What employers should know about rehabilitation, redeployment and unfair dismissal
Employers in Australia face a complex matrix of statutory, industrial and common law obligations when managing ill or injured workers.
The recent Fair Work Commission (FWC) decision in Rennick v Victorian WorkCover Authority [2026] FWC 554 provides a timely illustration of what these obligations do, and do not require in order to avoid an unfair dismissal, including what the limits of an employer’s duty to rehabilitate or offer redeployment are. This case also provides guidance to State Government employers who have similar unfair dismissal legislative provisions.
State and territory workers’ compensation laws place obligations on employers to take all reasonable steps to assist or provide a worker with rehabilitation.
This obligation includes offering suitable duties, where medically appropriate and where available. Suitable duties, also known as light or alternative duties, are meaningful job tasks selected from the injured worker's usual job or another role. They are intended to be temporary to support rehabilitation.
There is no specific legal obligation upon an employer to assist a worker with rehabilitation or provide suitable duties where the injury/illness is not work related.
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