WA OHS change to fix ‘legal uncertainty’

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6 February 2012

The WA Parliament will again amend workers’ compensation laws after recent changes caused confusion among employers and in legal circles.

While recent changes to the Workers Compensation and Injury Management Act 1981 compelled employers to take out insurance for injured workers, they also implied employers must cover contractors under common law.

Parliament will pass amendments in the coming months to retrospectively apply from October 1. The changes clearly state the requirement to insure a worker does not include someone who is the “employer’s worker” for common law damages.

Indemnity in public liability policies for deemed employees will also be preserved from October 1, while regulations setting a specified or minimum limit of indemnity for common law liabilities will also be enabled.

Amendments to the Act came into force in October last year. They compel employers to hold insurance covering their injured workers under common law. While the changes did not create an additional liability, the new laws did increase the scope of workers covered under the previous policy to include direct employees and “contract service workers”.