"Suitable Work Plans" are typically developed by either an employer or a Workplace Rehabilitation Provider in the NSW Workers Compensation scheme. With recent changes to NSW legislation, the Suitable Work Plan (or what used to be called the Suitable Duties Plan) has become an important tool not only in the management of a worker's return to work but also in the identification of a worker's current work capacity.
Below are a number of key points to consider when developing Suitable Work Plans:
- Include worker's pre-injury job title as well as a job title for any current role the worker is performing as part of their graded return to work
- Avoid broad descriptions of the duties the worker is performing (such as "Office Duties") and use more specific descriptions such as: filing, greeting customers, answering phones, etc
- Detail any training the worker has or is undertaking as part of their return to work. This could be pre-scheduled company training or additional training the worker has completed as part of their suitable work (e.g.: Microsoft Word training)
- Ensure plans are always signed by key parties, including the NTD. The signed version should be provided to the insurer.
- You should always attempt to put proposed "stages" into the plan. Guidance on how the worker should upgrade would come from discussions with the worker, NTD, and any other treating parties
- Keep record of how long the worker has been performing the current suitable work options
Although the above list is not exhaustive it will provide positive guidance to employers and workplace rehabilitation providers when developing these plans in practice.
A sample "Suitable Work Plan" is also attached to this link for your reference. Please feel free to modify and utilise within your workplace as you see fit.