Finance and insurance sectors ‘overweight’ in psychological workers' comp claims

Workers' compensation data released by Allianz has revealed that the finance and insurance sectors have recorded a higher proportion of psychological claims than other industries.

Psychological claims made up 68 per cent of all lodged claims in finance and insurance compared to 57 per cent for government and defence, and 54 per cent for education.

In FY22, Allianz reported that psychological claims across all industries increased by 17 per cent compared to FY19 and were responsible for a total of 26,600 employee leave days.

Allianz Australia chief general manager of personal injury, Julie Mitchell, said that the disruption to workplaces coming out of the pandemic was yet to subside.

“Employees have emerged with refreshed values and a change in how they are approaching work, prompting the emergence of concepts like ‘the right to disconnect’, ‘loud leaving’, ‘quiet quitting’, and ‘acting your wage’,” she said.

“These trends are all real-world examples of The Workplace Wave, and organisations unequipped to effectively respond are likely to experience the full effects — increased employee turnover, employee disengagement, and in some instances, a mental health workers' compensation claim.”

A survey by Allianz identified fatigue and burnout (42 per cent), staff shortages (34 per cent) and not being adequately rewarded (31 per cent) as the top issues for employees.

Meanwhile, 53 per cent of managers surveyed said that their company had gone above and beyond to provide support and systems to create mentally healthy workplaces.

This was not reflected in the claims data from Allianz, which showed a 19 per cent lift in the days taken off work from mental health claims over the last three years.

Employees cited adequate remuneration in line with the market and inflation (40 per cent), empathetic and emotionally intelligent environments (38 per cent) and specific mental health days (34 per cent) as the top measures for organisations to introduce to improve mental health.

“Organisations have worked hard to be ‘pandemic proof’ and respond to all the challenges of the last two years; however, it is being ‘post-pandemic proof’ that requires attention and action,” said consultant psychiatrist, Dr Mark Cross.

“We should expect to see further examples of The Workplace Wave emerge in the coming months — even years — as organisations and employees continue to adapt to the fundamental shifts in their shared approach to work.”

Jon Bragg

Jon Bragg is a journalist for Momentum Media's Investor Daily, nestegg and ifa. He enjoys writing about a wide variety of financial topics and issues and exploring the many implications they have on all aspects of life.