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Welcome to The Workover

By on April 12, 2013 in Ramblings & Whinges, Stories, WorkCover, WorkSafe Vic

Welcome to The Workover “Workover” is what I’ve come to call the industry that thrives off the billion dollar annual WorkCover budget in Victoria. “Workover” is a corruption of the word “WorkCover”, one that comes naturally to mind when you’ve spent any time in the system. WorkCover promises rehabilitation, compensation, and return to work for [...]

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When It’s In The Workover, Bullying can be Masked as Incompetence.

By on March 17, 2013 in Bullying & Stress, Case manager (follies), Corruption, Entitlements, Insurance companies, Nasty workcover employees, Ramblings & Whinges, Return to work, Stuff, WorkSafe Vic

When It’s In The Workover, Bullying can be Masked as Incompetence. At the moment, I’m engaged in a struggle with my Claims Management over my FOI requests, and my request for retraining. Both these struggles have been initiated by my personal requests. Neither should present cause for struggle. I have the right to obtain all [...]

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Workcover surveillance – what if the roles were reversed?

By on March 14, 2013 in Ramblings & Whinges, Surveillance

An injured worker was recently followed by several [workcover] private investigators for more than a year. But the creeps did not only followthe injured worker around, they also followed his wife and daughter, who have no workcover claim! Another seriously injured worker based in NSW recently told us he had to sell his house because [...]

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Being on workcover means losing control & with lack of control comes desperation

By on March 11, 2013 in Frustration & Violence, Psych, Ramblings & Whinges

The harsh reality few understand -and even fewer are willingly to express openly- is that when an injured worker is on the “system”, they start to lose control, and lack of control can often lead to desperation – and a desperate injured worker, “fed up” with the workcover system act out in different ways. Many [...]

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Exerpts from an injured worker’s diary

By on December 16, 2012 in Diary entries, Psych, Ramblings & Whinges, Serious injury, Stuff, WorkSafe Vic

I found this exerpt from my diary in 2010. Just thought I would share it in the interests of helping develop an understanding of some of the realities of having a psychiatric injury and trying to negotiate the Workover that is dressed up as Workcover. The entry was written when I was enduring months of [...]

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Why Injured workers want to return to work

By on October 6, 2012 in Case manager (follies), Ramblings & Whinges, Return to work, suitable employment

For whatever obscure reason workcover case managers are drilled and brainwashed time and time again to believe that just about all injured workers are up to no good and are only looking for a free holiday. I always tear my hair out at this sickening and totally unsubstantiated statement.  As we posted under “myths”: Injured [...]

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The workcover case manager ten commandments

By on September 16, 2012 in Case manager (follies), Ramblings & Whinges

This article [rant!!] covers what we believe should be the  Ten Commandments of workcover insurance that should be followed by all workcover case managers working to fulfill the promises made by the insurer to the injured worker… The workcover case manager ten commandments An important duty of a workcover case manager is to confirm coverage [...]

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Being on workcover is war

By on September 7, 2012 in Case manager (follies), Ramblings & Whinges, Tips & Tricks, WorkCover

The more I think about how to describe what it is like to be a medium to severely injured worker on workcover, the closer I get to a description: it is war! It shouldn’t be a warfare -or better yet: an Asymmetric Warfare- but it is , this is what becomes because you will find [...]

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Why on earth would injured workers commit deceit, fraud or malinger?

By on August 27, 2012 in Fraud & Abuse, Ramblings & Whinges, Surveillance

According to tabloids, government, workcover and their agents it is “not rare” to learn that an injured worker who is unable to work, is actually “gainfully employed” while claiming workers compensation and that malingering and corruption is a “significant concern”. Why on earth would injured workers commit deceit, fraud or malinger? With 8 years of [...]

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Who is investigating the multi-layered administration driving the costs of workers comp?

By on August 22, 2012 in Case manager (follies), Diary entries, Politics, Ramblings & Whinges, WorkCover, WorkCover NSW, WTF

I refer to an earlier article stating that the Australian Medical Association (AMA) has told the NSW state parliamentary inquiry that poor administration and red tape are to blame for blowouts in the NSW workers’ compensation scheme. The AMA NSW vice president told the inquiry that benefits to the genuinely injured and disabled wouldn’t have [...]

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How a company turned 13 workcover claims into just 2

By on August 22, 2012 in Ramblings & Whinges, WorkCover, WTF

It has come to our attention, via our forum discussions, that the website Return to Work Matters featured a bizarre article in which a workers compensation manager [Annette Photios] managed to reduce  13 major  workcover claims (each of $100,000 plus) to just two. Amongst the coercive strategies used, they go in to full rehab from [...]

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Last year WorkCover NSW and WorkSafe outlined alarming costs of workers comp, but no plans of reform

By on June 25, 2012 in Ramblings & Whinges, WorkCover NSW, WorkSafe Vic

In December last year (2011) we recall that both WorkCover NSW and WorkSafe Victoria clarified the alarming cost of workers’ compensation claims for stress, industrial deafness and musculoskeletal disorders, and outlined what they planned to do to help employers reduce them in their 2011-2015 Occupational Disease and Wellbeing Strategy. There was/is no mention of reforming [...]

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National Disgrace: Workers forced to wear barcodes

By on June 8, 2012 in Bullying & Stress, Ramblings & Whinges

  TAKE A NUMBER AND STAND IN LINE! THIS REALLY IS A DISGRACE – HOWEVER, IT IS NOT SURPRISING.  ITS BEEN HAPPENING TO INJURED AND ILL WORKERS FOR A LONG TIME.  THIS EMPLOYER HAS JUST BEEN DUMB ENOUGH TO MAKE IT A FORMALITY.  HITLER WOULD BE PROUD OF THEIR EFFICIENCY! CASUAL workers at a warehouse [...]

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Moral dilemma ahead for O Farrell Government

By on June 5, 2012 in Ramblings & Whinges, WorkCover NSW

There is much more to reforms than  simply cutting costs. There are a host of human welfare issues to consider.  Failure to acknowledge the very real impact of ill-conceived and arbitrary cost cutting of current benefits will have on the lives’ of injured workers and their families presents a very real moral dilemma for the [...]

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Evidence that money breeds greed and kills empathy

By on May 15, 2012 in Corruption, Psych, Ramblings & Whinges, Stuff

I can’t help it, the social scientist in me won out. I just came across a very interesting article in the New Scientist.   I think it offers an interesting insight into why the workers compensation is the way it is.  It doesn’t address this system directly, but it does highlight why the concerns of injured [...]

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Injured workers are treated like cars in an accident, written off or patched up by dodgy insurance companies

By on May 1, 2012 in Insurance companies, Ramblings & Whinges, Stories, WorkCover

I have so many examples of injustice in these systems, says B, an injured worker. ” As I sit here and wait for the next stabbing pain, I thank you so much for this site and for the courage of all the victims. One day maybe we can get better treatment but that only comes [...]

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