NHSScotland 'Once for Scotland' workforce policies: consultation

8. Redeployment Policy

8.1. Aim

8.1.1. To ensure a fair, consistent, and supportive approach to identifying suitable alternative employment for displaced employees or those unable to continue in their existing roles.

8.2. Scope

8.2.1. This policy applies to all displaced employees or those employees who are unable to continue in their current role. It does not apply to bank, agency, and sessional workers.

8.2.2. This policy complies with current legislation and meets the aims of the Public Sector Equality Duty of the Equality Act 2010.

8.3. Definitions

8.3.1. Access period is the length of time an eligible employee can access the provisions of the Redeployment Policy.

8.3.2. Displaced is the term applied to employees whose post is no longer needed, or the skills or experience required for the role have changed or are no longer required.

8.3.3. Matching involves comparison of a vacant post’s essential criteria with the knowledge, skills, and experience of one or more employees.

8.3.4. Redeployment is the process of securing suitable alternative employment for an employee who is displaced or unable to continue in their current role.

8.3.5. Special class status is a category within the NHS pension scheme for some members pre-April 1995. Dependent on the nature of the work they are entitled to earlier than normal pension age and, in some cases, other enhanced terms. Mental Health Officer status has similar entitlements.

8.3.6. Suitable alternative employment describes the factors used to determine if a post is appropriate in a redeployment situation. The factors include the following:

• job role
• pay and benefits
• job location and hours of work
• Special class or Mental Health Officer pension status
• employee’s skills and experience
• employee's circumstances

8.4. Roles and responsibilities

8.4.1. There is a range of standard expectations which underpin all policies. Read more about standard roles and responsibilities. In addition, the following specific responsibilities apply to this policy.

8.4.2. Manager

8.4.3. The employee’s manager will:

• Provide regular contact and support to the employee whilst suitable alternative employment is being sought or identified.
• Engage with the employee to offer appropriate training and development opportunities for potential suitable alternative vacancies.
• Make sure employees have access to this policy’s provisions from when they are displaced.
• Seek advice from HR or designated redeployment contact, where necessary and appropriate, when dealing with redeployment issues.

8.4.4. Hiring manager

8.4.5. Managers recruiting to a vacancy will:

• Consider employees for vacancies objectively and without prejudice.
• Take a flexible approach to make sure employees matched to the vacancy are not unreasonably refused appointment to the role.
• Actively consider reasonable adjustments to enable the employee to access continued employment.
• Raise any concerns or issues about a redeployed employee as soon as possible or during any trial period to enable early discussion and resolution.
• Seek advice from HR or designated redeployment contact, where necessary and appropriate, when dealing with redeployment issues.

8.4.6. Employee

8.4.7. The employee will:

• Actively engage with the redeployment process.
• Take a flexible approach, particularly when considering suitable alternative roles.
• Engage with training and development programmes integral to any role that they subsequently accept.
• Raise any concerns or issues as soon as possible or during any trial period to enable early discussion and resolution.
• Highlight any change of circumstances to their manager.

8.4.8. Redeployment contact

8.4.9. The redeployment contact will:

• Make sure employees matched to vacancies are appropriately prioritised based on the reason for their redeployment.
• Liaise with managers recruiting to a vacancy to match employees to the role appropriately.
• Make sure that refusal by a manager to appoint an employee to a potential match is reasonable and stands up to objective scrutiny.

8.4.10. Occupational health

8.4.11. Occupational health will:

• Provide specialist advice about whether the employee should be considered for redeployment for health reasons.
• Provide specialist advice to inform a decision on fitness and suitability for alternative positions.

8.5. Procedure

8.5.1. NHSScotland is committed to retaining employees. Redeployment supports employees who are unable to continue in their current role. It also offers the opportunity to retain valued skills and experience within the organisation. Before advertising any vacant post there will be full consideration as to whether the employer can fill it through redeployment. Managers recruiting to a vacancy should appoint an employee from those considered to meet the essential criteria of the post.

8.5.2. Reasons for redeployment

8.5.3. Redeployment may be a result of:

• Organisational change, for example, removal of posts or shift changes.
• Capability, for example, health or performance issues.
• End of fixed-term contract, whether in a redundancy situation or not.

8.5.4. Other circumstances resulting in redeployment will be by exception. These will be determined on a case-by-case basis, to make sure the principles of fairness and consistency of approach are applied.

8.5.5. Individuals on redeployment for organisational change reasons should refer to the local Organisational Change Policy to clarify the provisions that apply. This will include alternative posts for employees on protection.

8.5.6. Redeployment may not be appropriate for health cases where the medical advice indicates the employee is unfit for their own post or any other type of work within the Board.

8.5.7. Redeployment may not be appropriate for individuals being sponsored for a work visa due to the restrictions of the visa conditions.

8.5.8. Accessing redeployment

8.5.9. Once an employee has access to redeployment, their manager will meet with them to:

• discuss the provisions of the Redeployment Policy
• confirm the employee’s responsibilities
• complete the Redeployment referral form [insert hyperlink to the Redeployment referral form]

8.5.10. The form will be passed to the redeployment contact, who will meet with the employee to:

• discuss their existing knowledge and skills
• explore training and development opportunities to support potential employment

8.5.11. Access period

8.5.12. The employee’s manager will maintain regular contact with them throughout the access period.

8.5.13. The employer should limit the employee's access to redeployment to 3 months in the first instance. After 3 months, it should be reviewed to consider whether an extension is appropriate.

8.5.14. The access period may be extended where:

• Suitable alternative employment opportunities have arisen or will arise within a reasonable time.
• An extension to the access period may amount to a reasonable adjustment for a disabled employee.

8.5.15. The access period for employees displaced due to non-renewal of a fixed-term contract can be for up to three months but certainly no less than their contractual notice period. In the case of organisational change, access to redeployment is available until a suitable alternative post is identified.

8.5.16. If the person is not able to do their current post while on redeployment a meaningful role will be found. The employee will retain their employment status until a suitable alternative employment opportunity becomes available.

8.5.17. Matching

8.5.18. The redeployment contact will use the completed Redeployment referral form for matching.

8.5.19. As redeployment aims to preserve employment, the redeployment contact will normally only consider employees for posts at their current or a lower pay band. However, if the employee is disabled, consideration may be given to vacant posts at a higher pay band or grade in exceptional circumstances.

8.5.20. Where several employees are suitable for an available post, the redeployment contact will consider the circumstances of redeployment. They will establish whether any employee takes priority over others due to displacement reasons or any characteristics protected under the Equality Act 2010.

8.5.21. The redeployment contact will:

• Match employees with the highest priority to an available post.
• Advise employees of the match and pass their details to the manager recruiting to the vacancy.
• Alert the employee's manager.

8.5.22. If no appointment is made, the same process will apply to those with the next priority level. The process will continue until an employee is appointed or the process is exhausted.

8.5.23. The order of prioritisation from highest to lowest will normally be as follows:

• Pregnant employees and employees on maternity, adoption or shared maternity and shared adoption leave subject to organisational change. This includes any protected period following on from maternity, adoption or shared maternity and shared adoption leave.
• Disabled employees in line with the Equality Act 2010.
• Employees displaced on grounds of organisational change, including expiry of fixed-term contracts resulting in a redundancy.
• Employees being redeployed under the Attendance Policy.
• Employees being redeployed under the Capability Policy.
• Fixed-term employees in line with the Fixed-Term Contract Policy.
• Employees returning from a career break. See Career Break Policy.

8.5.24. Entitlement to protection would only apply to employees displaced on grounds of organisational change, including expiry of fixed-term contracts resulting in a redundancy.

8.5.25. Employees can be redeployed for other reasons in exceptional circumstances where all other reasonable options have been exhausted.

8.5.26. The employee or the hiring manager may consider that the matched post is unsuitable. The employee should discuss this with the redeployment contact and their manager. The hiring manager should discuss this with the redeployment contact.

8.5.27. Selection decisions

8.5.28. The hiring manager will assess individuals against an agreed person specification and job description. Subject to agreement with HR, the hiring manager may need to use a more formalised selection process in the following circumstances:

• Where a post is not an exact match and the individual’s suitability for the role should be explored.
• Where more than one employee with the same level of priority is matched to a vacancy.

8.5.29. Any subsequent employment offer will be conditional upon all relevant pre-employment checks in the Employment Checks Policy [insert hyperlink to Employment Checks Policy].

8.5.30. Unsuccessful candidates will be provided with verbal feedback. Written confirmation can be provided on request.

8.5.31. Trial Periods or retraining

8.5.32. A trial period of 4 weeks will apply to employees appointed to posts via redeployment. The employer may extend trial periods by agreement. An extension may be necessary where the employee requires additional training and development or in response to specific circumstances. For example, as a reasonable adjustment if the employee is disabled.

8.5.33. Where the pay band of the new post is lower, employees will retain the pay band of their previous post during the 4-week trial period. Upon satisfactory trial completion, they will move to the pay band for the new post. If the trial is extended the employee will be paid at the rate of the new post.

8.5.34. Where a disabled employee is appointed to a higher band the employee will be paid at the higher rate during the 4 week trial period. If the trial is extended the employee will be paid at the rate of the new post. If the employee does not satisfactorily complete the trial period they will return to their substantive pay band.

8.5.35. Redeployment into a fixed-term post

8.5.36. When the organisation matches a permanent employee to a temporary or fixed-term post, they will retain their permanent employment status during this period. Consideration of further redeployment will be linked to the original reason for redeployment.

8.5.37. Determining the suitability of a post

8.5.38. Where an employee has declined several suitable alternative employment opportunities, the redeployment contact will meet with the employee and their manager to explore the reasons fully.

8.5.39. Where the hiring manager considers that the employee is unsuitable, they must provide reasons. These will address why they consider that the employee does not meet the essential criteria and is unlikely to be able to do so following a short period of training and development.

8.5.40. During the trial period, the hiring manager or the employee may determine that the post is unsuitable. In either case, they must clearly demonstrate the unsuitability of the post. Responsibility for pursuing further redeployment, if appropriate, will pass back to the employee's manager.

8.5.41. Redeployment should be reviewed after the 3 months access period to consider whether an extension is appropriate, or it has been clearly demonstrated that a suitable role will not be found.

8.5.42. Where the employee has failed to engage with the process or where there is no potential for suitable alternative employment, consideration should be given to termination of employment in line with the relevant NHSScotland Workforce Policy.

8.5.43. Resolution of disagreements

8.5.44. Should a disagreement arise, the employee has the right to raise matters under the Grievance Policy. It may be appropriate for either party to seek advice on resolving the matter from HR colleagues or a trade union representative. They should seek early resolution wherever possible.

8.5.45. Related policies

8.5.46. The following policies are related to the Redeployment Policy:

• Attendance
• Capability

8.6. Supporting documentation

It is proposed that the supporting documents listed below will be developed to support the policy. Supporting documents are not part of the consultation. These will be drafted following the consultation when responses have been analysed and the policy is developed in a final draft.

• Employee guide

Descriptor: guide to help employees use and understand the Redeployment Policy. This will include information on the nature and entitlement of a redeployment.

• Manager guide

Descriptor: guide to help managers use and understand the Redeployment Policy. This will include information on the nature and entitlement of a redeployment.

• Redeployment policy flowchart

Descriptor: visual and text alternative flowcharts outlining the key steps in the Redeployment Policy.

• Redeployment referral form

Descriptor: form to support redeployment by describing skills, experience and preferences.

8.7. Consultation questions

We are inviting responses to this consultation using the Scottish Government’s consultation hub. The following questions are set.

In your response, all questions have the option to answer yes or no. You are invited to provide further comment in a free text box. If you wish to make specific reference to a section of the policy, please quote the relevant numbered line in this consultation document.

1. Do you feel there are any gaps in the policy?

2. Do you feel there are any gaps in the proposed list of supporting documents?

3. Do you have any other comments to make on the policy?

4. Do you have any views on the potential impacts of this policy on equalities groups?

It is against the law to discriminate against someone because of: age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex or sexual orientation. These are protected characteristics under the Equality Act, 2010.