31 Aug 2017
The Court found no error of law by the Corporation in this case: the accommodation was a taxable allowance under the applicable provisions and the Corporation was not on notice nor in possession of all information necessary to value that allowance until 7 September 2015; therefore under s114(1) ACC Act 2001 interest properly runs from 7 September 2015 and the appeal is dismissed.
22 Feb 2012
Accommodation and meals payments were reimbursements of actual expenses that did not provide any financial benefit beyond reimbursement and therefore did not constitute 'allowances' or 'remuneration of any kind' under s 52; accordingly they were not included in relevant earnings and the Corporation's calculation was correct.
22 Feb 2012
Payments by the employer for accommodation and meals were reimbursements of actual expenses and did not constitute earnings or an allowance to be included in relevant earnings beyond possibly negligible incidental household savings; those incidental savings were not part of an 'allowance' and were too minor or incalculable to adjust earnings. Separately, the duration of weekly compensation had been finally determined by the 2005 review decision and the 2009 recalculation did not constitute a new decision on duration; accordingly the appellant could not reopen the period issue. Appeal dismisse…
21 Nov 1997
The court held the Corporation unreasonably departed from the primary measure in s 53(1) by fixing relevant earnings at later dates; evidence established partial incapacity began soon after the accident and, taking the appellant's work history and likelihood of continued full employment but for the injury into account, relevant earnings should be assessed as at the date of the accident (or shortly thereafter when partial incapacity developed while still employed). Appeal allowed.
23 Dec 1996
Prospective pay increases are not included when assessing relevant earnings at the time of the accident; relevant earnings are to be calculated from the appropriate pre-accident pay period (here four weeks) and corrected where the selected payslips incorrectly spanned five weeks, adjusting the relevant earnings to $723.79/week; s53(4) authorises recalculation of short-term payments to reflect a legitimate increased hourly rate resulting in $722.13/week; s53(9) is not engaged.
20 Aug 1996
Once the true position of the appellant's earnings was established by the company's financial statements filed prior to the accident and the Inland Revenue accepted the corrected figure, the respondent erred in refusing to adopt the $30,000 figure; relevant earnings are therefore fixed at $30,000.