What to do first (next 48 hours)
- Request the insurer's written reasons, vocational source material, and earning-capacity assumptions.
- Ask your treating doctor to respond to the exact tasks the insurer says are "suitable".
- Collect work-history, qualification, and wage evidence that shows why the proposed roles are unrealistic.
- Lock your review timeline early so weekly-payment exposure does not expand while evidence is still being assembled.
What "suitable employment" should actually reflect
Suitable employment is not a theoretical list of desk jobs. It should reflect your injury restrictions, education, prior experience, transferrable skills, and whether those roles are realistically accessible in your labour market.
Start with the work capacity decisions guide and then apply the section 44 review strategy for internal review sequencing.
What usually goes wrong before payments are cut
- Insurers assume you can perform roles that require qualifications or experience you do not have.
- Vocational options are treated as if they are available jobs, without proving realistic access.
- Wage assumptions ignore your pre-injury pattern, local demand, and practical restrictions.
- Treating specialist restrictions are underweighted when insurer IME opinions are preferred.
If weekly payments are already reduced, run the urgent checklist in weekly payments stopped and verify the rate logic with the PIAWE calculation guide.
First 14 days: suitable-employment response plan
Day 1-2: request decision reasons, vocational reports, and insurer wage assumptions in writing.
Day 3-6: obtain updated treating evidence with clear functional limits and task tolerances.
Day 7-10: gather employment history and wage records to challenge earning-capacity assumptions.
Day 11-14: finalise review submissions and prepare escalation strategy if the insurer maintains the decision.
If liability or weekly payments are also disputed, align this with your section 78 notice response and the PIC disputes process.
Related guides
- Workers compensation NSW service hub
- Work capacity disputes hub
- Section 43 decision guide
- Section 44 review guide
- Work capacity decision review timeline
- Weekly payments stopped guide
- PIAWE calculation guide
- Section 78 notice response guide
- Unfair IME report guide
- PIC disputes process guide
- Start free claim check
Received a suitable-employment finding?
Early evidence can materially change review outcomes before insurer assumptions become embedded in later dispute stages.