Workers Compensation

A worker who is injured at work is entitled to compensation benefits including (subject to restrictions) payment of medical expenses, compensation for wage loss and compensation for permanent impairment suffered.

Injuries suffered in the course of employment can often need little by way of time off work or treatment. However, even the most innocuous incident can lead to considerable financial and medically disastrous results. They can, at first, seem not to have caused much by way of damage. However, it can take considerable time for symptoms to materialise or an employee may fear for their job if they make a claim.

When?

It’s imperative that workers lodge incident reports and workers compensation claim forms for all incidents to which they have suffered injury. These forms are available from your employer and must be provided upon request. It is also advisable to seek medical attention by your local medical physician so that your medical condition is documented and you obtain an opinion as to the severity of your condition. This claim form must be as comprehensive in detail as possible, including all injuries suffered, even when the symptoms seem mild at the time.

Why?

The Workers Compensation legislation sets time limits for the lodgement of claims. Any delay could mean that you lose the right to compensation. You must inform your employer that you have suffered an injury as soon as possible: Section 254 Workplace Injury Management and Workers Compensation Act 1998 (NSW).

If you did not inform your employer and wish to make a claim, you must show special circumstances, including:

• That the employer hasn’t been placed into a position of disadvantage in responding to or dealing with your claim,
• You did not tell your employer due to your “ignorance, mistake, absence from the State or other reasonable cause”,
• Your employer knew about your injury anyway, or
• Your employer reported the circumstances to the nominal insurer.

You must also then lodge your claim for compensation within 6 months of the injury: Section 261 Workplace Injury Management and Workers Compensation Act 1998 (NSW).

If you lodge a claim after the six month period, you must show special circumstances, including:

• You didn’t lodge you claim in time due to some ignorance, mistake, absence from the State or other reasonable cause AND you made the claim within 3 years of your injury;
• You didn’t lodge a claim in time due to some ignorance, mistake, absence from the State or other reasonable cause AND your work incident has caused serious and permanent disablement;
• The insurer accepts your claim and fails to mention this issue, or
• Your injury was only realised after the incident and you have complied with one of the conditions listed above.

Conclusion

We strongly advise you to immediately lodge a claim for workers compensation and notify your employer of any injury. This will ensure your rights to compensation aren’t taken away from you, especially if there is a delayed or late onset of a serious condition. Indeed, I have come across many situations where employers have attempted to convince workers not to make workers compensation claims, instead agreeing to meet their time off work and treatment expenses themselves. Whilst workers may wish to keep their employer happy for reasons of job security, it must always be borne in mind that such agreements with your employer are far from secured long term. Given the protection from termination for 6 months from your claim (Section 248 Workers Compensation Act 1987) and the common uncertainty as to how long your condition may take to recover, the prudent course must be to lodge a claim for workers compensation. Should your condition require surgery, or seems to be causing you serious and permanent financial and medical hardship, you should contact our office in order to seek advice as to what other rights you might have to compensation.

Timothy Driscoll LLM (Sydney) Associate of BPC 4 October 2017

Apart from the payment of workers compensation, an employer has an obligation to rehabilitate the injured worker, including, where able, to facilitate the worker into another position; whether that be within or out of the organisation.

However, as is becoming more apparent, employers are finding it easier to simply get workers off their books than having to deal with their rigorous obligations for the payment of compensation, rehabilitation and redeployment of workers.

So if you’re a worker who has suffered an injury at work and your employment has been terminated, what can you do? What rights are you afforded? 

An injured worker is afforded some protection from termination under Part 8 of the Workers Compensation Act 1987 (NSW). 

The extent of protection will however depend upon: 

1. Whether you’re fit to perform your pre-injury job, and/or
2. The reasons for why your employer terminated your employment.

Unfit to work in pre-injury employment

If you cannot do the inherent requirements of your job, your employer can terminate you.

However, it is a criminal offence for your employer to terminate your employment because you’re unable to perform such requirements because of a work injury IF they terminate you within 6 months from when you first become unfit for your pre-injury job.

Whilst this prohibition is a criminal provision, the conduct of your employer in terminating you because you make a claim for workers compensation will create a civil liability upon your employer, to which you can sue for modest compensation under the protections found in the Fair Work Act (Cwth).

This protection is only available to you if you comply with any reasonable request the employer makes to send you for a medical examination on the matter.

Fit to work in pre-injury employment

If an employer terminates your employment because you’re unfit for work (so they allege) due to a work injury which you’re fit to perform, then another remedy might be available to you.

If, after termination, you send your employer a medical certificate certifying you’re able to do you pre-injury job or another job up to the same vantage point as your old job, then the employer must reinstate you into that position which you have capacity.

Interestingly, if your employer wishes to allege that you’re not entitled to reinstatement as your injury is not work related, then they must overcome a presumption that says otherwise. That is, it is up to them to rebut a presumption that your termination was because of some non-work related condition.

Conclusion

The general rule has always been that an employer can terminate your employment for any reason at any time.

That still remains the general proposition at law.

But depending on the reasons or reasonableness for their decision might determine if and to what extent you can seek a Court or Tribunal to correct the effect of this decision.

For workers injured in the course of their employment, the Workers Compensation Legislation works (or at least is designed to work) hand in hand with the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cwth) to provide assistance above that of the ordinary worker who has had their employment terminated. However, as is seen in this article, the Court/Tribunals can have great difficulty in providing a fruitful remedy to an employer’s termination notice.

The question is what avenue best achieves the best outcome for the worker?

This is a question of fact and degree of the particular case, to which will need assessment by a competent legal advisor within the area.

If you have been seriously injured at work and are worried about the future in the workforce, then you should contact our office right away and speak to one of our accredited specialists.

Timothy Driscoll

Associate

14 August 2017

Workplace incident at Barangaroo – Nervous Shock Claim

Lawyers have represented vast numbers of plaintiffs in successful nervous shock claims pursuant to the NSW Civil Liability Act 2002 since its inception.

Nervous shock claims can be brought by persons who have witnessed, at the scene, a victim being killed, injured or put in peril if it is accepted by the Court that they have genuine psychiatric illness arising from a circumstance that the defendant ought to have foreseen to be capable of causing a person of normal fortitude to suffer a recognisable psychiatric illness if reasonable care were not taken.

If a genuine psychiatric injury is suffered by a close member of the family of the victim who was killed, injured or put in peril, they need not have witnessed, at the scene, the relevant event.

The Civil Liability Act defines a “close member of the family” of a victim to include a parent of the victim or other persons with parental responsibility for the victim, or the spousal partner of the victim, or a child or step-child of the victim or any other person for whom the victim who has parental responsibility. The definition extends to siblings, half-brothers or half-sisters, step-brothers and step-sisters.

A “spouse or partner” is defined as a husband or wife or a defacto partner.

The Diagnostic Statistic of Psychiatric Injuries is used by qualified psychiatrists to report to the Courts on behalf of parties to litigation in relation to the effect that a particular event has had upon any witness to an event causing psychiatric injury.

Strict time limits apply in relation to bringing a claim for damages for personal injury, including psychiatric injury, pursuant to the Civil Liability Act. A three year limitation period is imposed in relation to commencement of court proceedings, which runs from the date of the relevant event.

It is expected that in relation to the unfortunate death of an innocent worker at Barangaroo in March 2017, there will be a coronial inquest that will shed light upon the circumstances that led to the death.

The findings of a coroner should not be pre-empted.

Any persons who have witnessed, and been psychologically affected by the unfortunate incident at Barangaroo are advised to consult medical practitioners for appropriate treatment.

Claims for damages for pure mental harm or nervous shock should only be brought by individuals who have suffered very significant psychological injury as a result of a particular event. The court process usually endures for beyond 18 months if matters are incapable of settlement.

The Civil Liability Act is designed to provide appropriate compensation to persons with significant injuries that negatively impact upon their ability to earn an income and which give rise to significant medical expenses.

The Courts, quite rightly, do not readily entertain cases that do not involve genuine psychiatric injury, as was intended by the legislators when the Civil Liability Act NSW 2002 was enacted.

BPC Lawyers have acted for injured plaintiffs for in excess of 35 years.

If you or one of your loved ones is affected by psychiatric injury which remains unresolved despite medical treatment, please contact one of our accredited specialists in personal injury law in NSW for a free initial consultation.

BPC  Lawyers act in nervous shock claims on a “no win/no fee” basis.

In cases involving serious injury or death, there will usually be a coronial inquest following police investigations and WorkCover/WorkSafe investigations.

BPC Lawyers have assisted family members to protect their compensation rights by appearing in numerous coronial inquests, including those involving construction site accidents and deaths.

BPC Lawyers take very seriously their duty to only bring cases on behalf of persons in circumstances where there is at the very least, a reasonable prospect of success, which is consistent with our obligations pursuant to the Legal Profession Uniform Law.