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If you’re not a principal carer
Paid work is considered unsuitable if any of the following apply:
- you aren’t capable of doing it because of medical illness, disability or injury
- you don’t have the skills needed for the work and the employer doesn’t provide training
- doing the work requires you to move
- you need to be vaccinated, this is if you aren’t vaccinated and don’t wish to be or are unable to be
- the work doesn’t meet award or national minimum standards for pay, working hours and leave
- the work conflicts with the timing of your approved education or training
- the work contradicts your moral, cultural or religious beliefs.
Travel time for work is considered to meet the definition of unsuitable work when your work travel time each way is more than 90 minutes.
If you are assessed with a partial capacity to work
Paid work is considered unsuitable if any of the following apply:
- the work involves working more than 15 hours per week
- the travel time from home to work is unreasonable, for example it’s more than 60 minutes one way
- the workplace doesn’t provide appropriate support or facilities to take account of the illness, disability or injury
- the total cost of participating in employment means that the job seeker would be financially worse off because of undertaking the work.
Examples include personal care requirements incurred by the job seeker to get ready for work or while on the job, disability aids required for participation in the job that are not covered by the employer and the cost of travel to and from the job by the job seeker's normal means of transport.
If you’re a principal carer
Paid work is considered unsuitable if you’re a principal carer and any of the following apply:
- appropriate child care isn’t available during work hours
- the travel time from home to work is unreasonable, for example it’s more than 60 minutes one way
- the most cost effective travel will exceed 10 percent of your gross wage.
- the employment doesn’t make you at least $50 per fortnight better off after deducting your costs.
This takes into account factors like:
- how much we pay you
- your expected travel costs
- any out-of-pocket child care fees you would have if you accepted the job.
Call us on your regular payment line before you refuse a job offer.