WorkCover launches online premium estimator

WorkCover NSW has launched an online tool to help businesses estimate their annual workers compensation costs. Based on a similar concept to the Motor Accident Authority's successful Green Slip Calculator, the Premium Estimator is located on the WorkCover NSW website and enables employers to estimate their workers compensation premium.

The Premium Estimator was designed to provide a service to employers where they were working - online, said WorkCover NSW CEO, Lisa Hunt. "With highly mobile workforces, business owners and workers are spending more and more time working online," Hunt said.

"As any business owner will tell you, time is money and the ability to easily get an estimate of your workers compensation premium will save both time and money. The Premium Estimator makes it easier for start-ups, businesses looking to diversify or those looking to expand, to check their workers compensation premium and is part of WorkCover's customer-focused approach to helping NSW employers."

Hunt said WorkCover sought feedback from employer groups and businesses during the development of the Premium Estimator. "We acknowledge that managing workers compensation premiums can be a source of frustration and confusion for many small businesses," Hunt said.

"Businesses can identify their WorkCover Industry Classification using the Premium Estimator, which will help them to better understand their workers compensation premiums, while giving assurance they are properly classified. It also enables businesses to plan for the future by testing what happens to their workers compensation premiums if they add or change business activities, change staffing levels or have a claim.

"The Premium Estimator can also be used by vision- or mobility-impaired people because it meets the World Wide Web Consortium’s Web Content Accessibility Guidelines. WorkCover worked with an accessibility specialist to ensure people with different levels of vision impairment could use the estimator and participants with a range of impairments physically tested the estimator during development.

"We have ensured the needs of our customers have been incorporated into the Premium Estimator and believe it is an excellent resource that will help employers better understand and manage their workers compensation insurance."