Regular readers of our blog will know that anyone who suffers an incapacity for work as a result of work-related injury will be entitled to weekly payments of compensation. Weekly payments represent weekly wages that a worker is prevented from earning due to the injury.

For most injured workers, weekly payments can be payable for 130 weeks, so this can be a really valuable benefit. For that reason, it is important to get the calculation right.

Seeing an experienced WorkCover lawyer at the start of your claim can help to make sure you are maximising your entitlements. However, it is also important to understand the effects that other payments can have on your weekly payments.

The WorkCover legislation tells us that any retirement or superannuation pension received by a worker in relation to retirement or termination of employment must cause weekly payments to be reduced. This applies even if your pension is paid as a lump sum. In other words, you can’t be paid twice for the same week.

How does Total and Permanent Disability (TPD) Benefits attached to your superannuation fund impact WorkCover?

Technically, your TPD Benefit may be considered a superannuation lump sum that relates to your employment. However, Ryan Carlisle Thomas has successfully argued that a lump sum TPD benefit should not and does not affect a worker’s entitlement to weekly payments.

This is because the TPD benefit does not relate to retirement or termination of employment but, rather, to a worker’s capacity to work. So, in most cases, you are entitled to apply for your TPD benefit without risking your weekly payments.

Of course, every case is different. If you have any concerns about the calculation of your weekly payments or how to maximise your entitlements, then you should see a lawyer.