Workcover Backpay?

 

---

 

What are you entitled to if you are receiving WorkCover payments and either your Catholic Schools Agreement (for Catholic school staff) or your independent school wages negotiation (for independent school staff) provides for salary increases?

You are only entitled to receive an increase in your fortnightly salary, and back payment if the Agreement specifies a retrospective date of effect of the increase (for example 1 May 2008), for the period that you are or were on Accident make-up Pay.

What is Accident make-up Pay?

Accident make-up Pay is the amount of money your employer pays you to top up your WorkCover benefit (which is not 100% of your wage) to the full amount of the wage you would “normally” receive for your classification. Your salary over the Accident make-up Pay period is made up of the benefit and the top up, which must total the “normal” wage you would be receiving if you were not on WorkCover.

This means that if the salary for your classification of job went up due to a wage increase while you were still in the Accident make-up Pay period, the amount you receive from the date of that increase is the new salary.

Where there is back pay involved which occurs over your period of Accident Make-Up Pay, you will also get paid the difference between the old salary and the new increased salary for your classification level along with your colleagues. Over the Accident Make-Up period you must be getting 100% of the normal salary you would be receiving if you were not on WorkCover.

The period of Accident make-up Pay for Catholic school employees is the first 26 weeks of WorkCover payments. In an independent school, the period for which your employer should be paying Accident make-up pay if you are a teacher and school assistant is 39 weeks, for other employees 26 weeks.

If you have any queries about your payment and back payment over the Accident-make up Pay period, contact VIEU.

(reproduced from VIEUPoint, November 2008)