GFC No Excuse To Cut Corners With Injured Workers

WorkSafe is reminding Victorian employers that they must comply with legal obligations in helping an injured worker return to safe and sustainable work despite difficult economic times.

All employers have a legal obligation to provide injured workers with suitable employment within the first 12 months following acceptance of a claim, regardless of the global financial crisis (GFC).

WorkSafe inspectors will now be targeting employers to ensure they are meeting their return to work obligations for injured workers.

WorkSafe’s Len Boehm said the management of return to work obligations was often juggled among a range of business needs.

“Helping injured workers return to work in a safe and sustainable way can be a complex process. However, an employer cannot ignore their responsibilities.

“Whether you are downsizing or changing the structure of your workplace, your legal obligations remain the same,” Mr Boehm said.

The warning follows a prosecution by WorkSafe of a concrete panel supplier in November of last year. The company dismissed an injured worker who had an accepted workers compensation claim, thereby failing to provide suitable employment despite the worker being certified as fit for alternative duties.

A well known supermarket chain was also prosecuted in early 2009 for failing to provide an injured worker with suitable employment despite the worker being certified as fit for alternative duties.

The WorkSafe inspector’s primary role is to help business operators and provide guidance on what they need to do to comply.

“But where employers are not addressing return to work issues and meeting their obligations, they will suffer the consequences, including the potential for prosecution,” Mr Boehm said.

WorkSafe is also reminding injured workers that they have obligations and their entitlements may be affected should they not make every effort to return to work in suitable employment.

Employers can help injured workers back to work by:

• Talking with them to establish an appropriate and goal oriented return-to-work plan.
• Informing the worker and their treating healthcare practitioner of possible duties available once they have a capacity to perform some work.
• Including an offer of suitable employment in the return-to-work plan where the worker’s medical certificate specifies a capacity to perform some work.

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