The union covering Australia Post employees says injured workers are
being forced back to work early. (ABC News: Gary Rivett)
A union has claimed that injured Australia Post employees are being forced
back to work early, and that savings in compensation payments are being
used to fund bonuses for senior executives.
The Communications, Electrical and Plumbing Union is meeting Federal
Communications Minister Stephen Conroy in Canberra this morning to
discuss its concerns about workers' compensation.
Its New South Wales state secretary, Jim Metcher, says the situation is
jeopardising workers' safety.
"Those actions are resulting in workers right across Australia who are sick
and injured in the workplace having their workers compensation entitlements
removed, and now even resulting in workers being dismissed from their
employment," he said.
Australia Post says independent compensation delegates are the only people
who can accept or deny compensation claims.
Ref: ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) 25th March, 2009
Showing posts with label Australia Post. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Australia Post. Show all posts
Wednesday, 25 March 2009
Monday, 16 March 2009
Australia Post denies staff rip-offs
AAP
By Colin Brinsden
March 16, 2009
AUSTRALIA Post denies its executives are being paid bonuses for reducing
worker compensation costs.
Claims that doctors are being pressured to dismiss injury claims are a
"slur" on the medical profession, the employer said.
The Communications Electrical and Plumbing Union (CEPU) has
accused Australia Post of rejecting claims from injured workers and unfairly
preventing them from getting compensation. CEPU NSW secretary Jim
Metcher says Australia Post pressured doctors into writing medical
reports dismissive of injury claims, while executives are getting bonuses
for cutting compensation costs. Australia Post said it ensures all staff injured
at work have access to appropriate independent medical practitioners.
"The independent practitioners understand the business and endeavour to
return the employee to work as soon as possible which is the worldwide
basic rehabilitation principle," Australia Post said."Many of these doctors
are the employee's own doctors.
"To suggest these medical practitioners used by Australia Post are anything
but professional is a slur on the medical profession itself." The CEPU believes
lucrative bonuses at Australia Post have led to a culture in which managers
deny injured workers their entitlements. "There are literally hundreds of
people that are caught up in this," Jim Metcher said today."It needs to stop
now." The Government needed to crack down on companies rewarding
executives who slash injury management costs, he said."Rewards and pay
bonuses for executives who rort workers of their entitlements and personal
safety is simply not on," Mr Metcher said.
But Australia Post denies these claims. "Australia Post executives are
not paid bonuses for reducing their compensation costs and do not accept
or deny compensation claims made by staff," it said. "It is important to
remember Australia Post is regularly audited by two external organisations,
including Comcare."
It said employees could also choose to have their matter heard before the
Administrative Appeals Tribunal.
One long-serving Australia Post employee Gail Seaton said she
was diagnosed with a painful repetitive strain injury - epicondylitis -
by her GP, but a company-appointed specialist subsequently
denied the condition was still active.
She said Australia Post used the specialist's evidence to deny her
compensation claim and then forced her out of her job because she
could not perform her duties. As a result, she was forced to use
all her sick and long service leave entitlements. "It has caused me
and my family a lot of hardship, a lot of stress, and it has been
very sad," Ms Seaton said."I wish Australia Post would reconsider
and send me back to work, take me back to work, because I want
to go back to work."
WCVs: Yeah Right! "Independent Practitioners" my arse!
All of the service providers used for workcover claims are registered and
employed by worksafe, so the use of the word "independent" in this story
is fictitious and even suggesting that this puts a slur on the medical profession
is a joke. The service providers used by worksafe are not squeaky clean nor
do they care about the patients they are seeing because for them, its all
about the money, you only have to see how they treat injured workers
during their consultations to know that!
All service providers have a stake in doing as requested by either the
insurers or worksafe because at the end of the day its worksafe
who pays the bills!!!!!
I have no problems believing the injured workers concerned in this story
as we hear this from injured workers all the time!
By Colin Brinsden
March 16, 2009
AUSTRALIA Post denies its executives are being paid bonuses for reducing
worker compensation costs.
Claims that doctors are being pressured to dismiss injury claims are a
"slur" on the medical profession, the employer said.
The Communications Electrical and Plumbing Union (CEPU) has
accused Australia Post of rejecting claims from injured workers and unfairly
preventing them from getting compensation. CEPU NSW secretary Jim
Metcher says Australia Post pressured doctors into writing medical
reports dismissive of injury claims, while executives are getting bonuses
for cutting compensation costs. Australia Post said it ensures all staff injured
at work have access to appropriate independent medical practitioners.
"The independent practitioners understand the business and endeavour to
return the employee to work as soon as possible which is the worldwide
basic rehabilitation principle," Australia Post said."Many of these doctors
are the employee's own doctors.
"To suggest these medical practitioners used by Australia Post are anything
but professional is a slur on the medical profession itself." The CEPU believes
lucrative bonuses at Australia Post have led to a culture in which managers
deny injured workers their entitlements. "There are literally hundreds of
people that are caught up in this," Jim Metcher said today."It needs to stop
now." The Government needed to crack down on companies rewarding
executives who slash injury management costs, he said."Rewards and pay
bonuses for executives who rort workers of their entitlements and personal
safety is simply not on," Mr Metcher said.
But Australia Post denies these claims. "Australia Post executives are
not paid bonuses for reducing their compensation costs and do not accept
or deny compensation claims made by staff," it said. "It is important to
remember Australia Post is regularly audited by two external organisations,
including Comcare."
It said employees could also choose to have their matter heard before the
Administrative Appeals Tribunal.
One long-serving Australia Post employee Gail Seaton said she
was diagnosed with a painful repetitive strain injury - epicondylitis -
by her GP, but a company-appointed specialist subsequently
denied the condition was still active.
She said Australia Post used the specialist's evidence to deny her
compensation claim and then forced her out of her job because she
could not perform her duties. As a result, she was forced to use
all her sick and long service leave entitlements. "It has caused me
and my family a lot of hardship, a lot of stress, and it has been
very sad," Ms Seaton said."I wish Australia Post would reconsider
and send me back to work, take me back to work, because I want
to go back to work."
WCVs: Yeah Right! "Independent Practitioners" my arse!
All of the service providers used for workcover claims are registered and
employed by worksafe, so the use of the word "independent" in this story
is fictitious and even suggesting that this puts a slur on the medical profession
is a joke. The service providers used by worksafe are not squeaky clean nor
do they care about the patients they are seeing because for them, its all
about the money, you only have to see how they treat injured workers
during their consultations to know that!
All service providers have a stake in doing as requested by either the
insurers or worksafe because at the end of the day its worksafe
who pays the bills!!!!!
I have no problems believing the injured workers concerned in this story
as we hear this from injured workers all the time!
Thursday, 12 March 2009
Cash for Compo, exposing a sick system
Thursday 18 December 2008
The CEPU has today launched the 'Cash for Compo' campaign to it's Union
membership. A public launch will follow shortly.www.CashforCompo.org.au
Australia Post's drive to cut workers compensation costs is resulting in serious
mistreatment of sick and injured workers.Injured workers are losing out as Post:
· sacks them
· forces them back to work early to reduce 'lost-time injury' records
· 'doctor shops' for medical opinion that suits them
· refuses compensation on spurious grounds
· directs them on to unpaid sick leave against their treating doctor's advice.
Meanwhile, Post managers are pocketing cash bonuses for cutting compo costs!
That's just not right!Through the Cash for Compo campaign, the CEPU exposes
Australia Post's unfair and dangerous practices when dealing with injured workers
and calls on the Federal Government to intervene.
Australia Post is mistreating sick and injured workers to reduce its workers
compensation costs.
Australia Post boasts that Lost Time Injury records are the lowest they've
ever been although those results haven't been achieved by a safer workplace –
rather by manipulating the injury management process to force people back to
work and deny injured workers their rights.
The CEPU represents Australia Post workers and has gathered significant
evidence and documented extensive abuse of the injury management process.
Facility Nominated Doctors.
Workers are being bullied into attending company-paid Facility Nominated
Doctors. FNDs are instructed to avoid workers compensation and have injured
workers fit for work work, before they've had to time to recover.Australia Post
has a commercial contract with InjuryNET, a private organisation, which gives
Post access to a network of doctors.
InjuryNET guarantees it will reduce Lost Time Injury rates, lost hours and
duration until return to pre-injury duties.
Where workers are not eligible for workers compensation, the same company
doctors are instructed to find them unfit for duties, so Australia Post can direct
them off work without pay, and eventually sack them.
The CEPU has obtained email evidence that managers use the injury
management process to get rid of ‘undesireable' employees. This is the language
Australia Post management use to describe injured workers.
These are the very same managers who are rewarding themselves with cash
bonuses for reducing Lost Time Injuries in Australia Post at the expense of
injured workers rights.
The CEPU has today launched the 'Cash for Compo' campaign to it's Union
membership. A public launch will follow shortly.www.CashforCompo.org.au
Australia Post's drive to cut workers compensation costs is resulting in serious
mistreatment of sick and injured workers.Injured workers are losing out as Post:
· sacks them
· forces them back to work early to reduce 'lost-time injury' records
· 'doctor shops' for medical opinion that suits them
· refuses compensation on spurious grounds
· directs them on to unpaid sick leave against their treating doctor's advice.
Meanwhile, Post managers are pocketing cash bonuses for cutting compo costs!
That's just not right!Through the Cash for Compo campaign, the CEPU exposes
Australia Post's unfair and dangerous practices when dealing with injured workers
and calls on the Federal Government to intervene.
Australia Post is mistreating sick and injured workers to reduce its workers
compensation costs.
Australia Post boasts that Lost Time Injury records are the lowest they've
ever been although those results haven't been achieved by a safer workplace –
rather by manipulating the injury management process to force people back to
work and deny injured workers their rights.
The CEPU represents Australia Post workers and has gathered significant
evidence and documented extensive abuse of the injury management process.
Facility Nominated Doctors.
Workers are being bullied into attending company-paid Facility Nominated
Doctors. FNDs are instructed to avoid workers compensation and have injured
workers fit for work work, before they've had to time to recover.Australia Post
has a commercial contract with InjuryNET, a private organisation, which gives
Post access to a network of doctors.
InjuryNET guarantees it will reduce Lost Time Injury rates, lost hours and
duration until return to pre-injury duties.
Where workers are not eligible for workers compensation, the same company
doctors are instructed to find them unfit for duties, so Australia Post can direct
them off work without pay, and eventually sack them.
The CEPU has obtained email evidence that managers use the injury
management process to get rid of ‘undesireable' employees. This is the language
Australia Post management use to describe injured workers.
These are the very same managers who are rewarding themselves with cash
bonuses for reducing Lost Time Injuries in Australia Post at the expense of
injured workers rights.
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