If you are a business owner with employees, you are required to obtain workers compensation insurance. It is a compulsory cover for Australian employers and is designed to protect both you and your employees financially.
What is workers compensation insurance?
When an employee gets injured or becomes sick due to their work, it is the responsibility of the employer to support them with related costs. Workers compensation insurance allows for employers to be reimbursed for the costs, such as wages while employees are not fit for work, their medical expenses, rehabilitation and several other costs. Workers compensation insurance is required for all employees: full-time, part-time, casual, seasonal workers, and in some cases, contractors and subcontractors.
What does workers compensation insurance cover?
When you obtain workers compensation insurance for your business depending on your chosen policy, you are generally covered for the following:
- Lost wages – if an employee gets sick or injured from work, they will continue receiving at least a portion of their regular salary until they fully recover.
- Medical expenses – if there are any medical costs related to treatment due to illness or injury, including the ambulance bill, hospital costs and doctor bills, workers compensation provides cover for all these costs.
- Ongoing expenses – rehabilitation and other ongoing expenses after an injury, for example, surgery costs, physiotherapist, chiropractic and specialist appointments, are covered as well.
- Legal costs – in a situation where an employee chooses to press charges against their employer due to a work-related injury or illness, workers compensation insurance will provide support to the business with the costs associated with court proceedings, court costs and settlement amounts.
- Funeral costs – if your business requires your employees to work in a high-risk industry, and an accident occurs followed by an employee’s death, workers compensation insurance covers funeral and other death-related expenses.
What does workers compensation insurance not cover?
Although workers compensation insurance offers a comprehensive cover, there are still certain scenarios where it doesn’t provide cover for your business:
- Wages for a replacement employee – if you need to hire a new employee to cover for an employee who suffered a work-related injury or illness while they’re recovering and receiving workers compensation, workers compensation insurance does not cover the wages for a replacement employee.
- Fines and penalties – businesses may be required to pay fines or penalties for not practising health and safety standards in the workplace. In this case, if you need to pay a fine or penalty, workers compensation insurance does not provide cover for your business.
- Safety improvements – after an incident, you may need to make improvements within a workplace to ensure the safety of your employees. Even if the improvement is related to the injury or illness of an employee, workers compensation insurance doesn’t provide cover.
- Third-party injury – workers compensation insurance only covers injury, which occurs to your employee. If you need cover in case a third party gets injured, look into public liability insurance.
How do I get workers compensation insurance?
All Trades Cover is Australia’s fastest-growing insurance provider, and we are here to help you find the right insurance for your business. You can contact our brokers on 1300 826 850 to discuss workers compensation insurance or simply get an online quote now.