Author: Teamwsib

Following a recent review by the NSW State Government, iCare can confirm that NSW workers compensation premiums will increase on policies due for renewal from 30th June 2022 onwards. This modest increase aims to balance the cost impacts faced by NSW businesses as a result of recent natural disasters, COVID-19 and other global inflationary pressures.

What this increase means for you:

• It can be expected that 50% of rates will not change, with the other 50% increasing by an average of 2.9%;
• Monthly installments will be available to anyone with an average performance premium of over $1,000.00;
• Late payment fee has been set at 0.647% for any overdue debts.

iCare has confirmed that the LPR adjustment factors will also increase for the period 30/06/2022 – 30/06/2023 as outlined in the table below:

Reforms introduced as part of the Hayne royal commission mean that a failure to comply with certain AFS licensing obligations – including obligations relating to how cyber risks are addressed – may give rise to a civil penalty. This was precisely the situation a financial services firm found themselves in when recently, they were prosecuted by ASIC for failing to comply with these obligations. According to Insurance News, their Cyber policy was too lax.

For this reason, it is so important to ensure your business has adequate cyber risk management systems in place to manage cybersecurity risks or you could risk facing prosecution.

Some risks that you and your clients could be exposed to if you don’t have a sufficient risk management strategy in place are:

• Compromise of confidential data
• Fraudulent emails requesting funds to be transferred
• Ransomware
• Unauthorised access to servers.

Below are some examples of how you could minimise this risk:

• Password-protect documents sent via email which contain personal client information;
• Avoid using personal email addresses like Gmail;
• Use passwords for IT devices and implement a password policy;
• Use up-to-date security software including anti-virus;
• Assess software annually for currency and apply patches regularly;
• Have an “acceptable use” policy for staff;
• Back up data regularly, store backups securely, and test them regularly;
• Implement physical security requirements such as locking premises and having a clean desk policy.

If you would like more information on how you can improve your businesses cybersecurity position then please reach out to us on (02) 9587 3500, or at theteam@wsib.com.au

Traditionally, the insurance market has been cyclical and we saw premiums rise and fall over a 7-10 year period. However, as a result of the ongoing catastrophes in the last five years (outlined in the table below), alongside low interest rates, high inflation, and supply chain issues the market has been faced with unprecedented times and the hardest insurance market there has ever been. Clubs are being faced with significant premium increases and reduction in cover by insurers in order for them to rectify historically unpredictable results. It is of our opinion that this increase is the new benchmark and premiums are unlikely to fluctuate drastically in future but rather rise and fall by 5-10% around the ‘new normal’.

In order to manage the increase in premiums and increase your businesses appeal to insurers it is important now more than ever to have a solid risk management plan in place.

Did you know that the Finance and the Legal, Accounting and Management services industries both sit within the top three positions when it comes to the highest amount of cyber breaches according to the OAIC?

Health has the most breaches, at 83, followed by finance (56), legal, accounting & management services (51), personal services (36) and education (32).

According to the ASCS, some of the most common cyber threats are listed below:

• Cryptomining
• Data spill
• Denial of Service
• Hacking
• Identity theft
• Malicious insiders
• Malware
• Phishing – scam emails
• Ransomware
• Scams
• Web shell malware

Is your business protected in the event of a Cyber breach?

For more information on any of the above, or to ensure your business is adequately protected, please reach out to your WSIB Account Manager or contact the office on (02) 9587 3500 or theteam@wsib.com.au. Alternatively you can click the link below.

iCare launches open market tender for claims and injury management services.

This tender is for the procurement of claims and injury management services for the NSW Nominal Insurer workers compensation scheme.

This tender process follows the final 12-month extension to icare’s existing provider contracts ensuring stability as the tender process gets underway. Service providers who are successful will begin on 1 January 2023.

Freeze announced on eligible employers moving between claim service providers

icare has announced it will introduce a six-month freeze on employers moving between claim service providers (CSPs) while it finalises the open market tender for new CSPs.

For employers currently eligible to move between providers, the freeze will begin on 15 July 2022 and end on 1 January 2023 when the successful tenderers for claims management services are to begin operations.

By making this change, icare believes the freeze will minimise potential disruption over this transition period to the new claims model.

For more information on any of the above, please reach out to your WSIB Account Executive or contact the office on (02) 9587 3500 or theteam@wsib.com.au. Alternatively you can click the link below.

As Christmas approaches, we regularly see an increase in the prevalence of armed hold ups and workplace violence or aggression.  The festive season brings joy, but it can also bring challenges for workplaces. 

Armed hold ups take various forms, from threats with a firearm, to threats with a knife or other blades.  Workplace violence and aggression can be from disgruntled, or frustrated customers and range from from verbal abuse to more extreme acts of violence. Your staff can be exposed to serious risk. 

Prevention to protect your workers

Prevention is focused on understanding your business and determining relevant strategies.  Start by completing a risk assessment, in consultation with your workers.  This helps you understand the vulnerabilities of your business, including insight from your workers on their challenges, and therefore helps you develop the most effective controls or prevention strategies relevant to you. Your risk assessment could include:

• Review of any previous incidents
• Review of differences in peak periods, low periods and special events
• Identification of the physical vulnerabilities of your workplace
• Analysis of your banking and closing procedures.

Following your risk assessment you can determine what you already do well as preventative strategies, and also areas you could improve.  Some prevention strategies include:

• CCTV
• Engaging security personnel (particularly during busy periods and closing)
• Installing time delay safes
• Consider having at least 2 people within at the workplace at any given time
• Install or implement duress alarms, either fixed or portable (for the duty manager or other relevant roles)
• Have procedures in place so that your workers know what to do in the event of an incident and TRAIN YOUR WORKERS on these procedures

For more information on this, please contact us on (02) 9587 3500, theteam@wsib.com.au, contact your account manager or click the link below.

iCare have confirmed that they will exclude COVID-19 claims and COVID-19 vaccination claims from the individual claims experience of Nominal Insurer policy holders to protect any individual employer or industries from disproportionately being impacted by COVID-19. For more information click the following link – https://www.icare.nsw.gov.au/

They have also updated their information on workers who have suffered an adverse reaction to a COVID-19 vaccine. iCare stated that in certain circumstances an adverse reaction to the COVID-19 vaccine may be covered under workers compensation. To be covered, it needs to be satisfied that:

• The vaccine injury arose out of, or in the course of, the worker’s employment; and
• The worker’s employment was a substantial contributing factor to the vaccine injury or was the main contributing factor to a disease injury; or
• In the case of a heart attack or stroke injury, the nature of the employment was a relevant factor in increasing the risk of the injury.

For more information on this, please visit the following link – https://www.icare.nsw.gov.au/. Alternatively, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us on (02) 9587 3500, theteam@wsib.com.au, contact your account manager or click the link below.

The justice system can be complex and expensive. Legal expenses insurance provides you with affordable access to legal advice and representation when you might otherwise be deterred from exercising your legal rights. 

Business legal expense insurance offers your business three key benefits:

• Legal Expenses:  If legal action is necessary, legal expenses insurance products are there to cover some of the legal costs and expenses of certain future legal actions and may include coverage for adverse cost orders.
• Resources:  access to many helpful legal documents which can assist with your legal needs as well as access to the Document Review Cover. This permits policy holders to have two eligible documents reviewed by an Appointed Advisor during the Period of Insurance. The use or completion of these documents is solely at the customer’s risk.
• Legal Information Helpline:  access to a confidential legal information
  helpline for general information about Australian legal matters. The call will be referred to a legal service provider who will be responsible for the information provided. 

CASE STUDY

ABC is a small business that employs 5 employees. Following repeated written warnings for tardiness and rude behaviour ABC provides written notice of termination. The employee was upset and felt that he has been treated unfairly and pursued a wrongful dismissal claim against ABC. ABC had followed the Small Business Fair Dismissal Code providing the employee with warnings before the termination. The insurer appointed lawyers to challenge the jurisdiction of the Fair Work Commission and negotiated the withdrawal of the claim. ABC had a nil excess. All legal costs were covered by the insurer.

If you would like to find out more about this product please contact us on (02) 9587 3500, theteam@wsib.com.au, reach out to your account manager or click the link below.

With life having changed dramatically, particularly in NSW now, it is important now more than ever to keep active. Exercise plays a key role in managing the symptoms of anxiety.

Through exercise and movement, you are helping to combat anxiety by stimulating the feel-good hormones: dopamine, endorphins, and positive mood states.

Below are some tips to help you get started:

• Small is better than not at all – adding modest amounts of physical activity to your weekly routine can make a big difference in reducing stress, improving memory, and boosting your overall mood.
• Add variety to how you exercise – change your exercise routine to help keep it enjoyable. This also helps to prevent overuse injuries and benefits different body systems.
• Move mindfully – the natural regular rhythm associated with exercising helps create a calmer and more positive mood state. Mindfulness practices through exercise can help us increase our ability to regulate our emotions, decrease stress, anxiety, and depression. 
• Exercise to connect – this one needs to be done in accordance with the government advice in your local area. However, human connection whether it be with a friend, family member, or work colleague can calm and soothe the nervous system and ameliorate depression.

It is so important to look after your mental health and ensure your employees are doing the same. If we can be of any assistance in this area or if you simply just want to have a chat, please don’t hesitate to reach out to our team on (02) 9587 3500 or email your account manager.

Original article source: MyFitness Passport

The Australian Cyber Security Centre (ACSC) has seen a growing trend of cyber attacks affecting construction companies and their customers. In the past six months there has been an increase in cybercriminals targeting builders and construction companies to conduct business email compromise (BEC) scams within Australia.

According to the ACSC, in a BEC scam, cybercriminals will send fraudulent emails posing as a legitimate business. These emails typically target the customers of the business and will ask them to change bank account details for future invoice payments. Victims assume this request is legitimate and will then send invoice payments to a bank account operated by the scammer.

These fraudulent emails may come from hacked email accounts, or cybercriminals might register domain names that are similar to legitimate companies (typically by swapping letters or adding additional characters). At a quick glance, an email address may look legitimate when it is actually being operated by a cybercriminal.

Successful BECs may go unnoticed for weeks or months until the construction company follows up on missing payments.

All parties to construction projects should be vigilant when communicating by email, particularly when discussing bank account details or invoicing.

If you need help in any of these areas, or you have any questions with regards to Cyber insurance, don’t hesitate to reach out to our team on (02) 9587 3500 or email your account manager.

Original article source: https://www.cyber.gov.au/acsc/view-all-content/alerts/cybercriminals-targeting-construction-companies-conduct-email-scams