incapacity · employment

Incapacity

Employment - Australia

Definition

Inability of an employee to perform the inherent requirements of their role, relevant to unfair dismissal and workers' compensation claims.

Prerequisite chain

Condition. An impairment exists
Functional status. Inherent requirements of the role can't be performed
Applied test. Assessed WITH reasonable adjustments considered first; if none would help, incapacity justifies termination

Assessment basis (treatment / aids) — Assessed after considering whether reasonable adjustments would enable the employee to perform the inherent requirements; if no adjustment would help, incapacity to perform inherent requirements can justify termination.

Qualifiers

Severity. N/A
Duration. Temporary vs. permanent incapacity
Scope. "Inherent requirements" of the specific position
Other. Interacts with the Disability Discrimination Act 1992 duty to make reasonable adjustments

Impact

Affects the employee's ability to perform the inherent requirements of the job, even with reasonable adjustment.

Example

An employer assesses whether modified duties would allow an injured employee to meet the inherent requirements of a role before considering termination.

Source: Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth); Disability Discrimination Act 1992 (Cth)

Language map: disability · Incapacity · Mitigated-state trap