Development of a Work Capacity Assessment Procedure by the Accident Rehabilitation and Compensation Insurance Corporation Pursuant to section 50 of the Accident Rehabilitation and Compensation Insurance Act 1992, ACC has developed a work capacity assessment procedure. This procedure follows two rounds of public consultation. The procedure will be used to assess the capacity for work of ACC clients who have completed a vocational rehabilitation plan and continue to receive weekly compensation. Clients who have been assessed as having a capacity for work will have their weekly compensation stopped 3 months after the date of notification of the decision. The procedure has two separate steps. The first step involves the client meeting with an occupational assessor, who will make an assessment of the person's skills. The occupational assessor will identify jobs the person is suitable for by considering the client's experience, education and training. The assessor will also consider new skills the person has acquired since their injury. The client will then be examined by a medical assessor, who will determine their ability to perform any of the jobs identified in the occupational assessment. If the medical assessor recommends to ACC that the client is able to work in any of the jobs for 30 or more hours per week, then that person will be deemed to have a capacity to work, and weekly compensation will cease after 3 months. If the medical assessor recommends further rehabilitation before a person is able to work in the job options identified, then weekly compensation will continue. The client and the case manager will develop a new rehabilitation plan to carry out the assessor's recommendations. When this rehabilitation is completed, the client will be assessed again by the medical assessor. The medical assessor could also recommend to ACC that a person is no longer prevented by their injury from working in any of the job options, but is unable to work because of a non-injury factor such as an illness. In these cases, weekly compensation will also be stopped after 3 months. A copy of the final version of the work capacity assessment procedure, with full explanations is available from any ACC office or from the address below. WORK CAPACITY ASSESSMENT PROCEDURE, ACC Corporate Office, P.O. Box 242, Wellington.