Good and sufficient reason

It is important to make contact with the partner to obtain their reason for not attending and participating in an interview for suitable employment or accepting an offer of suitable employment. If the partner has a good and sufficient reason they will not have failed to comply with this pre-benefit requirement.

The guiding principle in determining 'good and sufficient' reason is one of 'reasonableness'. Having considered the circumstances, would it have been 'reasonable' for the partner to have attended and participated in the interview or accepted the offer of employment?

Decide in favour of the partner if any doubt remains.

A good and sufficient reason may include, (but is not limited to):

• the partner was temporarily medically unfit - ie they have a medical certificate
• death or illness in the family
• due to unforeseen circumstances, the partner could not realistically transport themselves on the day
• new information indicates that the job was not suitable for the partner
• due to unforeseen circumstances, the partner's childcare arrangements fell through on the day
• partner has one or more dependent children and participation in the employment involves hours when it would be unreasonable to expect any child to be without that partner's supervision