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New compensation laws leave contractors out in the cold

New legislation that changes the definition of a worker for workers’ compensation purposes has been passed in the Queensland Parliament. The legislation, which comes into effect on 1 July 2013, will particularly affect contractors.

There will be no change for the majority of workers who will continue to be covered for workers’ compensation. The changes may affect who is covered for workers’ compensation particularly in the resources and mining industries, where there are different contracting arrangements.

Examples of individuals no longer covered for workers’ compensation are those who:

  • supply and operate their own plant, such as earthmoving equipment or trucks as part of their contract (e.g. bob cat, back hoe, prime movers, taxi trucks, cement trucks, tow trucks)
  • work mainly/substantially for labour only, quote for the job, provide their tools of trade, rectify defects at their own expense, subcontracts/employs labour
  • have a personal services business determination (PSBD) from the ATO.

Further information

If you or your workers may be affected by this change, you can review the information at www.workcoverqld.com.au or use the ATO employer/contractor decision tool to work out specific contracting arrangements.

Note: When declaring your actual wages for the 2012-13 financial year you need to declare wages as per the worker definition up until 30 June 2013. The change applies only from 1 July 2013, which affects provisional wages declaration for the 2013-14 financial year and for workers injured from 1 July onwards.

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