Trainees and apprentices are also considered workers.

Generally, a worker is someone who receives wages or commission, regardless of the number of hours worked each week, and includes workers who work away from the employer’s premises.

As a general rule, if a person is entitled to receive workers compensation benefits if they have a work-related injury, then that person is considered a worker or ‘deemed worker’.

Deemed workers

Many people are treated as workers for workers compensation purposes. The law refers to them as ‘deemed workers’. If someone is ‘deemed’ to be a worker, their employer (or principal) must have a workers compensation insurance policy.

’Deemed workers’ include:

• workers lent or on hire
• outworkers
• certain contractors
• rural workers
• timbergetters
• tributers
• mine employees
• mines rescue personnel
• jockeys and harness racing drivers
• shearers’ cooks and others
• fire fighters in fire districts
• workers at place of pick-up
• boxers, wrestlers, referees and entertainers
• voluntary ambulance workers
• ministers of religion
• ministers of religion covered by policies
• salespersons, canvassers, collectors and others
• drivers of hire-vehicles and hire-vessels (contract of bailment)
• caddies and others employed through a club.

Contractors

People working as contractors (including subcontractors and contractors under labour-hire service agreements) may also be ‘deemed workers’.  Workers compensation law does not rely on the tax status of the person carrying out the work to determine whether that person is a worker, deemed worker or contractor.

Following the passage of the Workers Compensation Legisaltion Ammendment (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2005, WorkCover is preparing to establish a system to make prospective determinations on the status of contractors/workers. The determination will be a binding decision for premium purposes as to whether a person is properly classified as a worker but will not impact on whether or not a person is entitled to claim workers compensation benefits and will be inadmissable in proceedings concerning entitlement to benefit.

Some of the indicators that assist in determining if a contractor is a deemed worker are:

• the terms of the arrangement 
• whether the contractor can employ other people to perform the work
• whether the contractor works at stated hours on usual days and the contract specifies the hours and/or days
• whether the contractor measures and inspects the site and provides a fixed price quotation inclusive of labour and material
• whether the contractor deals directly with the client requesting the work or the principal contractor for whose benefit the work is to be done
• whether the contractor can make a profit or loss over the market rate for a tradesman working in the industry
• whether the contractor supplies the materials, machinery and equipment used in completion of the job
• whether the contractor could be liable for bad work.

Sole traders and partnerships

If a sole trader or partnership has workers they must take out a workers compensation insurance policy. However, the sole trader and partners would not be covered by this insurance.

Sole traders and partnerships should consider taking out a personal accident and illness policy or an income protection policy, in case they are injured and unable to work (Note: this is not a WorkCover requirement).

Companies

A proprietary limited company (‘Pty Ltd’) must have a workers compensation insurance policy to cover all its workers. Working directors (directors undertaking employee-type duties) are considered workers of the company.

Further information on workers, deemed workers and contractors is outlined in the Workplace Injury Management and Workers Compensation Act 1998 and the Wages Definition Manual.

Further Information

  Wages Definition Manual