We know that running a business is no easy, or cheap, feat. The financial aspects of your organisation likely take up a lot of your time and energy to manage. Maximising profits, reducing debts, every dollar is important in maintaining success. 

One big factor in this financial equation is your insurance premium. This is a critical component that protects not only you, but your employees. WorkCover insurance covers the cost of benefits if you workers become injured or ill as a result of work. 

For example, WorkCover insurance can cover some medical expenses or contribute to weekly compensation payments, legal fees, or rehabilitation costs. As valuable as insurance is, the premiums are still a cost to your business and you’ll want to make sure they stay affordable. 

Luckily, there are a number of ways to manage this cost. One of the best is through successful early return to work programs. If a worker is injured, getting them back to work quickly and safely is good for them, but also good for your premium. 

First, let’s understand how your premium is calculated. 

How is my Premium Calculated?

Your WorkCover insurance premium is affected by many things, the most influential being the size of your company. This is determined by your rateable remuneration. 

Remuneration is the gross amount that you pay to employees before tax. It includes things like salary and wages, but also allowances, bonuses, paid leave, and fringe benefits, if applicable. It does not include things like motor vehicle allowances or accommodation allowances, to a certain amount. 

If your remuneration amount is $200,000 or less, your premium is calculated based on your industry rate and your remuneration. If your remuneration is over $200,000, your premium is calculated with your industry rate, remuneration, and past claims experience. 

As a company grows, past claims have an increasing influence on your premiums. That’s why early return to work is so critical to keep these costs low. 

How does Early Return to Work Help?

When an employee suffers a workplace injury, you may worry about how this will affect your premium. The effect on your premium will come less from the actual injury and more from how the injury is handled, specifically, the return to work process. 

An effective return to work program gets the employee back to work sooner and keeps your premiums low in a number of ways. When a worker is out of work due to injury, they are likely entitled to weekly compensation payments. These will be a percentage of their weekly pay rate and will take into account things like medical expenses and benefits.

These payments stop once an employee is able to return to work at their full capacity. An early return means reduced costs in the form of weekly compensation payments. When these costs are reduced, the entire cost of the claim is reduced. This results in minimal effect on premium costs and minimal claims penalties in the years to come. 

How to Execute a Successful Return to Work

Now that you know the value of early return to work, how can you achieve that in your organisation? The most efficient way is through early intervention with a risk and injury management provider like Employer Health Solutions. 

Not only will we proactively work with you to prevent injuries before they happen, but we can simplify the process if they do occur. As soon as you engage with our team, we act as a liaison between you, your injured worker, medical personnel, and your WorkSafe Agent to form an efficient strategy. 

We guide you along every step of the process to ensure that your employee gets the care they need and you are able to support them when they return. Early intervention and communication keep the process running smoothly and as quickly as possible toward a successful outcome. 

If an injury in your workplace occurs, it’s natural to be worried about the impacts on everything from morale to premiums. With early intervention and effective return to work, though, you can take charge and mitigate negative effects to your premium. Put the right plans in place now and all you’ll need to worry about is supporting your employee.