Injured on the job self employed

askme69 on 28/07/2020 - 21:31

Hi all,

Nrief rundown. I have a company and i am the sole director. My wife and i work the business (service providers) and pay ourselves at the end of the year.

Today she hurt herself at a jobsite, new home build. And the driveway was like ice, approved coating by Council. Slipped and looks like a broken wrist. Doctors in the morning. The home owner said the driveway is slippery amd council approved the coating with the home builder. Client asked if we new of any other surface coating and another worker at the site today said they had slipped previously on it.

Dilema is, i pay workers comp insurance, but if we claim, they will force her not to work and the business is then non existent. But this could blow over and everything is fine in a couple of weeks or it could go downhill and she is no longer able to do the job.

Any thoughts?

Thanks.

Education & Work

Comments

  • [Deactivated] on 28/07/2020 - 21:39
    +3

    This is like any other car thread.

    You buy insurance. Your car is damaged. You can claim from insurance but your premiums will increase and you may not have a car whilst it is fixed.

    On the other hand, you can get it fixed yourself and leave the insurer out of it. If you do that and you find out later that a whole lot is wrong with the car, you're in a tough situation.

    No one can advise you on the better course of action as no one can tell you if that wrist is going to be a problem in the future. Workcover can't tell you, lawyers can't tell you, the surgeon can't tell you.

    If I'm in your shoe, I'll hedge my bet. Claim it in Workcover and come what may.

  • garetz on 28/07/2020 - 21:50
    +9

    That is not how worker's compensation works, they cannot force the employee not to work, you can make a claim and still work at reduced hours, probably best to consult your gp for now, and get a referral for a specialist. You will need the medical information for the claim.

    • Belistic on 29/07/2020 - 09:24
      +3

      Exactly… if anything, they usually push for the injured person to return to work as soon as possible.

  • WreckTangle on 28/07/2020 - 22:22

    Do councils approve driveway coatings? I imagined it would only need to meet NSW Housing Specification guidelines?

    • dandosr on 29/07/2020 - 09:00

      You mean the BCA which specify performance requirements which can be met by Australian Standards….

  • [Deactivated] on 28/07/2020 - 22:29
    -3

    popcorn

  • mbck on 29/07/2020 - 00:09
    +2

    If you're on workers comp (well she is), the the dr will write her a certificate of capacity. At this stage, you can talk to your gp and suss out what sort of work she'll be able to do safely.

    Gp will then fill out the form as appropriate, and send to your insurance agent.

    With fractures, she probably won't be lifting anything for a while, at most she'll be doing admin work tbh.

    But if you force her to work, well it won't heal properly…

    • Oofy Doofy on 29/07/2020 - 07:36
      -1

      insurance agent?

      • mbck on 29/07/2020 - 10:32
        +1

        An insurance agent will look after the workers compensation on behalf of the company and injured worker.

        Usually Allianz, Gallagher basset, cgu, qbe. Bigger companies can also have their own.

        Usually if there are issues with work duties, a return to work coordinator can be engaged to help the parties come to an agreement

        • Oofy Doofy on 29/07/2020 - 10:41

          Interesting. I just didn't know where the insurance agent came from in a situation like this. (Whether it was within the NDIS, Workcover, superannution insurance, direct insurance etc…)

  • randomusername2017 on 29/07/2020 - 06:03
    +2

    askme69 … a couple of outcall service providers…..

  • Euphemistic on 29/07/2020 - 12:03

    In my experience with workers comp they want you back to work as quick as possible, it reduces what they pay back out. They usually start with reduced hours and reduced tasks according to medical advice.

    If your wife is able to carry out some work while injured then she can continue working. It really depends on the job. Might be hard if she can’t drive though and needs to drive for work. Maybe you could oh someone who is out of work to drive her around for a while.

  • Love a bargain on 29/07/2020 - 15:05

    Workers comp is supposed to compensate her for her lost income during this time (based on her income immediately before the injury) if she's deemed not fit for work.

    & your company (aka the business) can hire someone else to fill in while she's out of action.

    However, you real problem here might be to proof her income before the injury if the company doesn't pay you and your wife much wages during the year but pays out the bulk as dividend at the end of the year.

  • randomusername2017 on 29/07/2020 - 15:34

    The home owner said the driveway is slippery amd council approved the coating with the home builder.

    Sounds like someone is angling for a public liability claim….

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