Job seekers with a partial capacity to work or a temporary reduced work capacity 001-09070180

The Employment Services Assessment (ESAt) or Job Capacity Assessment (JCA) assesses work capacity according to one of the following bandwidth hours, which determine the job seeker's mutual obligation requirements:

• 0-7 hours per week
• 8-14 hours per week
• 15-22 hours per week
• 23-29 hours per week

Note: requirements for a job seeker with a PCW must take into account the job seeker's baseline and 'with intervention' work capacity.

For example, a job seeker has a PCW of 15-22 hours per week if their ESAt shows that they have a baseline work capacity of 8-14 hours per week but a work capacity with intervention of 15-22 hours per week. This shows that, with intervention (such as participation in DES) in the next 2 years, they could achieve a work capacity of between 15 and 22 hours per week. The Employment Service Provider will:

• work with the job seeker to attain their work capacity (with intervention)
• update their Job Plan to include appropriate mutual obligation requirements for their work capacity with intervention

Partial capacity to work (PCW) and temporary reduced work capacity (TRWC) of 0-7 or 8-14 hours per week

• A job seeker has a PCW of 0-14 hours per week if both their baseline work capacity and work capacity with intervention (as assessed in an ESAt) are less than 15 hours per week
• A job seeker has a TRWC of 0-14 hours per week if they have been assessed by an Assessor as being temporarily unable to work because of a medical condition
• Job seekers with a PCW or a TRWC of 0-7 or 8-14 hours per week for 12 weeks or more, must attend compulsory Quarterly Participation Interviews (QTI) with Services Australia to fully meet their requirements, unless they are undertaking paid work or self-employment within their bandwidth
• Job seekers with an assessed TRWC of 0-7 or 8-14 hours per week for less than 12 weeks will not have ongoing QTI requirement but are required to attend the initial QTI appointment. These job seekers are also required to:
• report employment income and participation details, and
• attend appointments with the agency, if requested
• Job seekers with a PCW or TRWC of either 0-7 or 8-14 hours per week are still required to meet mutual obligation requirements, except they:
• are not required to look for work, but
• can volunteer to connect with the Employment Services Provider identified as suitable in their ESAt or JCA report. Note: job seekers with a TRWC of 0-7 hours per week cannot voluntarily participate in Disability Employment Services (DES) during their period of reduced capacity, but can be referred to a Workforce Australia Employment Services Provider
• While these job seekers are always encouraged to participate in employment services, they cannot be penalised if they choose not to do so
• Job seekers who have a DSP claim rejected due to not meeting Program of Support (POS) requirements should be encouraged to commence with the provider recommended in their JCA report

For Job Plan and Activity and Exemption Summary (AEX) screen coding for job seekers with a PCW or TRWC 0-7 or 8-14 hours per week, see Quarterly Participation Interviews for Partial Capacity to Work and Temporary Reduced Work Capacity (0-7 or 8-14 hours per week) job seekers.

Job seekers with a work capacity of 0-7 or 8-14 hours per week may be medically qualified for Disability Support Pension (DSP). However, they may not qualify for DSP for other reasons (for example, residency or not meeting POS) or they may choose to claim JobSeeker Payment (JSP) or Youth Allowance (YA) (job seeker) instead of DSP.

Partial capacity to work (PCW) and temporary reduced work capacity (TRWC) of 15-22 hours per week

Customers with a PCW or TRWC of 15-22 hours per week:

• must look for work or undertake another activity
• must be connected with an Employment Services Provider
• may be required to accept an offer of paid work, provided the work is not unsuitable, to satisfy their mutual obligation requirements
• can fully meet their mutual obligation requirements by undertaking suitable paid work of at least 15 hours per week

Work

Job seekers with a PCW of 15 hours per week or more satisfy mutual obligation requirements if they undertake sufficient work of at least 15 hours per week, where remuneration meets or exceeds the national minimum wage.

If they are working at least 15 hours per week, they can leave this job to commence work in another organisation without penalty, providing the job is suitable.

Note: job seeker with a PCW is not required to accept job offers that require them to work more than 15 hours per week. However, a customer with a PCW may choose such a job offer and work more than 15 hours per week. This is about the definition of 'suitable' or 'unsuitable' work for compliance purposes.

Job seekers with a PCW:

• will not face a Work Refusal failure or an Unemployment failure if they refuse a job offer, or leave a job, which requires them to work more than 15 hours per week, or
• TRWC of less than 15 hours per week can fully satisfy requirements through paid work (either part-time work or self-employment) within their assessed bandwidth. They do not need to be working to their capacity. In these cases, QTI appointments are not required

Study

Job seekers who are required to transfer to JobSeeker Payment (JSP), Youth Allowance (YA) or Parenting Payment (PP) who have a PCW at the Disability Support Pension (DSP) transition review contact and are studying and receiving Pensioner Education Supplement (PES), can continue their studies (full-time or part-time) in the same course and be qualified for JSP/YA and PES. This can include courses longer than 12 months.

After an ESAt has been accepted for a Centrelink managed job seeker, a Service Officer conducts a face-to-face or phone interview as soon as possible to update their Job Plan with their current activity, where appropriate.

Where a Partial Capacity to Work (PCW) or Temporary Reduced Work Capacity (TRWC) has been assessed, the ESAt Assessor will also:

• indicate the type of intervention the job seeker requires to increase their work capacity, and
• refer the job seeker to appropriate services, where possible

Information about appropriate interventions is contained in the Employment Services Assessment (ESAt) report, parts of which are also available to the customer's Employment Services Provider.

Where possible, the referral recommendations made by the Job Capacity Assessment Provider (JCAP) will become the primary activity for these job seekers.

However, there are specific rules concerning what types of mutual obligation requirements can be included in a Job Plan. For example, job seekers assessed with either a PCW or TRWC of 0-14 hours per week:

• do not need to be connected to an Employment Services Provider, but
• may volunteer to be connected

Job seekers who are either suspended or exited from employment services will remain a Centrelink managed job seeker for the purposes of negotiating their Job Plan, unless they are connected to a DES provider and participating in a Post Placement Support program. In this instance only, the DES provider is responsible for updating the Job Plan and will exit the job seeker at the conclusion of the program. Check the job seeker's current Placement Type on the Provider referral information table within the Participation Summary in Process Direct.

A Job Plan must include at least one compulsory activity suited to their circumstances.

An ESAt is required to determine a PCW or a TRWC.

Once the ESAt report has been accepted by the agency, details of the customer's assessed work capacity from the report are automatically coded on the Work Capacity Details (WC) screen.

The job seeker is assessed as having a:

• PCW, if both the Current Work Capacity and Work Capacity With Intervention: fields in the ESAt report are less than 30 hours per week
• TRWC, if they:
• have a short-term impairment, and
• are temporarily unable to work or be trained for work of at least 30 hours per week

The job seeker will have the category of 'Partial Capacity to Work' or 'Temporary Reduced Work Capacity' recorded on the Customer Target Category History (CTCH) screen and the Customer Target Category Summary (CTCS) screen from the date the ESAt report is accepted. These are view only screens.

When the job seeker's ESAt/JCA report is accepted by the agency, the assessed work capacity is automatically recorded on the WC screen.

A corresponding Medical Conditions Details (MC) screen is also created. The Event Date: field on the MC screen is taken from the JCA Acceptance Date: field on the WC screen. This is the start date of the customer's current PCW or TRWC status.

Job seekers with mutual obligation requirements may fit into more than one of the following categories:

• mature age 55+
• PCW
• TRWC
• principal carers

The mutual obligation requirement or exemption which is the most beneficial to the job seeker is automatically applied by the system. For example, a 57 year old job seeker receiving JSP with full-time care of a 14 year old child who fits into both the 'Mature Age 55+' and 'Principal Carer 15+' participation categories, the Services Australia system will place the job seeker in the 'Principal Carer 15+' participation category.

Referral to an Employment Services Provider will occur using normal processes.

Register these job seekers as a Fully Eligible Participant (FEP).

Job seekers who are assessed as having a PCW or TRWC of 0-14 hours per week will only be referred to a provider if they volunteer to do so, noting that job seekers with a TRWC of 0-7 hours per week cannot be referred to Disability Employment Services (DES). Job seekers who are required to participate in POS for DSP requirements should be encouraged to volunteer.

A job seeker may tell Services Australia that they think they are working to their capacity but are still being asked by their Employment Services Provider to do other mutual obligation requirements, for example, job search and attending interviews. Tell the job seeker to discuss the situation with their provider.

If the job seeker has a PCW or a TRWC of 0-14 hours per week, they are a volunteer and cannot be compelled to participate with their Employment Services Provider.

A job seeker who has a PCW or TRWC is exited from their provider if they achieve an employment outcome.

The provider must request the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations (DEWR) to exit these job seekers.

Services Australia has no involvement in this process.

Any requests to be exited from a program for job seekers with a PCW or TRWC of 0-14 hours per week must go to the job seeker's Employment Services Provider.

Job seekers with an assessed PCW or TRWC of 0-14 hours per week will have their Employment Services automatically suspended or exited by DEWR, unless they choose to continue participating.

Job seekers participating in a Disability Employment Services (DES) program may be receiving post placement support from their provider and will remain with DES for this period. They should not become Centrelink managed.

The job seeker's Employment Services Provider has access to the work capacity assessment information in the ESAt report.

Workforce Australia, Disability Employment Services (DES) or Community Development Program (CDP) providers can access this information via the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations system, if the job seeker is currently referred to them.