apply to injuries rather than inflated ‘Workers Compensation’ fees fewer contract workers present with long term treatment plans.

From a social and economic perspective not only does a business experience a dramatic decrease in lost time and cost but its engagement of result based contractors or contingency workers substantially increases productivity. In addition to the business benefiting so does the community in general because as costs come down and risk diminishes businesses generally prosper and hire more people.

Most of the community remembers when Motor Vehicle industry was unregulated and panel beaters charged what the market would bear. Improvements in claims management have seen the cost of repairs plummet. It makes no difference whether a person is wearing a grey coat or a white coat, unchecked or poorly scrutinized claims lead to overcharging and abuse. Unfortunately in the workplace this means the business owner pays and pays dearly …often the survival of their business hangs in the balance.

Visit our webshop today to explore how risk and cost can be reduced or eliminated from your business…

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