Workers comp

[Butcher]

Has anyone here been on it for a long period of time for a workplace injury, experiences/thoughts. What did you think of the system was it good and helped you or was it just used by your employer to drag things out and screw you over?

[Zuicider]

i haven't been on it personally, but it seems to be a frequently raised question when applying for new work especially with labour hire mobs. I think thats more the factor if your a liability to have due to always claiming for workers comp.

[kurbn]

^^^ yep!, just about everywhere I go I get asked this, I would imagine employers shiver at people that have applied for it..

If its the companys fault... ie no guard rail and you fall into a cement mixer then fair enough.. apply for wokers comp

if you're a being a dickhead and you're not concerntrating on the job an you smash your hand through a ban-saw.. then suck it up and deal with it yourself.. its not your employers fault so why should he have to pay?

[Zuicider]

I had an extended period of time off work on a disability pension due to a nasty case of depression. i found it quite hard to get myself into work and to finding someone to give me that chance. The longer not being employed what ever the case the harder it is to be re-employed. Be open to a point with the possible new employer.
There are nationally recognized programs that will strive to get you back into work and support you with programs and person help. Crs aka Commonwealth Rehabilitation Services. They helped me a fair bit .

[JasonSS]

I broke my back at work, needed spinal surgery at my L4 L5.. metal rods rubber discs inserted and was off work for 11 months. Returned to work for 2 hours and day and built it up over a few months untill i hit 5 hours a day.

Couldnt return to full capacity as a painter so i now work in the office of the same company as a supervior/works co ordinator. On more money, car and phone. Got a payout from them too. Slater and Gordon got me a sum i was happy with.

Overall the process was easy as, have no complaints at all. I just did all the exams and check ups for the insurance company that they requested and everything went really well. Was a good outcome, and im better off, except for the pain i still get and will continue to get for a long time.

[ben351]

from a labour hire point of view its not the best thing to see ... depending on the injury of course ... i.e. you cut ya finger and needed stitches and had a day off ... no biggie .... but anything to do with knees and backs and shoulders are not very positive to see on an application form ... its honestly more a duty of care thing ... as a recruiter i dont want to put you in a situation that will contribute to you reinjuring yourself

[TJ]

^^^ yep!, just about everywhere I go I get asked this, I would imagine employers shiver at people that have applied for it..

If its the companys fault... ie no guard rail and you fall into a cement mixer then fair enough.. apply for wokers comp

if you're a being a dickhead and you're not concerntrating on the job an you smash your hand through a ban-saw.. then suck it up and deal with it yourself.. its not your employers fault so why should he have to pay?

Perhaps the employer should have ensured the machine had the right safety mechanisms in place to ensure hand didnt go through a hand saw.

Regardless, the law has provisions for duty of care, which has to come from both employer and employee - so they in most cases would not get the full, it any workers compensation available to them.


I broke my back at work, needed spinal surgery at my L4 L5.. metal rods rubber discs inserted and was off work for 11 months. Returned to work for 2 hours and day and built it up over a few months untill i hit 5 hours a day.

Couldnt return to full capacity as a painter so i now work in the office of the same company as a supervior/works co ordinator. On more money, car and phone. Got a payout from them too. Slater and Gordon got me a sum i was happy with.

Overall the process was easy as, have no complaints at all. I just did all the exams and check ups for the insurance company that they requested and everything went really well. Was a good outcome, and im better off, except for the pain i still get and will continue to get for a long time.

See, thats fair.

The whole "is that a government car Steve?" thing fucks it for the legit people.

[Butcher]

I broke my back at work, needed spinal surgery at my L4 L5.. metal rods rubber discs inserted and was off work for 11 months. Returned to work for 2 hours and day and built it up over a few months untill i hit 5 hours a day.

Couldnt return to full capacity as a painter so i now work in the office of the same company as a supervior/works co ordinator. On more money, car and phone. Got a payout from them too. Slater and Gordon got me a sum i was happy with.

Overall the process was easy as, have no complaints at all. I just did all the exams and check ups for the insurance company that they requested and everything went really well. Was a good outcome, and im better off, except for the pain i still get and will continue to get for a long time.

Im glad your case was straight forward with clearly visable injuries and the company was willing to support you and get you back into the swing of things.
Unfortunately mine wasn't (Multi million/billion dollar company) Keep dragging things out, terminated my position.

One of my gripe's with being in the system are that after 12 weeks your income gets reduced by 15% witch i think is all well and good if it is YOUR fault, but through no fault of your own is a bit rough. Also when this is calculated they work it on the previous financial year so in my case i got a major salary payrise to put me on 50+ per year but instead i get 15% off my per payrise salary total of 43k putting me back on basic wage 36k the way the law is written .
That would probably be all well and good but since working hard and getting paid for it, me and my wife bought a house on the back of that pay now 2 yrs in we are facing loosing everything.

Also doctors have diagnosed the problems disc replacement, Brain damage and major depression but are not allowed to move forward because the insurance company do not like what they are hearing, so they bounce you around their doctors,dragging things out and making problems worse.
Of course they are entitled to external opinions which is good for me getting accurate treatment, But 2 years of being injured without any improvement or intervetion.

Im not looking at hacking this company thats what lawyers are for but was more looking to see if anyone else had problems arising from being in the system.