Negotiating Job Plans for incapacitated persons 001-09100040

As part of the Online Participation Workflow a customer's job readiness and capability to look for and accept work will be determined.

Where a Job Seeker Snapshot triggers an Employment Services Assessment (ESAt), due to Personal Factors, Disability or Special Needs, a referral for an ESAt is required unless a current and valid assessment of the customer's work capacity is available. An ESAt referral is also required to assess a partial capacity to work or in certain circumstances where a medical certificate is lodged.

The Job Plan sets out the agreed requirements the job seeker is required to undertake to meet their mutual obligation requirements. The Job Plan may be negotiated by Services Australia for Centrelink managed job seekers or Employment Services Providers.

Where a referral for an ESAt has been made, the Assessor can make referrals for the customer but will not complete the Job Plan with the customer. Appropriate requirements that the customer may be referred to will be identified in the ESAt report.

These requirements will be negotiated by the Employment Services Provider if the job seeker is provider managed or by Services Australia if the job seeker is Centrelink managed.

When negotiating a Job Plan, a Service Officer will need to take into consideration the work capacity of the job seeker.

This is contained in the ESAt report.

An incapacitated job seeker with a temporary exemption from their mutual obligation requirements is unable to negotiate a Job Plan with the agency; however they may enter into a voluntary Job Plan with a provider if they volunteer for services during the period of their Temporary Incapacity exemption.

Job seekers who are granted a temporary exemption from the requirements due to illness or injury can be required to:

• Attend an interview with a Service Officer
• Undergo a compulsory ESAt
• Agree to a Job Plan when the Temporary Incapacity exemption ceases. The Service Officer has a significant role in ensuring that the job seeker's Job Plan is targeted at increasing participation by timely referral of a job seeker to an Employment Services Provider if required

Job seekers are not granted a Temporary Incapacity exemption from their mutual obligation requirements if they:

• have capacity for work of 8 or more hours per week at or above the relevant minimum wage in a job they could be reasonably expected to do (that is, they are required to satisfy their mutual obligation requirements), or
• are incapacitated for all work, but they have the ability to undertake a suitable requirement

These job seekers can be required to:

• Attend an interview with the Service Officer
• Agree to a Job Plan with either Services Australia or their provider
• Participate in any programs or requirements to which they have been referred

Note: psychiatric, psychological or medical treatment can only be a compulsory requirement if the job seeker agrees to it being included in their Job Plan.