Workcover Investigators – just say no!

Workcover Investigators – just say no!

ASU Branch Secretary Brian Parkinson has lauded the advice from Trades Hall to workers that there is nothing to gain by speaking to a Workcover Investigator during a claim.

Brian has urged ASU members to read the below advice before making a claim.

“Often, people making a claim feel that it is somehow against the law if they refuse to speak to these Workcover investigators. We want to make sure our members at the ASU realise that this isn’t the case. In fact, you will have a better chance of a positive result if you steer clear of these investigators,” said Brian.

Advice from Trades Hall

The Trades Hall experience is that there is absolutely nothing for a worker to gain and everything to lose by speaking with a Workcover investigator. Remember, it is the workers’ right to refuse to speak with an investigator. Refusal to speak with an investigator is not a ground for rejecting a claim.

The investigator often comes with a set of prepared questions which unknowingly leads the worker to a stage where they may undermine their own claim. This is not a question of honesty. The many workers that have been trapped by this scenario are absolutely honest

Union representatives succeed with more claims where the worker has not spoken to the investigator because no undermining evidence can be manufactured prior to conference. However, the worker often sees the investigator after work when they are tired (a couple of hours of so-called investigation is not unusual), and often the worker does not understand the importance of what is being asked. The statement is always typed by the investigator, the emphasis of the statement is often changed and the worker signs the statement, which is enough to create a dispute. This means a refusal of claim and the worker must go to court.

Even if the above does not happen, the statements are not confidential.  The investigator will go back to the employer and show them what has been said.  Often, statements are then taken or given by others that are different to that as stated by the worker.  This again creates a factual dispute which undermines the claim regularly means that the worker must go to court.

So, if a worker asks if they should speak with an investigator, our advice is to just say no!