Women's Experience in the Workers’ Compensation System

Abstract

The Australian experience suggests that as a consequence of the combination of lesser industrial bargaining power, lower wages and differing forms of injury and disease women often receive less than men in compensation payments, struggle to obtain equity in the dispute resolution process and experience greater difficulties in returning to work following injury or disease.

Gender differences in occupational injury incidence

“…Gender difference in mental disorder claim rates have been less well documented than differences in physical injury claim rates. Workers' compensation claims data are not ideally suited for determining the total burden of mental health disorders related to the workplace, because of limited access to workers' compensation for mental health problems resulting from working conditions [Lippel and Sikka, ] and barriers to claim acceptance[Guthrie and Jansz, ]. In our study setting, the worker first has to demonstrate that the work was the predominant cause of the condition before being eligible for compensation for the mental health condition, and claim acceptance rates are still relatively low.…”

Work Related Injury Among Aging Women

“…It seemed that the law developed unevenly in the context of the social, economic, and political lives of the people. According to Guthrie and Jansz (2006), the issues of gender inequality in Australia’s WC system come from the industrial environment. Women tend to work at different industries or “in gender-segregated circumstances,” which provides women with smaller payments and leaves them without equal “industrial bargaining power.” Such factors have caused difficulties in the processes of treatment and compensation for women, and subsequently their RTW rates are low (Guthries & Jansz, 2006).…”

Sociodemographic, clinical, and work characteristics associated with return-to-work outcomes following surgery for work-related knee injury

“…In our study, we found that women were more likely to have partial RTW or non-RTW (and took approximately 2.5 weeks longer to return to work than men), even after adjustment for other confounding factors such as wage and occupation. As occupation may not adequately capture job demands or industrial factors, these findings may be partly explained by reduced industrial bargaining power for women, or differential injury mechanisms and job demands compared to men resulting in the need for modified or delayed RTW outcomes (37).…”