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Caught on Facebook

TasBus conference delegates were given a few pointers on using social media to catch fraudulent claimants

By Sean Muir | June 5, 2012

Tasmanian Bus operators at this year’s TasBus Conference have been encouraged to use Facebook as a way fighting employee compensation claims.

Concluding a presenting on Workers Compensation, Centre for Tasmanian Industry Managing Director Dixie Emmerton told operators social media such as Facebook and Twitter could be used to challenge fraudulent injury claims.

“I had a claim just recently when an employee had injured their neck and shoulder in a particular way in work,” Emmerton says.

“We did manage to get onto their Facebook page and found out that they had had a big weekend and whilst they were meant to be injured they were elsewhere.”

Emmerton says as a result of the social media research the compensation claim was rejected.

“So we were able to knock that back and actually go them for fraudulent behaviour,” she says.

Emmerton suggested that operators print any social media information that could be helpful in building a case against claims.

Emmerton also highlighted problems Tasmanian employers have getting doctors to approve the return to work of employees on compensation.

“You’ve got to understand that a lot of our doctors will not move on a return to work, if the employee doesn’t want to,” she says.

“And the reason often is, the doctors will tell us on the quiet, that the doctor treats that employee, they treat their mother, their father, their uncle, their aunt and all their friends, and if you lose one you lose the lot, which impacts the practice.”

“These are real issues that we do deal with as employees.”

According to Emmerton most medical practitioners in Tasmania are also related.

“You have to realize that doctors here are related to each other so normally if they go to a doctor, they go to his cousin who is a physio, they might go to his uncle who is a surgeon, and so there is that link.”

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