WORKERS' COMPENSATION AND INJURY MANAGEMENT ACT 1981 - SECT 61
WORKERS' COMPENSATION AND INJURY MANAGEMENT ACT 1981 - SECT 61
61 . Discontinuing or reducing weekly payments without order
(1) Subject to
subsections (7) and (8) and section 84, where weekly payments of compensation
for total or partial incapacity are made to a worker under this Act, they
shall not be discontinued or reduced without the consent of the worker or an
order of an arbitrator unless the worker has returned to work or a medical
practitioner has certified that the worker has total or partial capacity for
work or that the incapacity is no longer a result of the injury and a copy of
the certificate (which shall set out the grounds of the opinion of the medical
practitioner) together with at least 21 clear days’ prior notice of the
intention of the employer to discontinue the weekly payments or to reduce them
by such amount as is stated in the notice, has been served by the employer
upon the worker and unless within that period the worker has not made an
application under subsection (3).
(2) Weekly payments of
compensation for total or partial incapacity shall not be discontinued or
reduced pursuant to subsection (1) unless the notice referred to in that
subsection contains a clear statement —
(a)
informing the worker of the effect of failing to make an application under
subsection (3) within the time referred to therein; and
(b)
informing the worker that he may obtain information from WorkCover WA as to
the ways and means available to him to establish or protect his rights in
respect of his injury; and
(c)
containing such other information as may be prescribed.
(2a) If a person is
required to give notice under subsection (1) and —
(a)
fails to give the notice within the period referred to in that subsection; or
(b)
gives a notice that does not comply with subsection (2),
the person commits an
offence.
Penalty: $2 000.
(3) A worker who
disputes the right of his employer to discontinue or reduce the weekly
payments referred to in subsection (1) may, within the period of notice given
under that subsection or, if the employer fails to give the notice required
under that subsection, within the period of 21 days or such further time as an
arbitrator may allow from the day on which the weekly payments were
discontinued or reduced, apply for an order of an arbitrator that the weekly
payment shall not be discontinued or reduced.
(4) Upon the hearing
of an application referred to in subsection (3) an arbitrator shall —
(a)
adjourn the application on such terms as the arbitrator thinks fit; or
(b)
dismiss the application in which case the weekly payments may be discontinued
or reduced, as the case may be; or
(c) make
an order as to weekly payments by the employer to the worker on such terms as
the arbitrator thinks fit.
(4aa) A reference in
subsection (1), (3) or (4) to the employer is, where the employer is insured
against liability to pay compensation under this Act, a reference to the
employer’s insurer.
(4a) Upon the hearing
of an application referred to in subsection (3) an arbitrator —
(a) may,
where the case requires, take into account whether —
(i)
a return to work program has been established for the
worker under section 155C(1); and
(ii)
the establishment, content and implementation of the
return to work program are in accordance with the code as defined in
section 155; and
(iii)
the worker has participated in the return to work
program,
and for the purposes
of determining the application accordingly treat the worker’s incapacity
as being of such degree as the arbitrator sees fit; and
(b)
shall, where the case requires, take into account matters referred to in
clause 8.
(5) Subject to
subsections (7) and (8), weekly payments shall not be discontinued or reduced
otherwise than in accordance with this Act.
Penalty: $2 000.
(6) A conviction for
an offence that is a contravention of subsection (5) shall not affect any
liability for the making of weekly payments of compensation under this Act.
(7) Subsections (1)
and (2) do not apply to a discontinuance of payments —
(a) on
payment in full of the prescribed amount; or
(b) if
section 56 or Schedule 5 clause 2 applies in respect of the incapacity, on the
worker reaching the age at which his entitlement to compensation ceases; or
(ba) if
section 93E(8) or 93P(2)(b) applies to the payment of compensation; or
(c) on
suspension of payments in accordance with section 72, or 145D; or
(d) on
failure to comply with section 69 by a worker who does not reside in the
State.
(8) Subsections (1)
and (2) do not apply to a discontinuance or reduction of weekly payments of
compensation under section 59(7).
[Section 61 amended: No. 44 of 1985 s. 20; No. 96
of 1990 s. 11; No. 72 of 1992 s. 11 and 12; No. 48 of 1993 s. 28(1); No. 34 of
1999 s. 13 and 32(2); No. 42 of 2004 s. 48, 147 and 150.]