21st century fishers funding 20th century injuries

21st century fishers funding 20th century injuries

The Seafood Industry Council is opposed to the proposed increases to the residual claims portion of the ACC levies and recommends the government pays this cost.

Residual claims are to pay for pre-1999 work accidents and pre-1992 non-work accidents. The cost of these accidents are being paid by today’s employers and the self-employed. The overall levy rate is made up of several components and for the seafood industry the residual part can account for about a third of the total ACC levy paid by the industry.

While the ACC consultation documents refers to the proposed ‘average increase’ as being from about 6% ($0.33 to $0.35 per every $100 earned), in the case of seafood industry, these increases are up to 15% (from $1.20 to $1.36 per every $100 earned).

“It is unfair for employers and the self-employed to pay for the costs of accidents which occurred, in some circumstances, more than thirteen years ago. In many cases, these people would not have been in the industry when the accident occurred.” said Owen Symmans, Chief Executive of the Seafood Industry Council.

“It is inequitable to charge today’s and tomorrow’s employers, the self-employed, earners, and motorists, for the costs of injuries that happened many years ago. This should be the responsibility of the government,” said Mr Symmans.

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