Employer responsibilities in recovery

Why supporting your worker matters 

When a worker is injured or becomes ill because of their job, they need support to recover. As their employer, you play an important role in helping them get back to work safely and confidently. 

Your role in helping your worker get back to work

You must support your worker’s rehabilitation and their early, safe return to work.

Rehabilitation should start as soon as it’s safe to do so after the injury.

Research by the Australasian Faculty of Occupational and Environmental Medicine shows that getting back to work as soon as possible can greatly improve a worker’s recovery outcomes.

A worker may need changes to their duties or working hours to help them get back to work safely.

Offering suitable duties

Your legal obligation

You have responsibilities under the Workers’ Compensation and Rehabilitation Act 2003 (‘the Act’).

Section 228 of the Act says that when a worker has a claim for compensation, you must take all reasonable steps to assist or provide rehabilitation. This applies during the worker’s entitlement to compensation.

We call this suitable duties.

If you cannot offer suitable duties

• You must give us written reasons and supporting evidence.
• Insufficient evidence may result in penalties.

Contact us if you’re not sure what duties you can offer. We’re here to guide you.

Your responsibilities explained

Report the injury to us

You must notify us of the injury.

Stay in touch with your worker

Contact your worker as soon as possible after they’re injured. Early contact helps reassure them and supports recovery.

Provide wage information quickly

We’ll ask for your worker’s wage history before we decide the claim, in case they need time off work.

Providing this early allows us to pay your worker soon as possible if we accept their claim.

Support your worker’s rehabilitation

You’re responsible for helping your worker stay at work or return to work safely.

Follow the seven principles in the Guidelines for Standard for Rehabilitation to support their recovery.

Talk about workplace adjustments

Talk openly with your worker about changes that could support safe work.

Understand the impact of the injury

Take the time to understand how the injury is affecting your worker, both physically and mentally. This helps you plan safe and realistic duties.

Offer suitable duties

You can provide:

• reduced hours
• different tasks
• adjusted equipment
• alternative roles, if appropriate.

If this isn’t possible, we can talk to you about other return to work options.

Monitor recovery and keep us up to date

Check in with your worker regularly and:

• update us on their recovery progress
• adjust their duties as they improve.

Make sure key staff are trained

Make sure your key staff:

• have the skills and training they need
• are supporting your worker as required.

Protect your workers’ employment

You must not dismiss an injured worker within 12 months of their injury solely or mainly because they’re not fit for their role because of the injury.

Use workers’ compensation documents correctly

Only use workers’ compensation documents to help your worker get back to work.

Do not use them for:

• disciplinary action
• employment decisions
• performance management.

Additional responsibilities for certain employers

Under section 226(1) of the Act, some employers must meet extra requirements based on the amount of wages they pay or their industry risk level.

These apply if:

• your Queensland wages in the previous financial year were 5,200 times Queensland’s full-time adult’s ordinary time earnings (QOTE), or
• you operate in a high risk industry and your Queensland wages were 2,600 times QOTE in the previous financial year.

If you meet either of these, the responsibilities below apply to you.

Maintain workplace rehabilitation policies

You must put in place and maintain effective workplace rehabilitation policies and procedures (PDF, 265 KB).

Appoint a Rehabilitation and Return to Work Coordinator

This person plays a key role in helping your workers get back to work safely.

They must:

• be based in Queensland
• be employed under a contract
• have the skills, experience or training needed.

Contact us if you're not sure whether this applies to you. We're here to help.