Mr Hanks identified return to work as being a critical issue. The Hanks Report proposed a new approach to how employers’ return to work duties are expressed, recommending that they be similar to the general duties under occupational health and safety legislation.
On this basis the amending legislation will repeal the existing return to work section of the ACA and replace it with a new set of provisions providing for outcome-based return to work obligations. Generally speaking, employers will be required to do the following to the extent that it is reasonable to do so:
•return employees to work where they have a partial or complete capacity to do so (for a period equal to 52 weeks following their first notification of a claim)
•plan the return to work of a worker
•consult with the worker regarding the return to work
•nominate a return to work coordinator, and
•make a return to work plan available.
Penalties of up to $100,000 will be in place for employers who fail to meet these obligations to the relevant standard.
WCV's : So what happens to those employers who have already breached this very issue?
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