Workers' compensation process and reporting (WorkCover)

For employees on WorkCover who are either only working some of their hours or not working at all, you can use a leave entitlement to pay their compensation. New leave entitlements can be created within your platform at any time. 

  Please note: If your business operates across multiple states, you might need to create different Workers' Compensation entitlements to reflect the varying regulations.
 

To create a Workers' Compensation entitlement:

1. From the main menu, navigate to Payroll Settings > Leave Configuration and select Add New.
2. Fill in all the details relevant to the new entitlement you're creating. Some specific fields worth noting for a Workers' Compensation entitlement:
   • Title - This is the name that will be given to the entitlement, which will be visible to employees on their payslips.
   • Paid entitlement - This will determine if Workers' Compensation, when redeemed, is to be paid from your platform or marked as an unpaid leave entitlement. You can either:
     • Enable this toggle - Employees will be paid for Workers' Compensation from your platform.
     • Leave the toggle disabled - This will make Workers' Compensation an unpaid leave entitlement.
       
         Please note: Once a leave entitlement is categorised as unpaid, it cannot be changed back to a paid entitlement. Therefore, please take the time to carefully consider this when setting up your Workers' Compensation entitlement. 
   • Reportable Leave Type - Set this to 'Workers Compensation'.
   • Can an employee apply for this type of leave? - Set this to 'No'. This will ensure employees are unable to apply for the leave type through their employee app, and an admin will do this on their behalf.
     
       For a detailed explanation of all settings, please refer to the Leave Entitlements article. 
3. Select Save to create the new entitlement. 

  Please note: Depending on your Award or agreement, paid leave entitlement hours could be included in overtime calculations. You can learn more about this in our guide to Award settings.

Workers' Compensation can be set up as a pay item for employees working light duties at a reduced rate; the Workers' Compensation amount is the difference between the reduced rate and their normal rate. Adding this is optional and should only be done in this specific situation.
 

To create a Workers' Compensation pay item:

1. From the main menu, navigate to Awards & Agreements > Pay Items/Allowances.
2. Select Add and fill in all the details relevant to the new pay item you're creating. Some specific fields worth noting for a Workers' Compensation pay item:
   • Select Type - Ensure you select 'Pay Item'.
   • Interval - Select 'Hourly', this will apply the pay item to all hours worked by the employee. 
   • Label - This is the name that will be displayed for the pay item and is visible to employees on their payslips. 
     
       For a detailed explanation of all the fields, please refer to the Pay Items and Allowances article. 
3. You will also need to ensure you have the correct STP Category selected for the item, along with whether it should be included in Qualified Earnings. 
   
     Hot tip: The ATO has handy guides on both STP Reporting and Qualified Earnings that you can refer to for more information.
4. Select Save to create the pay item. 

  Hot tip: If you will be paying an Employee on WorkCover the same pay item each pay cycle, consider creating a Payslip Template to use for this employee to save time. You can edit the template each week and delete it when it is no longer needed.

The Workers' Compensation entitlement can be assigned to employees as needed. There's no requirement to apply this entitlement in bulk.
 

To add a leave entitlement to an individual's profile:

1. Locate the relevant Employee Profile by navigating to People > Approved People or by using the global search bar. 

2. Navigate to the Employee Card > Employment Type and select Add New Entitlement.

   

3. From the drop-down menu, select the Workers' Compensation entitlement.
4. Adjust the accrued amount to establish your employee's initial balance.

5. If the employee is to be paid at a different rate than their primary position, enter the correct rate into the 'Override Pay Rate' field.

   

6. Select Add & Review Entitlement, then select Save to apply the Workers' Compensation entitlement to the employee profile. 

You can identify relevant employees on Workers' Compensation for easy recognition across different parts of the platform and within your business. You will first need to flag the employee as 'On WorkCover' within their employee profile. 
 

To flag an employee as 'On WorkCover':

1. Navigate to the Employee Profile > Overview.

2. Enable the toggle 'On WorkCover'.

   

This toggle will mark the employee as 'On WorkCover,' which can be viewed and accessed in multiple locations on the platform. These include:

• Approved People
• Rosters
• Payroll

We will go through each of these areas below:

Approved People

On the Approved People menu, employees on WorkCover are denoted by an orange 'W' badge next to their name. 

  Hot tip: You can search for employees on WorkCover by opening the Show Filter menu and selecting 'On WorkCover' from the 'Additional Filters' field.

Rosters

Employees on WorkCover are denoted by an orange WorkCover badge next to their name. 

  Please note: To view the 'WorkCover' status of an employee on the roster, a system setting must be enabled. 
 

To enable this setting:

1. Navigate to Platform Settings > System Settings.
2. Search for and enable the setting 'Enable additional employee information about restrictions, workcover and special conditions in the roster'.
3. Ensure the toggle is set to On. 
4. To save your changes, select Save, located at the bottom of the page. 

Payroll

You can find employees who are on WorkCover by selecting it from the Employee Conditions field within the Filters. Employees on WorkCover will also be marked with an orange 'W' icon next to their name.

If your employee is not working at all, a leave entitlement should be used to cover this absence. The easiest option is to submit a leave application on their behalf for Workers' Compensation. This can be done for as long as necessary.
 

To submit a Workers' Compensation entitlement for an employee who is not working:

1. Navigate to Time & Attendance > Time Off.
2. Select the + Leave button and fill in the details. 
   
   
    
3. This process can be repeated each pay period, or you can add Workers' Compensation for a more extended period and edit it down when the employee returns to work. 

  You can read more about submitting leave for an employee here. 

If your employee is working reduced hours, a leave entitlement should be utilised for this purpose. The simplest solution is to add Workers' Compensation leave in the Approve Shifts section.

This method allows you to add leave to each day when approving shifts to make up for the time not worked.
 

To submit a Workers' Compensation entitlement for an employee who is working reduced hours:

1. Navigate to Time & Attendance > Approve Shifts.
2. Edit the shift and select Add Leave.

3. Add the Workers' Compensation Leave to the shift so that the total hours approved are appropriate for the employee. 

   

4. Both the approved hours and the Workers' Compensation leave will be processed with pay.

  You can read more about applying leave in Approve Shifts here. 

If your employee is working but at a reduced rate, a pay item should be used to top up the amount to the full rate. The simplest solution will be to add a pay item directly to the payslip.

  Please note: This method is only appropriate if the employee is working and you are topping up their wage. This is because, in this case, the Workers' Compensation needs to be reported through STP as gross. Please take a look at the ATO STP reporting guide for more information. 
 

To submit a Workers' Compensation pay item for an employee who is working at a reduced rate:

1. Navigate to Payroll > Pay.
2. Locate the draft of the payslip of your employee and select Actions > edit to the right.
3. Select +Add > Allowance/Pay item and then find your pay item from the drop-down list. 
4. Fill in the quantity and the rate you want to apply, then select Save from the bottom. 
5. Add an optional comment for the audit history and the employee (e.g. "Added Workers Comp pay item") and then Save Changes. 

  You can read more about editing payslips and adding pay items here. 

For your reporting needs, several options are available for referencing paid Workers' Compensation. Each method offers different levels of detail, allowing you to choose the most appropriate approach based on your specific reporting needs. These options include:

  Permission Reminder: 'View Employee Pay Rates' and 'View Financial Report Centre' permissions are required for the following reports.

• Leave Paid Report
  • This report enables you to view your employees' Worker's Compensation balances as of a specific date, including past or future dates.
  • Additionally, this report allows you to review the Workers' Compensation paid to your employees over a specified period.
  • You can find this report under Reports > Financial > Accruals & Liabilities.
  • When running the report, please ensure that you specify the leave type for your Workers' Compensation entitlement.
  • This report will not display Workers' Compensation paid as a pay item. 
• Payslip Export
  • The payslip export allows you to verify Workers' Compensation details before generating payslips. 
  • From the payslip export, you can view a detailed breakdown of the Workers' Compensation amount paid for a specific pay period, whether as an entitlement or a pay item. 
  • You can find this export by going to Payroll > Pay > Select relevant payslips > Download > CSV.
  • Remember to select the options: Employee ID, Employee Name, Period End Date, Pay Cycle ID, Workers' Compensation Hours, Workers' Compensation Paid, Total Amount Per Allowance, and Total Quantity Per Allowance.
• Advanced Payroll Activity Report (APAR)
  • This report is a post-payroll report, detailing all Workers' Compensation methods that have been paid, along with all other line items on employees' payslips. 
  • The Advanced Payroll Activity Report offers additional filter options for greater customisation. 
  • You can find this report under Reports > Financial > Advanced.
  • When generating this report, please ensure you select Group by: Employee ID & Workcover Code and choose the Cash Basis option.

The WorkCover Report enables businesses, primarily labour-hire organisations, to export their wage payments and report them to insurers to estimate premiums for future years.

This report utilises your WIC code and payroll data to calculate your estimated WorkCover figure, eliminating the need for you to calculate it manually.

  Your WIC Groups and rates were likely set up during the implementation stage of your platform. For more information on setting up new or updating existing WIC Groups, please refer to our guide here.

The WorkCover report generates a report of:

• WIC code
• WorkCover label (name)
• WorkCover Applicable Gross
• WorkCover Applicable Super
• WorkCover Amount

  Please note: This report pulls data from generated payslips. Ensure that your Payroll has been processed for the relevant period (s) before running this report.

To generate the WorkCover Report:

1. Navigate to > Reports > Financial.
2. Under Accruals & Liabilities, select WorkCover Report.
3. Select your date duration and apply all relevant filters. To see all data, you can leave your filters blank or refine your search by applying filters. These include:
   • Office Code
   • Payroll Tax State
   • Operation
4. There are optional check box items that can be selected:
   • Cash Basis - To see totals as they were on the payment date rather than the period end date.
   • Show Breakdown of Items - Will break the report down by pay line items.
   • Show WorkCover Audit - Rounds totals to 4 decimal places. 
5. Select Submit to load the report. You have the option to print the report directly or export it as a CSV or PDF file.

You can report the specific dates, durations, and details of employees' Workers' Compensation leave under the Time Off menu.

This helps you accurately record and track the time employees are on Workers' Compensation, ensuring precise records and easier management. 
 

To report on the duration of an employee's Workers' Compensation:

1. Navigate to Time & Attendance > Time Off.
2. Select Filters and choose the Workers' Compensation Entitlement type.
3. Optionally select from other filters (Date range, Employment type, Operation, or Office code) to narrow down your results.

4. Select Apply filters.

   

5. Select Approved from the quick filters.
6. If looking to report on an individual employee, type their name into the search bar next to the quick filters.
7. Select the leave applications you want to export and select Export.