As an employer, you have a lot on your mind when a worker gets injured… I’m not going to meet the deadline; how will I get the job done now; what will this cost me; should I hire a temporary replacement?
The last thing you need to add to the stress is the cost of your insurance premiums rising because you haven’t followed the correct procedure or not acted quickly enough.
At Work Options, we see a lot of situations where an employer’s insurance premiums rise because of common injury management mistakes. Here are the top 6:
Not offering suitable duties
Offering suitable work duties is critical to the return to work process and keeping your insurance premiums down. How? Returning to work in some capacity is proven to significantly increase the chance of the worker returning to a pre-injury capacity, assisting their physical and mental recovery, in a much faster timeframe than doing nothing at all. In turn, there are less costs for medical, legal and wages.
Not acting soon enough
It’s pretty simple really… failure to report the injury will result in delays in the claim, treatment approvals and actions taken by the insurer to start the process; all costing valuable time and money, lost wages, and ultimately a slower return to work. You should notify the insurer within 48 hours of a workplace accident or injury.
Not being active in the process
We hear it from workers all the time… “My manager acts differently towards me since my injury”. Unfortunately some employers don’t take an active part in a worker’s recovery and return to work until they notice a jump in their premiums. Not only does this often lead to conflict between the two parties, but workers will feel undervalued and employers forfeit any control they have over the direction of the claim, ultimately resulting in rising premiums.
Not having a rehab provider involved in the early stages
It seems pretty obvious that complex injuries require specialist advice, support and treatment… and without it, the return to work process will take longer. Simple to do – just ask your insurer to refer. Did you know that the cost of a rehab provider does NOT go onto your claim cost?
Not making WHS a priority
Prevention is ALWAYS better than a cure! Again, it seems like a simple task but unfortunately many Australian businesses don’t implement WHS initiatives because they either lack the know-how or resources. Education, appropriate PPE and tailored WHS policies and procedures are the best way to reduce the amount of injuries which occur in your workplace, keeping insurance premiums down and reducing costs in the long run. Ever wondered why workers are repeating injuries in the workplace, or how they are aggravating existing injuries? This is all avoidable when you make WHS a priority!
Termination of injured workers
Here is the biggest mistake you can make! Firstly it is illegal to terminate an injured worker within six months of a work-related injury, due to their injury; secondly by terminating an employee within three years of a claim, your premiums are likely to escalate..
It’s easy to be frustrated when an employee is injured at work, but it’s important to act quickly, offer support and provide suitable work duties, to get the worker back to work, with minimal disruption to the business. And you should know… if suitable work duties are not provided, your insurer is required to calculate an estimate for wages to be added onto the claim, and history tells us this can be somewhere between one and up to eight years of wages!
The best option? Protect your business by engaging an experienced Return to Work Provider to help you navigate through the minefield of regulations and technical information and avoid costly mistakes.