What is a work rating?
A work rating classifies the usual activities of your job into one of three ratings: Blue Collar, White Collar or Professional. Your work rating is one of the factors that determines how much you pay for your insurance cover.
Insurance cover with a Blue Collar work rating is the most expensive.
You have two different work ratings
As an AustralianSuper Select member, you have both an individual work rating and a category work rating. These work ratings are used to calculate the cost of your cover.
Individual work rating
Your individual work rating is Blue Collar unless you’re eligible to change to White Collar or Professional and your application is approved by the Insurer. Our default work rating is Blue Collar because all Australians are welcome to join AustralianSuper and our membership demographic is wide.
Category work rating
Your category work rating2 is unique to your AustralianSuper Select employer and only applies while you’re their employee. You can’t change your category work rating because it’s arranged by your employer.
The work rating we use to calculate the cost of your cover
If your category and individual work ratings are different, we’ll apply the work rating that’s less expensive to calculate the cost of your cover. This is your applied work rating.
For example, if you have a Blue Collar individual work rating and a White Collar category work rating, the cost of your cover will be based on your category work rating (White Collar). This is because a White Collar work rating is less expensive than a Blue Collar work rating.
See the work rating descriptions below for more details about each work rating.
Why you should check your individual work rating
It’s important to check your individual work rating for two reasons:
- While you’re with your AustralianSuper Select employer, if the individual work rating that applies to you is less expensive than your category work rating, your cover will be less expensive.
- If you leave your AustralianSuper Select employer and keep your super and insurance cover with us, we’ll use your individual work rating to calculate the cost of your cover. Your category work rating will no longer apply, meaning the cost of your insurance cover will be based on your individual work rating.
Could you pay less for your cover?
You could pay less for your insurance cover if you’re eligible for a White Collar or Professional work rating and your application to change your individual work rating is accepted. Use our Work Rating Tool to check if you could pay less for your insurance cover.
If you're an AustralianSuper Select member, you can check your insurance cover and individual, category and applied work ratings by using the AustralianSuper app, or logging into your account and going to Insurance, then Manage insurance. You can also call us on 1300 667 387.
1. AustralianSuper insurance is provided by TAL Life Limited (the Insurer), ABN 70 050 109 450, AFSL 237848.2. If you’re a Clough employee you don’t have a category work rating. An individual work rating applies to your cover.
Work rating descriptions
Read the description for each work rating, so you can work out which one is right for you.
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Blue Collar
(most expensive)
Blue Collar is our default individual work rating.
A Blue Collar individual work rating is suitable if:
- you spend less than 80% of your main job doing clerical or administrative activities in an office-based environment; and/or
- you’re exposed to unusual workplace hazards (some examples of unusual work hazards include working underground, working underwater, working at heights or working in the air).
Your category work rating will be Blue Collar if that’s what your AustralianSuper Select employer has arranged. It will apply to you while you’re employed by your AustralianSuper Select employer. You can’t change a category work rating.
-
White Collar
(less expensive)
You can apply for a White Collar individual work rating if:
- you spend more than 80% of your main job doing clerical or administrative activities in an office-based environment, or
- you’re a professional using your university qualification in a job that has no unusual work hazards (some examples of unusual work hazards include working underground, working underwater, working at heights or working in the air).
Your category work rating will be White Collar if that’s what your AustralianSuper Select employer has arranged. It will apply to you while you’re employed by your AustralianSuper Select employer. You can’t change a category work rating.
-
Professional
(least expensive)
You can apply for a Professional individual work rating if:
- you spend more than 80% of your main job doing clerical or administrative activities in an office-based environment, or
- you’re a professional using your university qualification in a job that has no unusual work hazards (some examples of unusual work hazards include working underground, working underwater, working at heights or working in the air)
AND
you’re earning $100,000 or more a year (pro rata for part time)3
AND
you have a university qualification or you have a management role in your company.
Your category work rating will be Professional if that’s what your AustralianSuper Select employer has arranged. It will apply to you while you’re employed by your AustralianSuper Select employer. You can’t change a category work rating.
3. Income earned from your regular job (s), excluding Superannuation Guarantee (SG) contributions. If you work part time, think about the income you would earn from working full time. For example, if you work part time four days a week and earn $96,000, your full-time income would be $120,000.
Changing your individual work rating
If you’re eligible to change your work rating, there are two ways to apply:
- log into your account and go to Insurance, then Manage insurance, or
- complete this Change your individual work rating form.
If your application for a White Collar or Professional individual work rating is accepted by the Insurer, we’ll confirm your new individual work rating and the new cost of your cover in writing.
Your work rating will be checked by the Insurer if you make a claim. If they decide you weren’t eligible for the work rating you applied for (based on your circumstances at the time you applied to change your work rating), you may have to pay the difference in insurance costs and your work rating may change.