WorkCover Queensland caseworkers have come under extreme pressure to finalise workers’ compensation claims, being pitted against colleagues to earn “flower petals” for each closed claim to win prizes.
Internal documents, seen by this masthead, show competition between co-workers being encouraged, with team incentives including half-days off and team lunches being offered.
“It’s certainly been heating up on the floor! Loving the healthy competition amongst you all,” a senior manager said in an email to staff.
The “handy visual” for caseworking teams.
“This week as a segment we have already finalised 94 claims with two working days left in the week to go. If you haven’t noticed already, we have a handy visual on the wall near the lifts showing our progress each week towards our monthly stretch target for BP [business partnerships]. We are well over halfway there!”
A WorkCover caseworker told this masthead there had been a noticeable shift in the organisation’s goals.
“Management are demanding daily claim closure numbers,” the worker said.
“The pressure is to close as many as possible in the shortest time. This is despite claims being managed according [to] the medical advice and [caseworkers] always working toward closure where medically supported.”
The caseworker, whose assertions have been verified independently, said the push would “100 per cent” result in workers having claims closed prematurely, so the adviser would get a prize.
“Yes, workers can appeal a closure, but the regulator takes three to nine months to do a review,” they said.
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