Return To Work Co-ordinators

As in many situations in business, the government regulates. It does so in theory to provide for better outcomes for those less able to control their situations. Workers compensation falls under the control of WorkCover. In the case of medium sized businesses, WorkCover require that any injuries are properly managed by appropriately qualified persons. This goes beyond just trying to look after your injured staff - it actually requires that you adopt a formally structured approach. This can be costly and time consuming.

WorkCover has a statutory requirement that any business that has more than 20 staff or pays more than $50,000 in workers compensation premium must have a Return to Work Co-ordinator. This is not one of those optional roles. WorkCover will fine you if you do not have an appropriately qualified and registered co-ordinator in place. Worse still, if you have a workplace injury or accident and you do not have a co-ordinator, the penalties applied will be much more significant.

A Return to Work Co-ordinator is a person nominated by an employer (this can be a contractor engaged specifically for the role), whose principal purpose is to assist injured workers to return to work in a safe and timely manner. The Return to Work Co-ordinator ensures that the policy and procedures in an employer's return to work program are followed.