NSW Covid-19 WorkCover claims soaring as outbreak grows

Businesses are bracing for higher premiums as the NSW state WorkCover scheme is hit with a rise in Covid-19 claims in the state’s worsening outbreak.

The outbreak of Covid-19 in Sydney has seen an explosion in Covid-19 WorkCover claims. Picture: NCA NewsWire

The Covid-19 outbreak in NSW is driving a rush of WorkCover claims in a move set to put further pressure on the state’s workers compensation scheme.

Figures released by the State Insurance Regulatory Authority, which oversees the state’s workers compensation scheme, show that between June 27 and September 3 total Covid-19 claims soared from 560 to 955.

This is well up from the 301 Covid-19 related claims against the scheme by August 2020.

The numbers of workers claiming compensation for contracting Covid-19 almost tripled to 367.

The number who have made claims for exposure has grown to 254.

Between August 27 and September 3 at least 45 more workers made claims for contracting Covid-19 on the job.

The latest figures also include 146 claims for psychological issues linked to Covid.

The recent growth comes after a lengthy period in which claims barely budged, slowly ticking up over several months.

The data, which is published several days in arrears, does not capture the most recent week of increases in Covid-19 case numbers.

Nor does the figure capture the full magnitude of Covid-19-related claims, with several very large businesses, such as supermarkets and banks, operating their own self-insurance schemes.

Woolworths chief executive Brad Banducci recently underlined the impact of Covid-19 on his staff, saying that having 3300 workers in isolation was putting a strain on the business.

A Woolworths spokesman said the supermarket had a wide range of measures in place to “uphold the health and safety of our team members”.

“We’ve had very few Covid-related claims to date. As with any workplace claim, we will carefully review each one on a case-by-case basis,” he said.

 

The consequence of rising individual Covid claims will be increasing pressure on NSW’s workers compensation scheme, which has been hit by mounting losses over several years.

The SIRA scheme, paid through the state’s icare agency, covers 4.4 million jobs in NSW and 330,399 employers.

Workers have often struggled to make claims for contracting an infectious disease on the job.

However, NSW passed laws in early 2020 that put the onus on an employer to prove a worker did not contract Covid-19 at work.

Icare has been under pressure for years, noting in its November results losses across all funds within the scheme.

The scheme is dealing with significant payouts, while also putting inflows from members of the scheme on hold.

In its November results icare noted $47m in premium payments from businesses experiencing financial hardship had been put on hold in the last year.

The insurer also exceeded its funding ratio, with a $1.894bn loss in its workers compensation scheme.

Businesses will be slugged for losses from the insurer, with premiums set to rise.

Icare has announced a 2.9 per cent increase in premiums this year, flagging another 2.9 per cent to follow next year. SafeWork NSW has put employers on notice to take steps to stop Covid-19 infections on the job.

Since June 27, inspectors from SafeWork made more than 3100 Covid-related visits to businesses throughout NSW to ensure they were complying with public health orders.

Six businesses were hit with penalty orders.

At least 21 others are under investigation.

However, this does not capture police visits and fines to businesses, with more than $220,000 in fines issued in the past three weeks.

The NSW WorkCover scheme has made more than $4.3bn of payments in the 12 months to the end of June.