Why has the ACC stock-take report not been released?
Labour ACC spokesperson David Parker is questioning why the stock-take review of ACC has not been released prior to the announcement on workplace levy discounts and premiums.
“In principle it would seem appropriate to reward employers that actively put the time and effort into preventing workplace accidents,” David Parker said.
“However, the risk with today’s announcement is that it could encourage some employers not to report accidents in order to protect discounted ACC levies. It is also a possibility that some employers will encourage employees hurt in workplace accidents to report their injuries as being non-workplace.
“There would need to be careful monitoring to discourage abuse.
“There will also be additional compliance and administration costs because of the differing levies between employers. These levies are currently standardised.
“The costs of monitoring and the additional administration costs both need to be taken into account when establishing whether the change is justified.
“The ACC stock-take report should have analysed this change and ought to have been released by now to enable a more intelligent consideration.
“We are disappointed that the Minister of ACC Nick Smith has announced this change without releasing the ACC stock-take reports, the first of which has been with the Government for months.
“We remain concerned that National continues to exaggerate and mislead on issues at ACC in order to pursue its privatisation agenda,” David Parker said.
