Supported Wage System
Supporting Document
V 1.0
Disclaimer
This document is not a stand-alone document and does not contain the entirety of National Panel of
Assessor member or Disability Employment Services providers’ obligations. It should be read in
conjunction with the Disability Employment National Panel of Assessors Deed of Standing Offer and any
relevant guidelines or supporting document issued by the Department of Social Services under or in
connection with the Disability Employment National Panel of Assessors Deed of Standing Offer.
Supported Wage System Supporting Document V1.0
Trim File Number: D15/445696
Effective Date: 12 September 2015
Last Updated: 12 September 2015
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Contents
Supported Wage System Supporting Document
Policy Intent
1
3
Managing Availability
4
Special Claims for SWS Assessment Fees
6
IT System allocation of Supported Wage System Assessments
8
Questions and Answers
10
Reference Documents
12
Document Change History
12
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Last Updated: 12 September 2015
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Policy Intent
This Supporting Document provides additional information on Supported Wage System (SWS)
Assessments and the role of the SWS provider. Under the Supported Wage System, independent
assessors conduct an Assessment to ascertain a participant’s rate of work productivity to determine a
productivity rating for a SWS participant performing a specific job.
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Managing Availability
National Panel of Assessors (NPA) providers can manage their availability and capacity to be allocated
Work Orders for SWS and Ongoing Support Assessments (OSAs).
Availability and capacity are both recorded in the Department’s IT System at an Employment Service
Area (ESA) level for each NPA provider and may be updated at any time. These indicators are located on
the lower part of the Regions Tab, on the Outlet Details Screen.
Using the Available Indicator, a provider can indicate whether or not they are available to be allocated
SWS and OSA Work Orders.
The Assessment Capacity Indicator is used by a provider to indicate the total number of SWS and OSA
Work Orders a provider is willing to work on concurrently.
Process
Availability
An employee of the NPA provider with the
appropriate authority accesses the Department’s
IT System to manage the availability of their
Organisation to be allocated SWS and OSA Work
Orders in each ESA.
The Department’s IT System will not allow the
allocation of any new SWS or OSA Work Orders to
an NPA provider in an ESA where the Available
indicator has been set to No.
Capacity
An employee of the NPA provider with the
appropriate authority accesses the Department’s
IT System to manage the capacity of their
Organisation to be concurrently allocated SWS or
OSA Work Orders in each ESA.
Allocation
The Department’s IT System will not allocate any
new SWS or OSA Work Orders to an NPA provider
in an ESA where the Assessment Capacity
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Notes
Although this should happen rarely, there may be
occasions where the NPA provider is temporarily
unavailable to be allocated assessments in an ESA.
For example, if all assessors are unavailable due to
illness.
If this occurs then the Available indicator should be
set to ‘No’. If the NPA provider is available, the
Available indicator should be set to ‘Yes’.
Note: Availability and Capacity to receive OSA Work
Order Allocations is not assessed when the Work
Order is submitted by a DES provider. The decision
is made earlier, when the Department’s IT System
initiates an allocation six weeks prior to the OSA due
date, or when reallocated due to non-acceptance by
a previous provider.
The Assessment Capacity indicator is a useful tool
for providers who are concerned that they will be
allocated too many SWS or OSA Work Orders at a
time.
The Assessment Capacity indicator determines the
maximum number of assessments that the NPA
provider is capable of completing at the same time.
This is recorded for each ESA that the NPA provider
services.
If the Assessment Capacity is set to ‘0’ then there is
no limit on capacity. The Department’s IT System
will not restrict the number of SWS or OSA Work
Orders allocated.
The Assessment Capacity indicator is ignored if the
Available indicator is set to No, as no Work Order
allocations will be made.
Example
An NPA provider has the Available indicator set to
‘Yes’ and the Assessment Capacity set to 4.
The NPA has:
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indicator is greater than or equal to the total
number of SWS and OSA assessments that have
been allocated but not completed. This number
includes SWS and OSA Work Orders that have not
yet been accepted.
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•
2 Accepted Work Orders, for OSA reports
that have not been submitted or cancelled;
and
• 1 Accepted Work Order, for a SWS report
that has not been submitted or closed; and
• 1 OSA Work Order awaiting acceptance.
In this scenario, the Assessment Capacity Indicator is
equal to the number of OSA and SWS Work Orders
that have been allocated but not completed. The
Department’s IT System will not make a further
allocation to this NPA provider in this ESA until at
least one of the OSA or SWS reports is submitted or
closed/cancelled, or the OSA Work Order awaiting
acceptance is ‘not accepted’.
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Special Claims for SWS Assessment Fees
A SWS Special Claim is submitted when an NPA provider believes they are entitled to claim an SWS
Assessment Fee, but was unable to make a claim due to a systems issue or other reason beyond their
control.
For further information, see the Disability Employment National Panel of Assessors Deed of Standing
Offer and the current Supported Wage System Handbook.
Process
When the NPA provider wants to submit a Special
Claim Request they should access the System
Override/Claim Request screen in the
Department’s IT System.
• Go to Payments & Funds.
• Select Overrides & Special Claims.
• Choose Submit.
System Override/Claim Request Page
The NPA provider must complete the following
areas on the screen before submitting the Special
Claim Request.
• Enter the Jobseeker ID into the Quick Find
field for the SWS Participant the Special
Claim Request relates to.
• Optionally enter a User email address,
Additional email address and Contact
number.
• Under Referral details, select the Ellipsis
button (…) next to the Assessment ID field
and choose the Assessment this Special
Claim is for.
• Under Request details, for both Request
type and Specific request type; select
Supported Wage System Claim Related
Query from both of the dropdown lists. For
Request reason choose the most
appropriate value from the dropdown list
and add supporting comments to explain
why a Special Claim is required.
• For the Special claim override select Yes.
Extra fields to document the Special claim
details will appear.
• In Special claim details select the
appropriate Payment type by selecting the
Ellipsis button (…). This will then
automatically populate the Amount with
the applicable fee. The Amount can be
reduced if required (refer Note 1).
• There is no need to update the Start Date
(refer Note 2).
• The statements in the Declarations section
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Notes
A Special Claim Request must relate to an individual
SWS Assessment where a Work Order has been
allocated to the NPA provider.
If the NPA provider wants to submit any type of
Special Claim Request, the Job Seeker ID for the
Participant to whom the request relates must be
loaded first. This can be done by entering the Job
Seeker ID in the Quick Find field. Once a Participant
record is loaded in the background, the NPA
provider can enter the Special Claim Request
details.
Some fields will be automatically populated with the
NPA provider details, while others will require
manual input. The User email address, Additional
email address and Contact number will assist DSS to
contact the person submitting the request, and
allow the system to generate an email when the
request has been actioned by DSS.
Note 1: The Amount can be amended if a partial
payment is required. For example, if payment type
Supported Wage System Fee is selected, the
populated amount will default to $600. However
the NPA provider can reduce this amount if the full
amount is not appropriate.
Note 2: The Start Date is automatically generated
and refers to the date the SWS Work Order was
submitted to the NPA provider.
When the Special Claim Override Request has been
successfully submitted by the NPA provider, a
confirmation message will be displayed. Once
submitted, the request will have a status of Pending.
A Pending Special Claims Request can also be
withdrawn using the Overrides & Special Claims
Search screen. After entering criteria on the Search
screen so that the request appears in the Search
results, the request record is selected. The NPA
provider then selects the Withdraw button.
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•
•
•
•
are confirmed by ticking each
corresponding box.
Once the NPA provider has entered all
mandatory details they may select the
‘Submit’ button.
A Tax Invoice is displayed.
If the NPA provider submits the Tax
Invoice, the Special Claim Request will be
submitted to DSS for approval and a linked
Special Claim will be created. The NPA
provider should contact their local SWMU
to advise that a Special Claim has been
requested.
NPA providers can search for existing
Special Claim Requests by using the
Overrides & Special Claims Search screen.
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When a Pending Special Claim Request is withdrawn
its linked Special Claim is also withdrawn. When the
NPA provider withdraws a Special Claim from the
payments area, its linked Special Claim Request is
withdrawn.
The NPA provider’s Special Claim Requests are
actioned by their DSS Account Manager, causing a
system-generated email to be sent to the User email
address that was specified in the request.
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IT System allocation of Supported Wage System Assessments
Background
This advice provides information for NPA providers and Disability Employment Services (DES) providers
about how the Department’s IT System determines the allocation of Work Orders for SWS Assessments.
Initiation of Assessments
Once a SWS Application has been approved by the Department’s Supported Wage Management Unit
(SWMU), the system will automatically allocate a SWS Work Order to an NPA provider.
The Contract End Date for the Work Order will default to ten weeks from the date of the SWS
Application being approved, but may be reduced or extended by the SWMU as required. For example,
the Contract End Date might be reduced for a Job at Risk so that the assessment can be completed
sooner.
Review Assessments
The Work Order for a Review Assessment is automatically allocated to an NPA provider 43 weeks after
the SWS Contract End Date of the previous SWS Assessment. If a Work Order is not accepted, the
system will automatically reallocate to a different NPA provider.
The Contract End Date of the Work Order will usually be ten weeks in the future, but this period may be
reduced if the Work Order has been previously offered and not accepted by another NPA provider.
A Review Assessment may also be manually arranged by the SWMU at an earlier date, if required
because of a significant change in work tasks or employee productivity.
Note: When a SWS Participant ceases SWS employment it is important that the SWMU be notified on
1800 065 123. If the SWMU is not aware that employment has ceased then the SWS Application will
remain open and a SWS Work Order for a Review Assessment will be allocated unnecessarily by the
Department’s IT System.
Selecting the NPA Provider
The Department’s IT System considers a number of factors when determining the NPA provider to
whom a SWS Work Order will be allocated.
Availability and Capacity
A SWS Work Order will only be allocated to an NPA provider that is contracted to deliver SWS services
in the ESA corresponding to the worksite address. The NPA provider must be currently Available, and
have not reached its assessment Capacity for the ESA. For more information please refer to the
Managing Availability for National Panel of Assessors section within this document.
Partial Coverage
If an NPA provider has Partial Coverage for an ESA, the SWS Work Orders will only be allocated to the
provider if the worksite address matches one of the postcodes that have been recorded in the system
to identify the NPA provider’s area of Partial Coverage.
Note: Postcodes will not always match a provider’s area of Partial Coverage. SWS Work Orders
allocated to an area outside of a provider’s Partial Coverage should be ‘not accepted’ for the primary
reason of ‘Outside Contracted Coverage Area’ so that non acceptance does not negatively affect the
provider’s performance against Key Performance Indicators (KPIs).
Conflict of Interest
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The SWS Work Order will not be allocated to an NPA provider if that provider has the same
organisation code as the DES provider who is supporting the SWS Participant, or a Conflict of Interest
exclusion between the NPA provider and the DES provider site has been recorded in the system by DSS.
Co-allocation with Ongoing Support Assessment (OSA)
If an OSA for a SWS Participant was allocated within the past three months then the SWS Work Order
will be allocated to the same provider that completed the OSA, if possible. This rule has priority over an
NPA Provider Preference.
Nominated Groups of Participants with same employer (NPA Provider Preference)
If a SWS Participant is one of a group of Participants that DSS has approved to be assessed by the same
provider, the SWS Work Order will be allocated to the NPA provider nominated by DSS, if possible.
Distribution of Assessments
To encourage a more equal distribution of SWS Work Orders, all else being equal, the Department’s IT
System will allocate a SWS Work Order to the NPA provider with the lowest count of currently allocated
OSA and SWS Work Orders in the ESA. If multiple providers have the same lowest count then the SWS
Work Order will go to the provider with the least recently allocated SWS Work Order for the ESA.
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Effective Date: 12 September 2015
Last Updated: 12 September 2015
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Questions and Answers
Question
How do I check
the Award or
Agreement?
Do all SWS
Wage
Assessment
Agreements
have to be sent
to the Fair
Work
Commission?
Can I control
the number of
Assessment
allocations my
organisation
receives in each
ESA?
If a Participant
is no longer
employed
under SWS do I
Answer
All the details on the Wage Assessment Agreement must be checked and accurately
completed.
The Wage Assessment Agreement will be generated on the JobAccess IT system for
assessors to complete for each SWS assessment. Assessors must check that the
information on the Agreement is current and correct. From time to time there will be
changes to names and addresses and contact numbers, classifications, and the award
or agreement name under which people are employed.
Assessors should phone the employer prior to the assessment to check and confirm
the industrial instrument and classification and any other details on the Wage
Assessment Agreement. Giving employers prior notice enables them to check with
their workplace relations or HR staff and if necessary to check details with Fair Work
Commission.
It is important that assessors, as part of the assessment process obtain and confirm
the correct information, including that the industrial instrument name is correct and
current, that the classification named in the Wage Assessment Agreement is correct
and that the employer’s and assessor’s contact details are completed correctly.
Assessors should also edit the employment details on the JobAccess IT system.
Fair Work Commission has a comprehensive website where employers and assessors
can search for awards and agreements to ensure that the correct names including the
classification names are accurately recorded. There is also a table of old Division 2B
that states awards and the names of the modern awards they may translate to. You
can check whether awards and agreements contain SWS provisions and require the
lodgement of Wage Assessment Agreements by searching and checking the SWS
provisions in the relevant industrial instrument at the Fair Work Commission website.
No, it is only when the industrial award or agreement under which the employee is
being employed contains a requirement to lodge the Wage Assessment Agreement
with the Fair Work Commission that it should be sent to the Fair Work Commission.
Modern Awards which contain a Supported Wage System schedule require lodgement
and some agreements may state that the Wage Assessment Agreement must be
lodged with the Fair Work Commission. However, in several cases, there is no
requirement to lodge the Wage Assessment Agreement at all and in these cases the
employer retains the agreement as their record of the assessed productivity rate and
wage.
You can check whether awards and agreements contain SWS provisions and require
the lodgement of Wage Assessment Agreements by searching and checking the SWS
provisions in the relevant industrial instrument at the at the Fair Work Commission
website.
Yes, the Department’s IT System allows you to control your availability and capacity to
accept Work Orders for OSA and SWS assessments for each ESA in which your
organisation provides services.
Please refer to the Managing Availability section of this document for more
information.
Yes. If a SWS Participant has ended their SWS employment, the SWMU should be
advised on 1800 065 123.
The Programme Lifecycle area of the Case Summary in the Employment Services
System (ESS) shows whether a Participant is currently recorded as being a SWS
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need to tell DSS
Why is my SWS
application still
pending?
Can my DES
client get a
Wage Subsidy
Scheme
payment and
be on SWS?
employee. If this information is wrong then please advise the SWMU.
If the Department’s IT System is not updated by the SWMU to show the SWS
employment has ended then the next annual SWS Review Assessment may be started
unnecessarily.
You need to contact your SWMU on 1800 065 123 to check on the status of the
application.
Do not telephone the JobAccess service as they do not manage the Supported Wage
System applications.
It is possible to negotiate a Wage Subsidy Scheme payment with an employer who has
agreed to employ a client even if the client’s employment will be under Supported
Wage System provisions. The amount of the wage subsidy cannot be more than the
client’s productivity wage.
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Effective Date: 12 September 2015
Last Updated: 12 September 2015
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Reference Documents
Supported Wage System Guidelines V 1.2
Supported Wage System Handbook
Document Change History
Version
Start Date
1.0
12 Sept 15
Effective
Date
12 Sept 15
End Date
Supported Wage System Supporting Document V1.0
Trim File Number: D15/445696
Change & Location
Initial Document and merger of Supported
Wage System advices.
Effective Date: 12 September 2015
Last Updated: 12 September 2015
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