RETURN TO WORK ACT 2014 - SECT 129
RETURN TO WORK ACT 2014 - SECT 129
129—Self-insured employers
(1) Subject to this
section, an employer or a group of employers may apply to the Corporation for
registration as a self-insured employer or as a group of self-insured
employers.
(2) An application may
not be made under subsection (1) unless—
(a) in
the case of an application by an individual employer—
(i)
the employer is a body corporate; or
(ii)
the employer is an indemnified maritime employer;
(b) in
the case of an application by a group—
(i)
the members of the group are related bodies corporate or
local government corporations; and
(ii)
if the members of the group are
related bodies corporate—no related body corporate of any member of the
group that employs a worker or workers in employment to which this Act applies
is not a member of the group.
(a) an
application is made under subsection (1); and
(b) the
Corporation is satisfied—
(i)
that the employer or the employers constituting the group
have reached a standard that, in the opinion of the Corporation, must be
achieved before conferral of self-insured status can be considered; and
(ii)
that in all the circumstances it is appropriate to do so,
the Corporation may register the employer or the group as a self-insured
employer or a group of self-insured employers.
(4) Without limiting
subsection (3), the Corporation may reject an application under
subsection (2)(a) if the employer is a member of a group comprised of
related bodies corporate or local government corporations.
(5) A registration
under this section—
(a) is
subject to—
(i)
a condition that the self-insured employer must adopt and
apply the service standards set out in Schedule 5 (but these standards do
not, in themselves, give rise to substantive rights or liabilities (compared
to rights or liabilities established or prescribed under other relevant
provisions of this Act)); and
(ii)
a condition that the self-insured employer must not
exercise any power or discretion delegated to the self-insured employer under
this Act unreasonably; and
(iii)
such other terms and conditions as the Corporation
determines from time to time or as are prescribed by the regulations; and
(b) if
the self-insured status was conferred on the ground that the employer is an
indemnified maritime employer—is subject to a condition limiting the
effect of the conferral to the workers, or a specified class of the workers,
to whom the relevant indemnity relates; and
(c) if
self-insured status was conferred on a group of related bodies
corporate—is subject to the condition that there is at no time a related
body corporate to any member of the group that employs a worker or workers in
employment to which this Act applies that is not a member of the group; and
(d) is
subject to a condition that the self-insured employer will comply with any
code of conduct for self-insured employers determined by the Corporation from
time to time and published in the Gazette; and
(e)
takes effect on a date fixed by the Corporation; and
(f)
subject to this section—
(i)
has effect for an initial period (not exceeding
3 years) determined by the Corporation; and
(ii)
may, on further application to the Corporation, be
renewed from time to time for a further period (not exceeding 5 years)
determined by the Corporation at the time of the renewal.
(6) The Corporation
may, at any time, on the application of 2 or more self-insured employers,
amend the registration of each self-insured employer so as to form a group on
the ground that they are now related bodies corporate.
(7) The Corporation
may, at any time, on application by a self-insured employer or a group of
self-insured employers, amend the registration of the group in order to—
(a) add
another body corporate to the group (on the ground that the body corporate is
now a related body corporate); or
(b)
remove a body corporate from the group (on the ground that the body corporate
is no longer a related body corporate); or
(c)
amalgamate the registration of 2 or more groups (on the ground that all the
bodies corporate are now related bodies corporate); or
(d)
divide the registration of a group into 2 or more new groups (on the ground
that the bodies corporate have separated into 2 or more groups of related
bodies corporate).
(8) For the purposes
of subsection (2)(b) and (7), a foreign company that is a
holding company cannot be a member of a group (and, to the extent that is
relevant, will be disregarded when determining the bodies corporate that will
be related bodies corporate for the purposes of the grouping provisions of
this section (including, if the Corporation thinks fit, so as to exclude also
any subsidiary of such a holding company)).
(9) The Corporation
may revoke the registration of a self-insured employer or group of
self-insured employers, or reduce the period of registration, if the employer,
or a member of the group, (as the case requires) breaches or fails to comply
with this Act or a term or condition of registration.
(10) The Corporation
may revoke the registration of a self-insured employer under an agreement
between the Corporation and the employer (which may include terms or
conditions that the employer must comply with before the revocation can take
effect).
(11) In deciding
whether to grant, renew, revoke, or reduce the period of registration as a
self-insured employer or group of employers under this section, the
Corporation may have regard to such matters as it considers relevant and will
have regard to the following:
(a) the
number of employees employed by the employer or group;
(b)
whether the employer or group is, and is likely to continue to be, able to
meet its liabilities;
(c) the
resources that the employer or group has for the purpose of administering
claims under this Act;
(d) the
incidence and severity of work injuries arising from employment by the
employer or employers;
(e) the
effect, or likely effect, of the working conditions under which workers are
employed by the employer, or any of the employers, on the health and safety of
those workers;
(f) the
record of the employer or employers in relation to the rehabilitation of
injured workers and achieving their recovery and return to work;
(g) the
record of the employer or employers in providing suitable employment to
workers who suffer work injuries;
(h) the
views of any industrial association that has, in the opinion of the
Corporation, a proper interest in the matter,
but once an employer or group has been registered as self-insured, the
Corporation must not, in deciding whether to renew the registration, consider
the effect of the registration on the Compensation Fund.
(12) If employers are
registered as a group of self-insured employers, 1 of those employers
nominated in the application for registration will, for the purposes of this
Act, be treated as the employer of all workers employed by the various members
of the group.
(13) The Corporation
may, on application by a group of self-insured employers, accept the
nomination of another member of the group as the relevant employer under
subsection (12).
(14) Despite
subsection (12), the members of the group are jointly and severally
liable to satisfy the liabilities under this Act of the member referred to in
subsection (12).
(15) In this
section—
"foreign company" has the same meaning as it has under the
Corporations Act 2001 of the Commonwealth;
"holding company" has the same meaning as it has under the
Corporations Act 2001 of the Commonwealth;
"indemnified maritime employer" means an employer that has the benefit of an
indemnity granted by a member of the International Group of Protection and
Indemnity Associations;
"related bodies corporate" means—
(a) in
the case of corporations—bodies corporate that are related
bodies corporate under section 50 of the Corporations Act 2001 of the
Commonwealth;
(b) in
the case of any other kind of bodies corporate—bodies corporate that are
associated entities under section 50AAA of the Corporations Act 2001 of
the Commonwealth.