The Effects of Changing Patterns of Employment on Reporting Occupational Injuries and Making Worker' Compensation Claims

摘要

In the past 20 years there has been a significant growth in those working in self-employment, inmicro small businesses, or under casual, part-time, subcontract, franchised, telework or homeworkingarrangements in Australia. These employment status groups are now commonly known as precarious workers;principally because their continued employment and income is uncertain. The available research indicates thatthe probability of a work-related injury is greater for precarious workers. This paper focuses on the extent towhich precariously employed Australian workers formally report their work-related injuries and illnesses andclaim workers’ compensation.While Australia has comprehensive – although fragmented – workers’ compensation insurance systems, thisformal coverage does not correlate with the propensity to make workers’ compensation claims. Findings froma series of Australian precarious worker studies are summarised in this paper and a detailed analysis ofworkers’ compensation claims experiences from our latest research project on long distance truck drivers ispresented. We argue that even those precarious workers covered by workers’ compensation insurance are lesslikely to claim than other workers for two key reasons: uncertainty of coverage and fear of consequences if aclaim is made. Thus injured precarious workers are more reliant on their own resources after injury, toexternalise injury treatment costs onto taxpayer funded resources, or to leave injuries and illness untreated witha potential to develop into chronic conditions.