What is the Premium Review?
What is the Premium Review?
The Premium Review was undertaken to more fairly distribute WorkCover Scheme costs among employers and provide incentives to improve workplace safety and injury management. Over the last two years WorkCover has been consulting and working with employer groups and unions to design a better premium assessment system.
Who was consulted on development of these reforms?
From August 2004, WorkCover NSW and the WorkCover Scheme actuary conducted a series of focus groups to seek feedback on a wide range of options for changes to the premium system, including financial incentives. These options were based on proposals and comments included in submissions responding to an initial Discussion Paper, released in 2003.
Industry-specific groups were conducted for industry sectors that raised specific concerns in submissions to the 2003 Discussion Paper, including the cleaning, labour hire, manufacturing, shearing, furniture, transport, and construction industries.
Focus group participants were nominated by relevant employer associations including:
- Australian Business Limited
- Australian Industry Group
- Building Service Contractors Association of Australia
- Employers First
- Furnishing Industry Association of Australia
- Master Builders Association
- NSW Farmers Federation
- NSW Roads and Transport Association
- Recruitment and Consulting Services Association.
Also, representatives of unions, licensed insurers and insurance brokers were consulted on the reform options.
Further consultation was conducted and more advanced proposals were included in the Discussion Paper released in March 2005. The 2005 paper was released for public submission and additional focus groups and consultation sessions were conducted around the State.
What was the scope of the Premium Review and what areas of the premium system are being reformed?
Reforms are being made to nine areas of the workers compensation premium system, including:
- how premiums are assessed for small, medium and large businesses
- the impact a claim has on a business’ premium
- how costs of claims are determined
- the premium paid by new businesses
- the excess a business pays for a claim
- grouping of related employers for premium purposes
- Premium Discount Scheme
- premium administration.
What is the timetable for implementation of the reforms?
For information on the timetable for implementation of the reforms, see Summary of Reforms by Implementation Date.
Where can I find a summary of the reforms?
For detail on the reforms, see Summary of Reforms by Implementation Date or Summary of Reforms by Reform Area or Summary of Reforms by Employer Size.
When will these reforms affect me?
For reforms effective from 30 June 2005
- The increase in the threshold for experience adjustment from greater than $3000 to greater than $10,000 will affect employers once their policy renews on or after 4.00pm 30 June 2005.
- Employers will be eligible for retrospective adjustments to their premiums to exclude the costs of fraudulent claims successfully prosecuted after 1 January 2000, and costs of claims where the claimant has been found by the Compensation Court or the Workers Compensation Commission (WCC) not to be a ’worker’. WorkCover will identify and contact eligible employers affected by this change. This will apply to eligible employers from 30 June 2005, regardless of the renewal date for the policy.
For reforms effective from 31 December 2005
- These reforms will be applied to new or renewed policies commencing on or after 4.00pm 31 December 2005. The existing formula and conditions for your policy will remain in place until such time that your policy falls due for renewal after 31 December 2005.
Why have employers been divided into small, medium and large? How have these thresholds been selected? Will they be indexed to ensure they remain relevant?
For new or renewed policies commencing on or after 4.00pm 31 December 2005:
- small employers will be those employers with a basic tariff premium of $10,000 or less, or wages of $300,000 or less
- medium employers will be those employers with a basic tariff premium of more than $10,000 but less than or equal to $500,000 and wages of more than $300,000
- large employers will be those employers whose basic tariff premium is more than $500,000.
The reforms to the premium calculation are based on providing incentives that are most relevant to these different groups of employers. For example, a claim is a relatively rare occurrence for small employers. Therefore, it was felt that experience adjustment would do little to influence the behaviour of these employers.
The thresholds were determined by reviewing employers’ claims experience according to their basic tariff premium. It is not currently intended to index the thresholds, however they will be monitored.
Who will be experience-adjusted under the new reforms?
The experience-adjustment reforms include a $10,000 basic tariff premium threshold, which has been assessed based on recent data. Additionally, in response to concerns about small employers in high risk industries, an additional element requiring more than $300,000 wages being paid has been added to the threshold test.
The increase in the basic tariff premium for experience adjustment will start from 30 June 2005 and the two-tiered assessment of wages greater than $300,000 and a basic tariff premium of greater than $10,000 will start from 31 December 2005
For new or renewed policies commencing on or after 4.00pm 30 June 2005, experience adjustments will be applied to premiums for those employers with:
- basic tariff premium greater than $10,000 (ie. approximately 11% of employers), then
For new or renewed policies commencing on or after 4.00pm 31 December 2005, experience adjustments will be applied to premiums for those employers with:
- wages greater than $300,000, and} (ie. approximately 8% of employers)
- basic tariff premium greater than $10,000}.
Why the focus on small to medium employers? What’s in this for large employers?
The new experience formula comparing an employer’s performance with its industry (ie. its WorkCover Industry Classification) performance will provide incentives for large employers to maintain or improve their workplace safety, claims management and return to work practices.
The retention of the existing hindsight adjustment process will provide a strong incentive, particularly for large employers, to manage claims incurred in the current policy year.
Also, in response to feedback from stakeholders, during 2006, WorkCover will consult with large employers regarding the introduction of variable large claim costs; variable maximum premium caps; variable large excesses; and, multiple hindsight adjustments.
Why hasn’t the large claim limit been reviewed?
The large claim limit of $150,000 has been reviewed and is considered to still be relevant. Therefore, it is being retained at its current level. This means employers’ premiums will not be affected by the portion of costs above $150,000 for any claim.
Will the reforms, particularly grouping, be cost neutral?
The reforms are aimed to be cost neutral. The impact on individual employers will vary. For example, employers who have structured their businesses to gain unfair advantage may now pay more because of grouping. On the other hand, some employers with a number of related companies with good claims history will pay less because of grouping.
Are there any reforms relating to the classification of labour hire?
During 2006/07, WorkCover will consult relevant industry groups and unions on the development of more appropriate methods of calculating workers compensation premiums for employers in the labour hire industry to ensure their premiums more closely reflect these employers’ claims experience.
How are the changes being communicated to stakeholders?
The reforms were announced by the Minister for Commerce, John Della Bosca on 17 June 2005 and WorkCover will be sending out information to all NSW employers following the announcement to inform them of how they will be affected by the reforms.
This will be the beginning of a comprehensive and ongoing education program by WorkCover to ensure that, as far as possible, relevant stakeholders such as employers, accountants and insurers are aware of the reforms and timetable for changes to the premium system.
In which circumstances is the payment of a late payment fee required?
A late payment fee is payable if premium is overdue on the last day of the calendar month after the date the premium became due. The late payment fee is applied to the relevant amount or balance per month, compounded monthly.
Who is a small employer?
For new or renewed policies commencing on or after 4.00pm 30 June 2005 to 31 December 2005 small employers will be those employers with a basic tariff premium of $10,000 or less (approximately 89% of NSW employers). These employers will not be experience-adjusted. That is, their premium will be assessed solely on the basis of their wages level and industry rate.
For new or renewed policies commencing on or after 4.00pm 31 December 2005 small employers will be those employers with a basic tariff premium of $10,000 or less, or wages of $300,000 or less (approximately 92% of employers). These employers will not be experience-adjusted. That is, their premium will be assessed solely on the basis of their wages level and industry rate.
Because a claim is a relatively rare occurrence for small employers, there is little impact that experience-adjusting premiums can have to influence the behaviour of these employers. In fact, only around 10% of small employers have one or more claims each year and the vast majority of long-term small businesses can have fewer than one claim over a twenty-five year period. Other reforms to the premium system, such as the changes to management of the claims excess, have been proven to be more effective in encouraging small employers to improve workplace health and safety and return to work opportunities.
Moreover, these reforms will provide small businesses with greater certainty by giving them a stable premium that will not be impacted by a one-off claim. It will also assist them to plan their finances and manage their cash flow more effectively.
My basic tariff premium falls between $3,000 and $10,000 and before 30 June 2005 I was experience-adjusted and eligible to pay my premium by instalments. Will I still be able to pay by instalments once the change to the experience-adjustment threshold comes in?
Yes. Employers with a basic tariff premium between $3,000 and $10,000 who will no longer be experience-adjusted will still have the option to pay their premium by instalments.
Why will application of experience adjustment be assessed at the beginning and end of the policy year? This takes away certainty.
The practice of assessing employers for the experience-adjustment threshold only at the start of the policy year has been identified as an avenue for significant premium avoidance.
To stop those employers that under-declare their wages at the beginning of the year (and therefore unfairly avoid paying their fair share of premium), the application of experience-adjustment will be assessed again at the end of the policy year. The re-assessment at the end of the year will mean that each employer’s premium for the year is a true reflection of their business rather than relying only on their estimate at the beginning of the year. It will work both ways – the end of year assessment could mean one employer will move to the ‘medium’ category and be experience rated for the year but it could also mean an employer will drop to the ‘small’ category and so no longer be experience rated.
The increase to the experience adjustment threshold and the new experience formula should improve premium stability for small businesses.
Has the impact of removing the discount from employers with a good claims record and who have a basic tariff premium between $3,000 and $10,000 been considered?
Yes. Under this reform, small employers will not receive potential decreases that the experience-adjustment formula may provide if they have a good claims record but, in return, they will not get potential premium increases if they incur one or more expensive claims. Generally the feedback from businesses was that they wanted more stability. In particular, they wanted more certainty as to what their premium would be from year to year so they could budget for it. Increasing the threshold gives more businesses stability.
On average small employer claims costs are higher than medium and large employers. Why not have separate rates?
While, on average, small employers’ claims costs are a higher proportion of wages compared to large and medium employers, this is not the case in all industry sectors. Additionally, the differences between small, medium and large employers are relatively small for most industry sectors. In fact, analysis has shown that there is no significant cross subsidisation of small employers by medium and large employers and that, year on year, small employer premium collected covers claims costs incurred by this group.
As a result, separate industry premium rates will not be introduced for employers of different sizes.
The proposal to change the experience threshold means that 92% of policies will pay the basic tariff premium. Doesn’t this increase cross-subsidisation, that is, large employers will bear the costs of small employers?
Analysis has indicated that while there is some minor cross-subsidisation between small, medium and large employers in some industries, it is not significant over the Scheme as a whole. However, this will continue to be monitored.
A claim is a relatively rare occurrence for small employers. Only around 10% of small employers have one or more claims each year. Therefore, experience adjustment is not an appropriate way to influence the behaviour of these employers. Other reforms to the premium system, such as the changes to management of the claims excess, have been proven to be more effective in encouraging small employers to improve workplace health and safety and return to work opportunities.
A small employer’s risk will continue to be reflected through the rate for their industry, which in turn will determine their premium.
With the increased threshold for experience adjustment, what incentives will there be for 92% of employers to improve health and safety and injury management?
Financial incentives will be provided through changes to the claims excess. The excess will be waived when employers report an injury to their insurer within five days of becoming aware of it. It is intended that the premium system includes incentives for employers to reduce the cost of their claims. Experience shows that the sooner a claim is acted on, the sooner the injured worker is back to work and the lower the cost of the claim. By encouraging employers to notify in a timely manner, we’re trying to reduce the cost of the claim. In addition, employers’ performance will continue to be reflected in the WorkCover Industry Classification rates.
Will the changes to the claims excess encourage non-reporting of injuries?
The changes to the claims excess provide a range of incentives and penalties to encourage the timely reporting of workplace injuries. Also, the claims excess will be waived for all employers, if the injury is notified within five days of the employer becoming aware of the injury.
With its introduction as part of the 2001 reforms, a similar argument was made that provisional liability would encourage non-reporting of injuries. This has proved not to be the case.
How will the date of the employer becoming aware of the injury be determined or assessed?
Generally, the date the employer became aware of the injury will be able to be determined by referring to the employer’s register of injuries. All employers are required by law to have a register of injuries.
After 31 December 2005, why will I be unable to buy out the excess anymore?
Employers who are not experience-rated under the current premium formula (ie. those employers with a basic tariff premium of less than or equal to $3,000) have the option to buy out the claims excess by paying a surcharge of 3% of their basic tariff premium.
Maintaining this option would negate the introduction of financial incentives for small employers to report injuries in a timely fashion by waiving the excess for injuries reported within 5 days of employers becoming aware of them.
An employer who was previously experience-adjusted might be eligible for retrospective adjustment to their premium if they had a successfully prosecuted fraudulent claim. Why will only successfully prosecuted fraudulent claims be excluded from an employer’s costs of claims? Why only those claims successfully prosecuted since 1 January 2000?
Commencing after 30 June 2005, employers will be eligible for retrospective adjustments to their premiums to exclude the costs of fraudulent claims successfully prosecuted after 1 January 2000.
It has been necessary to limit the fraudulent claims to successfully prosecuted claims to ensure pressure is not placed on insurers or Scheme agents by employers to decline claims on the basis that they are fraudulent simply to avoid claims experience. It is more appropriate to rely on the judicial system to determine when fraud has occurred. In recent years WorkCover’s activity in relation to fraud has increased with the assistance of a significant increase in staff resources for its Compliance Improvement Branch. In 2003/04 WorkCover investigated 272 fraud matters and 19 successful fraud prosecutions were carried out.
The reform is intended to be retrospective to matters successfully prosecuted after 1 January 2000.
A worker was successfully prosecuted for fraud in 1998. Why can’t the employer have their premium recalculated without those costs of claim?
The reform is intended to be retrospective, however in a limited way.
WorkCover’s Compliance Improvement Branch was established in 2000. This resulted in an increased number of fraud prosecutions by WorkCover due to the use of more sophisticated analytical tools.
Who is a medium employer?
For new or renewed policies commencing on or after 4.00pm 31 December 2005 medium employers will be those employers with a basic tariff premium of more than $10,000 but less than or equal to $500,000 and wages of more than $300,000 (ie. approximately 7.5 % of NSW employers). These employers will be experience adjusted.
For new or renewed policies commencing on or after 4.00pm 30 June 2005, the experience-adjustment threshold is being raised so that all employers with a basic tariff premium greater than $10,000 will be experience-adjusted.
Who is a large employer?
For new or renewed policies commencing on or after 4.00pm 31 December 2005 large employers will be those employers whose basic tariff premium is more than $500,000 (ie. the largest 0.5% of NSW employers).
Why will application of experience adjustment be assessed at the beginning and end of the policy year? This takes away certainty.
The practice of assessing employers for the experience-adjustment threshold at the start of the policy year only has been identified as an avenue for significant premium avoidance.
To stop those employers that under-declare their wages at the beginning of the year (and therefore unfairly avoid paying their fair share of premium) application of experience adjustment will be assessed again at the end of the policy year. The re-assessment at the end of the year will mean that each employer’s premium for the year is a true reflection of their business. It will work both ways – the end of year assessment could mean one employer will move to the ‘medium’ category and be experience rated for the year but it could also mean an employer will drop to the ‘small’ category and so no longer be experience rated. (See also above for definition of medium employers.)
The increase to the experience adjustment threshold and the new experience formula should improve premium stability.
How have the thresholds for the 1.5T, 2T and 2.5T caps on the maximum premiums been determined? Will these thresholds be reviewed?
The thresholds to apply to the maximum premium caps have been assessed using 2003/04 data. The thresholds increase from 341 to a total of 1,672 the number of policies that will receive the benefit of having their premium capped when they experience large claim costs. The caps are intended to increase the level of insurance protection and predictability for medium sized employers. This will limit medium employers’ exposure to increases in premium, which could be significantly higher without the capping facility.
Why have a 2.5T maximum value when it will only impact on a small number of policies?
The thresholds to apply to the maximum premium caps have been developed as a set to ensure that medium-sized employers are protected from significant premium increases due to poor claims experience and increase the level of certainty in premium calculation
Will the 1.5T, 2T and 2.5T rules apply to individual policies for employers who are part of a group?
For policies that renew on or after, once grouping is implemented on, 30 June 2006, the caps on the maximum experience-adjusted premiums will apply to group members collectively, and not to individual group members.
How is the new experience premium formula fairer and simpler?
The proposed formula is fairer and more transparent than the existing formula in that it:
- does not use claims experience (F) factors that impact all employers in the same way and will more accurately reflect the claims experience of a business in its experience premium
- is based on a comparison of the employer’s claims experience with the relevant industry’s (WIC’s) claims performance. This means that if an employer’s claims experience is better than the median industry performance, it should pay a premium which is less than it’s basic tariff premium. Conversely, if it is performing poorly compared to the industry median, it could expect to pay a premium that is greater than it’s basic tariff premium, and
- will allow employers to monitor their performance and budget for changes to their premium.
What transitional measures are proposed to minimise any impact on premiums of the change to the experience formula?
Transitional arrangements will be applied to ensure that premium increases arising from the implementation of the new experience formula will be capped at a maximum of 25% per year for three years.
It is estimated that about 1% of policies will be affected by these transitional arrangements.
Under the reforms, how many years of my claims history will be used to calculate my premium?
For medium and large employers, the current and previous two years of claims experience will be used to calculate the experience premium, as is currently the case.
How will Industry Claims Cost Rates differ from WIC rates?
WorkCover Industry Classification rates are published annually and are based on five years’ claims costs and wages. WIC rates are adjusted to take into account the claims costs excluded from the claims experience of individual employers (journey and recess claims, claims costs above the large claim limit, and interpreter costs). WIC rates are used to calculate the basic tariff premium.
Industry Claims Cost Rates will, initially, be published yearly and will be based on three years’ claims costs and wages. Industry Claims Cost Rates will be used to calculate the experience premium under the new experience formula and determine the comparison between an employers individual experience and the experience of the WIC in which it sits. This will enable employers to be compared against their industry’s median claims experience performance.
Why will only successfully prosecuted fraudulent claims be excluded from an employer’s costs of claims? Why only those claims successfully prosecuted since 1 January 2000?
From 30 June 2005, employers will be eligible for retrospective adjustments to their premiums to exclude the costs of fraudulent claims successfully prosecuted after 1 January 2000.
It has been necessary to limit the fraudulent claims to successfully prosecuted claims to ensure pressure is not placed on insurers or Scheme agents by employers to decline claims on the basis that they are fraudulent simply to avoid claims experience. It is more appropriate to rely on the judicial system to determine when fraud has occurred. In recent years WorkCover’s activity in relation to fraud has increased with the assistance of a significant increase in staff resources for its Compliance Improvement Branch. In 2003/04 WorkCover investigated 272 fraud matters and 19 successful fraud prosecutions were carried out.
The reform is intended to be retrospective to matters successfully prosecuted after 1 January 2000.
What are statistical case estimates?
Statistical case estimates (SCEs) are actuarial estimates of the future costs arising from existing, open claims. A statistical case estimation model produces future expected cost estimates for each individual claim, based on risk characteristics such as:
- claimant characteristics including age, gender, occupation, marital and dependant status, wage rate
- employer characteristics: including industry, wages, location
- claim status: including claim is open/closed/reopened/disputed, work status
- claim characteristics: including injury nature, location
- claim history: including payments and rates of payment, time lost.
The current manual claims cost estimation will be replaced with statistical case estimates from 31 December 2007. It is anticipated that the adoption of statistical case estimates will reduce the incidence of significant variations between the estimates used in premium calculations, and the actual costs.
Employers expressed mixed feelings about hindsight adjustment. Why retain it?
The existing hindsight adjustment process will be retained to provide employers with a strong incentive to manage claims incurred in the current policy year, particularly for large employers.
New employers’ claims costs are higher. Why not apply a levy to their premiums?
Comparative analysis of the average claims costs of new employers compared to established employers indicated that claims costs are higher for new employers.
The option of introducing a levy on new employers to reflect their likely higher-than-average claims costs was considered. This option would ensure new employers are not unfairly subsidised by existing employers.
However, it was felt that a levy on new employers could be a considerable financial burden (particularly for small employers) and could inhibit the establishment of new businesses in New South Wales. For these reasons, the option of introducing such a levy was discarded.
Instead, it has been decided to experience-adjust new employers whose basic tariff premium is more than $10,000 and whose wages are more than $300,000 from their first year of operation. The experience formula will be modified for years 1 and 2 to take into account the fact that only the claims costs and wages would be available for those years. From year 3, new employers will be subject to the same experience formula as other employers, using the current and two previous year’s claims costs and wages.
Why will grouping not apply to small business but may apply to charities and not-for-profit organisations?
During the focus group discussions, participants commented that:
- Small businesses would have difficulty administering grouping and were not a significant source of premium evasion
- Charitable and not-for-profit organisations should not be able to avoid the impact of grouping, since other employers may face increased premiums as a result. In many industry classes, including community services, health and aged care, charitable organisations operate in direct competition with other employers. Also, these organisations should also have the same incentives and disincentives as other employers to improve workplace safety and injury management. Like all employers, this will only apply to charities and not-for-profit organisations who meet the same criteria as the Office of State Revenue (OSR) definition for determining whether payroll tax is payable.
However, charitable and not-for-profit organisations may apply to WorkCover for exemption to grouping status for those related employers who are not in direct competition with the private sector.
The proposals to implement grouping reflect the comments of focus group participants.
What transitional measures are proposed to minimise any impact on premiums of employers who will be grouped for premium calculation?
Transitional arrangements will be applied to ensure that premium increases for the group as a whole due to the implementation of grouping will be capped at a maximum of 25% per year for three years.
Why is the excess changing from a dollar figure to one week’s weekly benefits?
Currently, employers are subject to a claims excess payment of the first $500 of weekly compensation payments on claims that include weekly benefits. For new or renewed policies commencing on or after 4.00pm 31 December 2005, the excess amount will be changed to the equivalent of one week of the injured worker’s weekly compensation.
In general, this reform will increase the excess payment, providing employers with a greater incentive to prevent workplace injuries and improve return to work. In addition, the maximum weekly benefit is indexed biannually. Linking the excess with one week of the injured worker’s weekly compensation will ensure that the excess amount remains relevant to economic conditions.
Why has the reform that proposed penalties for late reporting been changed?
The original reform put forward in the Premium Review Discussion Paper stated that for new or renewed policies commencing after 4.00pm 30 June 2007, for every day an injury is not reported more than five days after the employer becomes aware of the injury, it is proposed that a penalty of $250 per day will be added to the cost of claims used in experience premium calculations. For medium employers the penalty will be applied for a maximum of 10 days per claim and for large employers penalty will be applied for a maximum of 25 days per claim.
In response to stakeholder feedback regarding implementation of the reforms, WorkCover will hold further consultation with industry in 2005/06 to discuss various options for application and collection of these fees. It is still intended that late reporting fees will be applied to medium and large employers from 30 June 2007.
What incentives are there for medium and large employers who report injuries in a timely manner?
Financial incentives will be provided through changes to the claims excess where the excess will be waived when employers report an injury to their insurer within five days of becoming aware of it. It is intended that the premium system includes incentives for employers to reduce the cost of their claims. Experience shows that the sooner a claim is acted on, the sooner the injured worker is back to work and the lower the cost of the claim. By encouraging employers to notify in a timely manner, we’re trying to reduce the cost of the claim.
In addition, employers’ performance will continue to be reflected in the WorkCover Industry Classification rates.
Won’t the changes to the claims excess encourage non-reporting of injuries?
The changes to the claims excess provide a range of incentives and intended penalties to encourage the timely reporting of workplace injuries. In addition, it is proposed that penalties will not be imposed on employers until 31 December 2007, allowing employers time to introduce systems to allow them to meet the notification timeframe.
It is also proposed to waive the claims excess for all employers, if the injury is notified within five days of the employer becoming aware of the injury.
With its introduction as part of the 2001 reforms, a similar argument was made that provisional liability would encourage non-reporting of injuries. This has proved not to be the case.
How will the date of the employer becoming aware of the injury be determined or assessed?
Generally, the date the employer became aware of the injury will be able to be determined by referring to the employer’s register of injuries. All employers are required by law to have a register of injuries.
Why is the Premium Discount Scheme (PDS) being discontinued?
The decision to wind down the PDS was based on very mixed reactions from stakeholders regarding its ongoing value. Further, it is believed that the premium system reform package will provide longer-term incentives for businesses to improve workplace safety and injury management.
I am a current PDS participant. Will I still be able to qualify for a premium discount for the current year?
The last premium discounts paid will be for policies with a start date in the 2004-2005 policy renewal year, that is, between 4pm on 30 June 2004 and 3.59pm on 30 June 2005.
For PDS participants who are currently in Years 1, 2 or 3 who successfully undertake the relevant verifying audit (ie. audit 2, 3 or 4) before the end of their 2004-2005 premium year (which may extend beyond 30 June 2005) will have the relevant discount applied to their experience adjusted premium in the hindsight adjustment for the 2004-2005 premium period. No deferrals will be allowed where a participant fails the verification and participation in the PDS will cease from completion of the 2004-2005 policy renewal year.
I am a current PDS participant. I am ready to undergo the verifying audit for my current year, however I have just been notified that my Premium Discount Adviser is not accredited to oversee the audit. What do I do?
WorkCover will be posting a full list of Premium Discount Advisers on its website, along with notification of whether they have PDS auditors accredited to the ISO standard specified by WorkCover. Employers involved with the PDS whose advisor does not have any accredited PDS auditors will have 6 months after the end of their 2004/05 policy period to engage an advisor that is qualified to undertake the audit.
I am a current PDS participant / Premium Discount Adviser. How will I be notified of how I will be affected by the PDS being wound down from 30 June 2005?
WorkCover has contacted all Premium Discount Advisers and PDS participants in writing to advise them of how they will be affected by the winding down of the PDS. The WorkCover website will also include information on the closing of the PDS.
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