It will be much harder for nurses and midwives to get workers compensation for being infected with COVID-19 if the NSW Liberal/National Party government gets its way.
The Perrottet government has moved to strip nurses and midwives and other essential workers of their automatic right to workers compensation cover for COVID-19.
The government has introduced legislation to state parliament to repeal amendments to the Workers Compensation Act 1987 (NSW) introduced in May 2020.
Under these amendments, workers in health, aged care, disability, transport, hospitality, retail, education, and construction making a workers compensation claim for COVID-19 are presumed to have been infected on the job.
However, under the latest legislation they will have to prove they were infected on the job and not in the community or at the shops.
Angry nurses and midwives sent about 25,000 emails to members of parliament over one weekend in November, urging them to block the government’s planned changes.
NSWNMA General Secretary, Brett Holmes, called the government’s move a disgrace.
“Workers would be forced to engage lawyers to fight their case and produce costly scientific evidence
to prove they got infected at work,” he told a media conference.
“This is increasingly difficult when vaccinated people can carry the disease without symptoms and may not get tested.
“The minimum COVID-19 recovery time is 14 days, yet the average full-time permanent worker gets 10 days’ sick leave per year.
“The most vulnerable healthcare workers are casuals who have helped keep our health system afloat throughout COVID-19. They get zero sick leave.
“If nurses are forced to go through a disputed claims process it could be months before they get an outcome.
“This is out of touch, insulting and cruel.
“We want to make sure all our members are confident they will be looked after when they go to work. And that we won’t have to have to engage the union’s lawyers to mount one hell of a fight to get a couple of weeks’ wages.”
The government says repealing the 2020 amendments will save the average small business $950 a year in insurance premiums.
But Brett said the government is “living in fantasyland” by claiming a saving of $950 will lead businesses to employ more people and increase wages.
“I call upon those small businesses that have advocated for this to think about the workers who keep the health system, the aged care system, the police and other services in operation,” he said.
‘Workers would be forced to engage lawyers to fight their case and produce costly scientific evidence to prove they got infected at work.’— Brett Holmes