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Accident Compensation Act 2001

Entitlements and related matters - Employer's duty to pay first week compensation

97: Employee's right to receive first week compensation

You could also call this:

"You can get money for the first week you miss work due to an injury at work"

You have the right to get money for the first week you can't work because of an injury. This applies if you were an employee when you got hurt, and your injury happened at work or in a car accident that's considered work-related.

The money you get is 80% of what you would have earned if you weren't injured. To figure out how much you lost, they usually look at the difference between what you earned in the week before you got hurt and what you earned (or didn't earn) in the first week after you got hurt.

This way of calculating your lost earnings is usually assumed to be correct, but if you can prove it's not accurate in your case, they can use a different method.

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM101448.

Topics:
Work and jobs > Worker rightsWork and jobs > Workplace safety
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96: Report on initial medical assessment, or

"A doctor writes a report for ACC about your health and ability to work after checking you"

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98: Employer's duty to pay first week compensation, or

"Your boss must pay you for the first week you're off work if you get hurt at work"

Part 4Entitlements and related matters
Employer's duty to pay first week compensation

97Employee's right to receive first week compensation

  1. First week compensation for loss of earnings is payable to a claimant who—

  2. has an incapacity resulting from—
    1. a work-related personal injury for which he or she has cover; or
      1. a motor vehicle injury to which section 29(2) applies, being a motor vehicle injury that is also a work-related personal injury; and
      2. was an employee immediately before his or her incapacity commenced.

        1. The compensation payable is 80% of the amount of earnings as an employee lost by the employee, as a result of the incapacity, during the first week of incapacity.

        2. For the purposes of this section, there is a presumption that the earnings the claimant loses as a result of the incapacity is the difference between—

        3. the claimant's earnings in the 7 days before his or her incapacity commenced; and
          1. the claimant's earnings in the first week of incapacity.

            1. The presumption can be rebutted by proof to the contrary.