Basic weekly payments

When you may get a basic weekly workers’ compensation payment and how it’s calculated.

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When you may get a basic weekly payment

If your workers’ compensation claim has been accepted, we can pay you a basic weekly payment if we don’t have enough information to work out how much weekly compensation to pay you.

We’ll pay you a basic weekly amount until we get the wage details we need from your employer.

Your first payment will be made on whichever occurs later:

six days after we approve your claim, or
the end of your excess period.

The excess period is the first week you can’t work.

You’ll only be paid for the time your doctor says you can’t work.

How we work out basic weekly payments

We work out your basic weekly payment as a percentage of Queensland Ordinary Time Earnings (QOTE) which reflects Queensland’s average weekly earnings.

Full-time workers get 55% of QOTE
Part-time and casual workers get 55% of QOTE, adjusted to match the average hours you worked in the last four weeks

We’ll correct any payment differences when your weekly compensation begins.

How employers send us wage details

We’ll send employers a written notice asking for the wage details we need.

Once they receive the notice, they must respond within five business days.

If an employer does not respond

If an employer doesn’t send us the wage information and doesn’t have a valid reason, they may receive a penalty.

They can apply in writing to have the penalty waived or reduced.

Their application should explain the circumstances and why the penalty should be changed.

We’ll review their request and decide whether to waive, reduce, or uphold the penalty.

If the employer disagrees with our decision, they can request a review.