ACTIn ForceAct
Workers Compensation Act 1951
41Entitlement to weekly compensation after 26 weeks of
Start here
Get a plain-English read of 41
Turn the raw legal text into a practical explanation grounded in Workers Compensation Act 1951.
41 Entitlement to weekly compensation after 26 weeks of
total incapacity
(1) If a worker is entitled to receive weekly compensation under this
section for a period, the worker is entitled to receive weekly
compensation equal to—
(a) if 100% of the worker’s average pre-incapacity weekly earnings
is less than the pre-incapacity floor for the worker—100% of the
worker’s average pre-incapacity weekly earnings; or
(b) if 100% of the worker’s average pre-incapacity weekly earnings
is more, but 65% of those earnings is less, than the
pre-incapacity floor for the worker—the statutory floor; or
(c) if 65% of the worker’s average pre-incapacity weekly earnings
is more than the pre-incapacity floor for the worker—whichever
of the following is (at the time of payment) more:
(i) 65% of the worker’s average pre-incapacity weekly
earnings;
(ii) the statutory floor.
Example for par (c)
Jim is injured at work and totally incapacitated for 14 weeks. After
unsuccessfully attempting a return to work for 3 days, Jim is totally
incapacitated for another 18 weeks. Jim is entitled under section 39 to
compensation equal to his average pre-incapacity weekly earnings for the
14 weeks and the next 12 weeks of his total incapacity (making a total of
26 weeks not including the 3 days return to work). He is then entitled to be
paid 65% of his pre-incapacity weekly earnings (or the statutory floor, if
more at the time of payment) for the remaining period (6 weeks) he is totally
incapacitated.
pre-incapacity floor, for a worker, means the statutory floor that
applied immediately before the initial incapacity date for the worker
in relation to the injury.