Gradual onset injuries - who pays?

Gradual onset injuries - are you the only one who is responsible?

Gradual onset injury – look out for this one, particularly if you employ fixed-term contractors or are a seasonal employer.

Picture this: John has a shoulder injury at work. John is also a fixed term contractor. This claim could stretch on for multiple days, weeks or even months. The cost on your ACC levies can be substantial as per our scenario below.

Gradual onset injuries are when a worker has done the same job, typically for many years. The body wears down and at some point, injuries happen. Outside of work, this is called degenerative and ACC typically does not cover the claim. At work, this is called bad luck for the employer as the claim is accepted and hits your Experience Rating – penalties on your ACC levies.

Sadly, without intervention this claim will be fully lodged against your business.

As an employer, what do you need to ask?

• Has John done the same job for others over the past few years?

• Has John been doing quite a bit of seasonal or fixed contract work?

• Was John actually working for you when the accident happened?

• Did you get the ACC history for John at recruitment?

It is worth asking these questions, as work-related gradual process can be levelled out over several employers, meaning you will not have the full 100% of the lost time.

Challenging ACC

In the case of John, we challenged ACC on the employment circumstances and time frames. We recommended to ACC that they check with IRD regarding John’s tax records i.e. who else he worked for.

Experienced Rating Reduced

As a result of us challenging ACC, our client had 69% of the Experience Rating days removed which was over 200 days! The financial impact resulted in our client paying just under $16,000 less in ACC penalties over the three year period.

A very useful and financially happy outcome.

We must highlight that at no point was the worker disadvantaged as we do not challenge entitlement. We never said that John shouldn’t have cover. Rather, we focus on whether our client should be the one wearing all the penalties.

Just remember that in many cases you may well not be the only employer who should be liable.

We are here to help with this type of question and many others – give us a call.

Jane Brunt - Manager for ManageCLAIMS

0800 RISK NZ (0800 747 569)

jane@managecompany.co.nz