It’s reassuring to know that, with ACC WorkPlace Cover, employers can plan ahead with confidence knowing their employees are provided with no-fault cover for work-related personal injuries.
ACC WorkPlace Cover at a glance
- Employers pay for their employee’s workplace injury cover
- Cover is provided automatically when an employer registers with Inland Revenue
- Following an injury, employees can access medical treatment and rehabilitation services to assist with their recovery
- Access to compensation for lost earnings (up to 80% of the previous year’s income)
- Non-work injuries are paid by the employee via PAYE.
Eligibility for ACC WorkPlace Cover
All employees are eligible for ACC WorkPlace Cover, whether they are full-time, part-time or casual workers. This includes private domestic workers, shareholder-employees and employers who are also self-employed. More information about these employees can be found on the Customer groups page.
For work-related injuries, the employer must pay 80% of the employee’s earnings for the first week following an injury. ACC will cover any further time away from work, at up to 80% of the employee’s weekly earnings.
To further assist an injured employee, an employer can choose to pay 100% of the employee’s earnings for the first week.
Entitlements for employees
Some or all of the following entitlements may be applicable, depending on the nature of an employee’s injury and their individual needs. Remember, if an employee gets injured at work, one of the first things an employer should do is make sure the employee gets any necessary treatment as soon as possible.
See What support can I get? for information about the following entitlements:
- Treatment
- Managing at home
- Your work situation
- Getting a child back to school
- Getting to places you need to be
- Long-term injuries
- Permanent impairment
- When someone dies as a result of an injury.
Non-PAYE shareholder-employees
Employers are also required to provide workplace personal injury cover for all employees who are also shareholders. These “shareholder-employees” are automatically covered under ACC WorkPlace Cover, but are treated separately from PAYE employees.
For our purposes, any income paid to shareholders as remuneration is generated because of your business activity and is therefore liable for ACC levies. Your non-PAYE shareholder remuneration information is forwarded to us from Inland Revenue at the end of the tax year, based on earnings declared on the company IR4 tax return. We then send a levy invoice.
ACC WorkPlace Cover levies
Similarly, when an employer pays premiums for their business insurance, they also pay levies for their employee’s workplace injury cover under ACC WorkPlace Cover.
Generally speaking, the levy payable is based on how much your client pays in wages and the type of work they do. You can calculate your client’s levy using our online levy calculator.
For more information, see Levies and invoicing.
Invoicing for ACC WorkPlace Cover
Invoicing for ACC WorkPlace Cover starts in June of each year. Your client will receive two invoices during the course of the year that cover the tax year (1 April to 31 March):
- The first assessment, at the start of each cover year, is an estimated invoice, and is worked out using your client’s previous year’s income as an indication of what their future payroll will be.
- The second assessment is your client’s year end adjustment, and is based on a review of what your client’s payroll figure actually was (ACC usually issues a debit or credit note for the difference).
Non-PAYE shareholder-employees will be invoiced from August as information regarding liable earnings becomes available from Inland Revenue from the IR4.
For more information, see Invoicing.
Last updated: 15 December 2008