A job isn't suitable merely because an injured worker might be physically able to perform some of its duties. In Decision No. 1881/07, 2008 ONWSIAT 636, the Ontario Workplace Safety and Insurance Appeals Tribunal considered a basic but important requirement of vocational rehabilitation: the worker must actually be able to qualify for the occupation being proposed.
The compensation Board had identified Customs Officer as the worker's suitable employment or business, sometimes shortened to SEB under the historical system. The occupation required a Customs Inspector entrance test. The worker made substantial efforts but couldn't pass the examination.
The Tribunal found the identified job unsuitable. Without passing a mandatory qualification, the worker lacked the skills needed to enter the designated occupation. There was no realistic way to treat it as available work simply because it had been selected in a return to work plan.
The official tribunal summary doesn't describe a further benefits calculation or the precise remedial directions, so those details shouldn't be inferred. The supported outcome is that the occupational designation was rejected as inappropriate.
For anyone designing a return to work plan, this is an enduring distinction. A theoretical occupational match must be tested against actual entry requirements, qualifications and the worker's realistic prospects. A rehabilitation proposal that depends on a credential or examination the worker can't obtain may not be suitable, regardless of how reasonable the job title first appears.
Source note: This commentary uses a brief official WSIAT counsel summary. The historical decision's full reasons weren't retrievable.