Negotiation, power in conciliation, and review of compensation claims

Workers Compensation claims are not interpersonal disputes. Almost always they are disputes between individuals and corporations. Compensation insurers are "repeat players" in the system. Workers are often "one-shotters" who have little or infrequent contact with the system. Powe...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Guthrie, Rob
Format: Journal Article
Published: Blackwell Publishing 2002
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/35725
_version_ 1848754573404012544
author Guthrie, Rob
author_facet Guthrie, Rob
author_sort Guthrie, Rob
building Curtin Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description Workers Compensation claims are not interpersonal disputes. Almost always they are disputes between individuals and corporations. Compensation insurers are "repeat players" in the system. Workers are often "one-shotters" who have little or infrequent contact with the system. Power inequality between the worker, employer, insurer, and those who are required to facilitate negotiations and resolve and settle disputes under compensation legislation are matters of con- siderable importance. This paper examines the effects of the implementation, in 1993, of informal dispute resolution processes in the Western Australian workers compensation system under the Workers Compensation and Rehabilitation Act 1981(WA), which excluded lawyers from the process. It argues that preexisting power imbalances have been aggravated by these procedural changes, and in particular, by the exclusion of legal practitioners from the dispute resolution process. The issues raised herein have general application to most workers compensation systems.
first_indexed 2025-11-14T08:42:33Z
format Journal Article
id curtin-20.500.11937-35725
institution Curtin University Malaysia
institution_category Local University
last_indexed 2025-11-14T08:42:33Z
publishDate 2002
publisher Blackwell Publishing
recordtype eprints
repository_type Digital Repository
spelling curtin-20.500.11937-357252017-09-13T16:07:46Z Negotiation, power in conciliation, and review of compensation claims Guthrie, Rob Workers Compensation claims are not interpersonal disputes. Almost always they are disputes between individuals and corporations. Compensation insurers are "repeat players" in the system. Workers are often "one-shotters" who have little or infrequent contact with the system. Power inequality between the worker, employer, insurer, and those who are required to facilitate negotiations and resolve and settle disputes under compensation legislation are matters of con- siderable importance. This paper examines the effects of the implementation, in 1993, of informal dispute resolution processes in the Western Australian workers compensation system under the Workers Compensation and Rehabilitation Act 1981(WA), which excluded lawyers from the process. It argues that preexisting power imbalances have been aggravated by these procedural changes, and in particular, by the exclusion of legal practitioners from the dispute resolution process. The issues raised herein have general application to most workers compensation systems. 2002 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/35725 10.1111/1467-9930.00135 Blackwell Publishing restricted
spellingShingle Guthrie, Rob
Negotiation, power in conciliation, and review of compensation claims
title Negotiation, power in conciliation, and review of compensation claims
title_full Negotiation, power in conciliation, and review of compensation claims
title_fullStr Negotiation, power in conciliation, and review of compensation claims
title_full_unstemmed Negotiation, power in conciliation, and review of compensation claims
title_short Negotiation, power in conciliation, and review of compensation claims
title_sort negotiation, power in conciliation, and review of compensation claims
url http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/35725