If you are injured while working as an apprentice in NSW and cannot work normally, workers compensation may provide weekly payments to replace some of your lost income. But apprentices can present a particular challenge: your wage at the time of the accident may not represent what you would have been earning several months later.
Apprentice wages commonly increase as you move through different stages of your training. If an injury prevents you from working for an extended period, calculating compensation solely by reference to your original apprentice wage could therefore fail to reflect the progression you would otherwise have made.
NSW workers compensation rules recognise this issue. Understanding how your pre-injury average weekly earnings (PIAWE) are calculated and adjusted can help you check whether you are receiving the correct weekly payments.
Can an Apprentice Receive Workers Compensation?
Generally, apprentices who meet the definition of a worker can access the NSW workers compensation system in the same way as other eligible employees.
Workers compensation may provide support including weekly payments for lost earnings, medical and rehabilitation expenses, and potentially other entitlements depending on the nature and severity of the injury.
The State Insurance Regulatory Authority (SIRA) explains that weekly payments are intended to compensate for lost income where a worker cannot work or has reduced capacity because of a work-related injury.
Being young, relatively new to the workplace or still completing an apprenticeship does not by itself prevent you from receiving weekly compensation.
What Is PIAWE?
Weekly compensation is generally calculated using your pre-injury average weekly earnings, commonly abbreviated to PIAWE.
For workers injured on or after 21 October 2019, SIRA describes PIAWE as the weekly average of gross earnings received for work in employment in which the worker was engaged at the time of injury.
The insurer calculates your PIAWE using information supplied by you and your employer. Depending on the circumstances, relevant earnings information can become important when establishing the appropriate amount.
PIAWE matters because it provides the starting point for calculating many weekly payment entitlements. Your actual weekly compensation may then depend on other factors, including your current work capacity, current earnings and how long you have been receiving payments.
Why Are Apprentices Treated Differently?
Imagine a first-year apprentice is injured and remains unable to work when they would otherwise have progressed into the second year of their apprenticeship. Their second-year wage may be higher than their first-year wage.
If weekly compensation continued indefinitely using only the original first-year earnings, the calculation would not recognise the wage progression that would ordinarily have occurred.
NSW workers compensation guidelines specifically address this problem. For apprentices, trainees and young people entitled to weekly payments, PIAWE must be adjusted when an age or employment-stage increment becomes due after the injury.
In practical terms, your compensation calculation may therefore need to change as you reach the point where your apprentice wage would normally have increased.
How Is the Apprentice's Higher Wage Determined?
The insurer does not simply estimate what you might have earned.
SIRA's Workers Compensation Guidelines establish an order of considerations for adjusting PIAWE for apprentices, trainees and young workers.
Where you are paid according to a relevant Award or Enterprise Bargaining Agreement (EBA), the applicable hourly base rate and relevant penalty rates and allowances can be considered. If your employment is not governed by one but a comparable Award or EBA exists, that may be used.
Where neither applies, comparable average earnings of people who have reached the relevant age or stage and perform similar work may be considered. Relevant allowances that would have become payable may also need to be taken into account.
The purpose is to reflect the earnings you were likely to have been entitled to had the injury not occurred and you had continued progressing in your employment.
Does Your Weekly Payment Equal Your Full Apprentice Wage?
PIAWE is an important part of the calculation, but it is not automatically the amount deposited into your account each week.
Under the current NSW framework, weekly payments depend on factors including your PIAWE, current work capacity, how long you have been receiving payments, whether you have returned to work and what you are capable of earning in suitable employment.
For example, SIRA's current benefits guidance provides that during the first entitlement period, a worker with no current work capacity generally receives 95% of PIAWE and reduces during susequent entitlement periods. . Different calculations apply where a worker has current work capacity or as the claim progresses into later entitlement periods.
Individual circumstances matter, so the applicable calculation should always be checked against the current rules governing the claim.
What If You Return to Your Apprenticeship on Reduced Hours?
Returning to work does not necessarily mean weekly compensation immediately ends.
An injured apprentice might initially return for fewer hours or on modified duties because they remain unable to perform all of their pre-injury tasks.
Weekly payments can take account of current earnings and work capacity. For workers injured on or after 21 October 2019, SIRA explains that current weekly earnings can involve actual gross earnings or the amount the worker is able to earn in suitable employment, depending on the circumstances.
Your certificate of capacity and other medical evidence can therefore become important in establishing what work you can safely perform while recovering.
What If Your Apprentice Wage Should Have Increased but Your Payments Did Not?
It is worth checking the calculation rather than assuming the insurer has automatically accounted for your apprenticeship progression.
Relevant documents may include your:
- apprenticeship or training agreement
- employment contract
- payslips
- applicable Award or enterprise agreement
- records showing your apprenticeship stage
- expected progression dates
- relevant allowances and penalty rates
SIRA specifically requires PIAWE for eligible apprentices, trainees and young people to be adjusted when the relevant age or employment-stage increment falls due.
If your weekly payments remain based on an earlier apprenticeship stage despite an increase that would otherwise have occurred, the calculation may warrant closer examination.
Can Weekly Payments Change Later in the Claim?
Workers compensation payments are not necessarily fixed for the entire duration of a claim.
Apart from apprentice wage progression, payments can be affected by changes to your work capacity, earnings after returning to work, the length of time you have received compensation and statutory entitlement periods.
PIAWE itself is also subject to statutory adjustment. SIRA's current benefits guide explains that PIAWE is adjusted according to the applicable indexation provisions.
For an apprentice, this means there can be several moving parts. Your underlying wage progression and the broader workers compensation rules may both affect what you should receive over time.
How Can Law Advice Help?
Weekly payment calculations can be particularly important for apprentices because an injury may interrupt employment at a time when wages, skills and responsibilities would ordinarily be progressing.
The workers compensation lawyers at Law Advice can review how your PIAWE and weekly payments have been calculated, examine your apprenticeship stage and applicable wage arrangements, and determine whether relevant increases have been properly recognised. They can also advise you if there is a disagreement with the insurer about your work capacity, earnings or ongoing entitlement to payments.
An incorrect calculation may have consequences beyond a single payment if it continues for weeks or months. If you are unsure whether your apprentice wage progression has been properly reflected, getting legal advice can help clarify what you should be receiving and whether the insurer's calculation should be challenged.