Don’t Forget Workers CompensationIt seems both June and December are always hectic with either the build-up to financial year end or the holiday period. With June being the largest and December the second largest workers compensation renewal periods, proactively reviewing your workers compensation in a couple of months in advance will help ensure you aren’t wasting valuable money.
In the last 12 months, the NSW workers compensation industry has experienced dramatic change. As we approach 30 June 2016, it should be relieving for businesses to know that for there are no changes for workers compensation WorkCover Industry Classification (WIC) rates. As 2016/17 rates for NSW Workers Compensation apply to all renewals that fall due at 4pm on 30th June 2016, businesses and brokers will now be receiving renewal notices for these policies without fear of rate driven increases.
For large employers, icare however announced changes to the Retro Paid Loss (RPL) model by introducing Loss Prevention & Recovery (LPR) scheme as the replacement. LPR is progressively moving closer to providing pricing similar to that of insurers in privately underwritten schemes. This is an important change for large business.
Andrea joined ABILITY GROUP in September 2015 as our Office Manager. Supporting our growing businesses keeps Andrea very busy and many of our clients and partners would have either spoken with Andrea, met her via email or in person.
Originating from Columbia, Andrea studied law before immigrating to Australia. Andrea expertise spans HR, customer service, business administration, finance and related matters.
ABILITY GROUP were contacted by a broker who had a client distressed about their significant increase in premium due to the impact of the new premium formula. The client had a material claim during their 3 years of experience. Given their industry the Christmas period is crucial for financial viability and having to pay the higher premium could have had a dire consequence.
The recent NSW workers compensation changes have caused challenges across the industry since taking effect on 30 June 2015. Medium to large businesses with premiums over $30,000 are yet to receive their official 2015/16 Premium Renewals calculated under the new legislated formula. Unofficial data suggests 75% of businesses will see higher premiums. Most businesses are yet to therefore understand if their 2015/16 Renewal Premium will increase or decrease due to the numerous changes. Under the new formula, the key drivers of renewal premium changes will include:
ABILITY GROUP has already helped numerous clients with higher 2015/16 Renewal Premiums.
Social media is embedded throughout society as people throughout the day are connecting to others via an mediums like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and others. If work related incidents are discussed or an employee is bullied, the employer liability is considered. Social media policies are consequently becoming increasingly important for all businesses as connections to workers compensation grow.