For bigger businesses:

If your business is paying over $1.5million in wages per annum, your premiums are calculated based on an experience-based rating – EBR. 

EBR = wages x industry rating x claims performance

Wages: the amount your business pays in wages 

Industry rating: WorkCover groups industries based on the main activity of a business. For example, construction, agriculture and transport. Sometimes multiple ratings can apply to one business and it is important to be sure WorkCover have the correct industry rating for your business. Work Well Now can help you assess this and apply for the correct classification. 

Claims performance: WorkCover consider the cost of your WorkCover claims against your business across a 4-year period including:

• Statutory claims costs for the previous three years
• Common law claims costs for the 1 year before those three years.

For smaller businesses

If your business is paying less than $1.5million in wages, your premium is based on a simplified model around your performance or your claims costs in the last financial year.

Performing well under the eyes of WorkCover is possibly the most impactful thing you can do to keep your premiums down.

Three top three tips to reduce your premiums through ‘high performance’

Get your injured workers back to work early. 

Long and drawn-out claims are your worst enemy, causing your premiums to spike significantly. Early intervention is essential, and you can achieve this by supporting an early return to work on Suitable Duties. Suitable duties are duties an injured worker can do that will not aggravate the injury and can be offered at reduced hours if necessary. A Workplace Assessment by a rehabilitation consultant can determine suitability of the duties you have available against the medical capacity of your worker. When your worker is back at work on suitable duties, you are responsible for paying them for the time they work at their usual rate of pay. On reduced hours, a worker’s income will be topped up by WorkCover. Many employers become frustrated with workers on Suitable Duties because the employer is paid for less productive work. However, the value of reduced premiums (which can be hundreds of thousands of dollars) versus paying wages to a worker not working to their usual capacity or productivity far outweighs losses in productivity. 

Provide a safe work environment.

Ensuring a safe environment for your workers is key to minimising risk, reducing premium costs and improving your policy rating. A safe workplace will not only protect workers from injury, but it also increases productivity, lowers running costs and improves worker morale. It is through the effective management of risk and delivery of wellbeing solutions that derives success for you, your business, and your people.

Employee Engagement 

A critical part of a good return to work is employee engagement through effective leadership. You can have the best return to work planning, safety and claim management strategies but poor leadership in a workplace has a big and costly impact on your premiums if a worker doesn’t want to return to a workplace with poor leadership. Conversely, a workplace with great leaders have workers who love to show up and thrive at work. These are the workers who really want to return to work as soon as it’s medically possible and will find ways to make it happen.