What is a Labour Market Assessment (LMA)?
LMA’s are used by insurers and Workplace Rehab Providers (WRP’s) to determine suitable employment for an injured worker given their work capacity, skills, qualifications and experience.
The LMA gathers information to help assess if an injured worker could undertake a certain occupation without the risk of further injury.
The LMA will determine if an injured worker requires further training and or experience to be considered for employment in a particular occupation.
The LMA obtains information about the different types of employment within an occupation e.g. full-time, part-time, casual and also the likely wage for the occupation.
Employer Contacts
WPR are generally required to complete 3 employer contacts for each occupation being assessed. It is common for 3 occupations to be assessed.
Vocational Assessment Reports & Labour Market Reports
The information obtained from the employer Surveys is used by the WRPs in Vocational Assessment & Reports and LMA Reports. The reports provide direction for the injured worker’s rehabilitation process and may also be used by the insurer to make a Wage Capacity Decision. https://www.sira.nsw.gov.au/disputes-and-complaints/workers-compensation-disputes/work-capacity-decision-reviews
Conducting a LMA Employer Contact
LMA generally requires a Workplace Rehab Provider to assess 3 occupations and carry out 3 employer contacts per occupation or 9 employer contacts on average.
WRP’s typically utilise existing employer contacts or cold call businesses to try and obtain the required information about an occupation. It is no secret that within workplace rehab, conducting cold call to employers is the least favourite thing for many WRP staff to do. This is because:
- Cold calling is not enjoyable
- It is hard to get through to the person you need to speak to.
- The employer contacts are generally busy and they are being asked to take time out of their day, provide information to someone they often do not know with no compensation.
- Often the employer contacts do not properly understand the purpose of obtaining the information.
- On average the time allocated by the insurer per employer contact is 20 minutes. This generally is not enough time to source a suitable employer contact, get through to the employer contact, explain the purpose of the call, obtain all the required information, document all the information, and send it to the appropriate person. Additionally, there can be many failed attempts before obtaining an employer contact.
- Given what the information obtained from employer contacts is used for, the information should not be obtained under time pressures, when an employer is unsure or unaware of what the information is used for, or when the employer is reluctant to give information. This is why LFD provides a different approach.
Why do we pay for the information & where does the money come from?
- Employer’s time is valuable and we want good information so we pay employer contacts to complete the survey.
- We contract to WRP. Insurers pay the WRP to obtain the information and write reports. The WRP pays us to complete the LMAs. Employers are generally not paid for their time or the information provided. However, we pay employers with the money paid to us by the WRP.
- We believe this is a much better approach compared to cold-calling busy employers and expecting them to provide the information we need for free.
What if you are not able to be paid for the information but would still like to assist?
- You still have the option to complete the surveys for free or
- We can donate the payment to an approved charity. Conditions apply.