External

Suitable employment is defined in section 4 of the Act.

It is divided into two distinct areas, relating to:

The 'suitable employment' definition provides employers with the responsibility to assist employees to find duties that are commensurate with their physical, psychological and vocational capacities.

It is essential to understand what 'suitable employment' is, before making any decisions deeming an employee able to earn in suitable employment.

Suitable employment is defined by section 4 of the Act as:

“(a)in the case of an employee who, on the day on which he or she was injured was a permanent employee of the Commonwealth ... and who did not subsequently terminate that employment - employment by the Commonwealth ... in work for which the employee is suited having regard to:

Subsection (a) only relates to employees whose employment was involuntarily ceased.  This part of the Act ensures that, for the purposes of involuntary separation, 'suitable employment' applies only to future offers of Commonwealth employment.)

(i)the employee's age, experience, training, language and other skills;

It is not appropriate that a job is labelled 'suitable' for an employee where it does not meet the skills and other requirements listed above.

(ii)the employee's suitability for rehabilitation or vocational retraining;

In some cases where rehabilitation has not been undertaken, suitability to undergo a program must be assessed as rehabilitation will have an impact on the employee's capacity to work; not only in respect of hours of work but also the type of work performed;

(iii)where employment is available in a place that would require the employee to change his or her place of residence - whether it is reasonable to expect the employee to change his or her place of residence; and

Employment may well become available for an employee.  However, it may be in a remote location, or well removed from the employee's existing geographical location.

While employees should certainly have the option to agree to employment which is not based near their place of residence, it may not be reasonable to expect an employee to substantially alter his or her residential location.

Consideration should be given to disruption to schooling, a partner's work location and the distance from the current residence to any proposed location.

However, where an employee is renting accommodation and has no family ties, it may be more reasonable to expect him or her to relocate.

(iv)any other relevant matter; and

Each case will differ and must be judged on its individual merits.

(b)in any other case - any employment (including self-employment) having regard to the matters specified in ... (i), (ii), (iii) and (iv).”

Subsection (b) relates to all other cases, including voluntary redundancy and resignation.  It ensures that, for the purposes of suitable employment, any employment, either Commonwealth or the workforce generally, can be considered.

However, exactly the same consideration must be given to the criteria for 'other employment' as for Commonwealth employment [as per paragraph (a)].

NB  Staff employed on a casual, temporary or fixed term basis fall into the “all other cases” category.