Following the Workers Compensation Commission decision in Sabanayagam v St George Bank Ltd [2016], any cessation of weekly compensation payments must now be issued via a Work Capacity Decision (WCD). As WCDs require a legislated 3?month process, businesses face added wage costs that flow into workers’ compensation premiums for the next three renewals. Timely, effective claim management, including specialist input, has become increasingly critical
Significant challenges defined the 2015/16 renewal period for NSW workers’ compensation premiums. ABILITY GROUP has closely monitored these developments to keep employers informed and supported through the transition.
At ABILITY GROUP, we are proud to showcase the outstanding results of our specialist workplace rehabilitation provider, Health Ability, which has achieved a 100% Return-to-Work (RTW) rate. This milestone demonstrates the effectiveness of timely, tailored rehabilitation services in helping injured employees recover and reintegrate into the workplace
In 2015/16, many employers faced sharp increases in premiums due to prior year adjustments and a new renewal formula. For businesses with tariff premiums above $30,000, the impact was substantial, creating financial strain at the most critical time of year.
On the 4th of December 2015, icare (previously known as WorkCover NSW) announced further changes as a component of the NSW government ongoing NSW workers compensation reforms.
The latest reforms include benefit changes to injured employees in need of the highest benefits being those with a Whole Person Impairment (WPI) of >30%. In addition to this there were several other as well as additional changes.
Despite the NSW scheme changes taking effect back on 30 June 2015, the majority of medium to large NSW businesses are yet to receive their 2015/16 premium renewals. With iCare now authorising the NSW insurers to start processing 2015/16 renewal notices the challenge they now face is there is a 3-4 month backlog. Given the events over the last 4 months, we have covered this inside out. To help make these changes easier to understand, ABILITY GROUP provide a quick reference list below for our clients and partners: