OVERVIEW
Our Compensation Calculator function has been designed to help you calculate weekly compensation entitlements, as well as track claimed and reimbursed amounts from your WorkSafe Agent. This article will help you to use this functionality for Northern Territory based claims.
To access this function, go to the Financials side menu of a claim, then Compensation Calculator
UNDERSTANDING THE LEGISLATION
Before using the SolvInjury Compensation Calculator function, it is strongly recommended that you familiarise yourself with the NT legislation and guidelines.
ENTER PAYROLL DETAILS
First, complete these key fields in the Compensation Calculator Details section.
Field | Definition |
Normal Weekly Earnings | Normal Weekly Earnings is the workers award rate, or average weekly earnings including any overtime, allowances of bonuses |
Hourly Rate | Hourly Rate is the current normal hourly rate. |
Pre-Injury Hours | Pre-Injury Hours is the normal or average hours worked prior to the injury. |
Then, if relevant, complete these optional fields:
Field | Definition |
Pay Code | Pay Codes may be applicable if your organisation has more than one pay cycle / pay run. Pay Codes can be set up in SolvInjury by Admin users, via the Admin > Categories menu. |
Make-Up Pay | To be used if your organisation provides make-up pay in addition to statutory weekly compensation (you may need to check the relevant award or EBA). Tick the Make Up Pay checkbox, then enter the number of weeks that make-up pay is applicable for, and the amount that it will be paid up to. |
Once the relevant Compensation Details have been entered, click Save.
CALCULATE WEEKLY COMPENSATION
Before weekly compensation can be calculated, you must identify the first day that compensation is payable (i.e. typically the first day in which time lost occurred). Select the appropriate date and click Save.
To calculate the weekly compensation payable, enter the total number of hours lost and the total number of hours worked for the whole week, in the applicable boxes under Next Entitlement Week.
Field | Definition |
Unfit | Enter any hours that were lost from work when the worker was unfit for any duties. |
Restricted Duties - Lost | Enter the hours lost from work when the worker was fit for restricted duties. |
Restricted Duties - Worked | Enter the hours actually worked whilst the worker was fit for restricted duties (i.e. on a RTW Plan). SolvInjury will estimate the earnings based on the hourly rate and hours, though this can be overwritten in the Earnings field. |
Non-Compensation | If applicable, enter any hours during the week that were not related to Workers Compensation. SolvInjury will estimate the earnings based on the hourly rate and hours, though this can be overwritten in the Earnings field. |
Once the hours and earnings for the week have been entered, click Generate. If you wish to copy the hours and earnings exactly from the previous Entitlement Week, select Copy from Previous.
The system will automatically calculate the weekly compensation payable (in accordance with the relevant legislation and statutory maximums) and will display the result in the Weekly Entitlements section. Rate reductions will be automatically applied at the relevant milestones.
Field | Definition |
CWE | Current Weekly Earnings - the total earnings for the entitlement week. |
Compensation | Compensation payable in accordance with the relevant legislation and statutory maximums. This is generally the amount expected to be reimbursed by the WorkSafe Agent. |
Make-Up Pay | The amount payable over and above statutory compensation, due to the Award or EBA. |
Total Paid | The total amount payable to the worker (CWE + Compensation + Excess + Make-Up Pay). |
RECORD REIMBURSEMENT DETAILS
To keep track of weekly compensation reimbursements being claimed and recovered, simply click the switch (Red = On, and Grey = Off) next to the compensation week.
If only a partial reimbursement is received, click on the meatball button and manually update the actual amount.
You can then report on amounts outstanding using the Payroll Reimbursements report in the Reports menu under Financials.
EXPORT WEEKLY ENTITLEMENTS
Under the Weekly Entitlement section, you have options available to allow you to export the details of the weekly entitlements. You can export all entitlements against that claim, by checking the top tick box and click on the Excel Icon, or you can export a select number of entitlements by checking individual tick box options down the right hand side of each row for the weeks you wish to export, then select the Excel Icon. These will then export into an Excel spreadsheet.
DELETE WEEKLY ENTITLEMENTS
Under the Weekly Entitlements section, you are able to delete weeks as required. To delete a week, select the '...' icon to the right of the row, then select Delete (as seen below). Only the latest Weekly Entitlement is able to be deleted this way.
Weekly Entitlements can be deleted in bulk, if required, by selecting multiple Weekly Entitlements and using the 'trash' icon.
Some rules for how this works apply:
Only consecutive weeks can be deleted together, and the latest week must always be included when using the bulk delete functionality.
For accounts with Compensation Approval enabled, users will have the option to null all Weekly Payments linked to the deleted weeks.
EMAIL WEEKLY ENTITLEMENTS
In the Email Entitlement Information section, you can email the Weekly Compensation details as an Excel spreadsheet and send as an attachment to an email (i.e. to your Insurer or payroll department).
Select the Start and End date range for the information you want to send, and select whether to mark the reimbursements as claimed, then select "Email."
Then enter the recipient's email address in the 'To' field. If you would like the outgoing email to include documents that are attached to weekly entitlements, click the 'Attachments' drop-down and select the attachments.
Click Email to send the email. A copy of the email will be stored in the Notes section.
CEASE PAYMENTS
To enter an exclusion period where compensation is not to be paid (eg: a suspension or termination period), update the 'Cease Payments From' and 'Cease Payments To' fields in the Claim Payroll Details section. If a user attempts to process entitlement weeks during the exclusion period, a pop up alert will display to prompt review.
Tips:
In the Next Entitlement Week section, you can manually overwrite the applicable earnings if the automatically generated amount is incorrect.
The system will automatically keep a week count in the Weekly Entitlements Section and will step down the entitlement rate at the relevant milestone in accordance with the legislation.
You can edit an entitlement week by clicking the edit icon. This will open up a section that allows you to edit any of the hours or amounts for the entitlement week. Please note, that if editing an entitlement week, the system will NOT recalculate the entitlement amounts, it will only manually update to reflect what you have adjusted.