MANAGEMENT OF EXCESS EMPLOYEES: PRACTITIONER S GUIDE publicsector.sa.gov.au
MANAGEMENT OF EXCESS EMPLOYEES PRACTITIONER S GUIDE Supported by the Redeployment, Retraining and Redundancy Committee July 2015 Issued by the Commissioner for Public Sector Employment July 2015 Review date Not earlier than 1 March 2016 Who is this guide for? This guide was written for people who are case managing excess employees covered by the South Australian Public Sector Wages Parity Enterprise Agreement: Salaried 2014. This Guide is to be read in conjunction with: South Australian Public Sector Wages Parity Enterprise Agreement: Salaried 2014 Commissioner s Determination 7: Redeployment, Retraining and Redundancy Redeployment, Retraining and Redundancy Frequently Asked Questions Commissioner s Determination 2: Excess Employees - Income Maintenance. Practitioner s Guide Page 2 of 8
INTRODUCTION Redeployment describes the process of transferring an employee who is excess to requirements into another role, duties or position. The transfer or assignment of an excess employee may be at the employee s substantive remuneration level or at a lower remuneration level (application of income maintenance provisions would apply). Agencies require flexibility to adopt case management practices best suited to the needs of their excess employees and the organisation s requirements. To ensure consistency in case management practice across the public sector, agencies are encouraged to align organisation-specific documents, processes and resources with this guide. CONTENTS CASE MANAGEMENT... 4 RESPONSIBILITIES... 4 KEY ACTIONS... 5 CASE FILE... 5 RETRAINING... 6 VACANCY MANAGEMENT... 6 JOBS SA... 6 DISPUTE REGARDING SUITABILITY... 7 RIGHT OF REVIEW... 7 DOCUMENTS... 7 ENQUIRIES... 8 REFERENCES... 8 Practitioner s Guide Page 3 of 8
CASE MANAGEMENT Principles The effectiveness of case management practice can be increased if underpinned by the following broad principles: Joint responsibility Communication Support The agency should empower the employee to take control of their own career transition and the employee should proactively adopt a partnership approach with their case manager. Agree early upon the mechanisms and basis by which case management communication will be conducted, including what local mechanisms are available to employees to provide feedback and resolve issues. Where practicable, support is to be tailored to the facts and circumstances of an employee s individual needs and focused on employee wellbeing, securing employment or developing skills for employment. This can include consideration of other factors such as family, disability and cultural matters. RESPONSIBILITIES Section 5(5) of the Public Sector Act 2009 states that public sector agencies are to treat public sector employees fairly, justly and reasonably. Clearly articulating the respective responsibilities of the employee and case manager can reduce ambiguity and strengthen cohesion in the partnership approach. As a guide, it could be helpful for the employee and case manager to discuss the following responsibilities: Employees: continue to present for work, accept duties, maintain performance, attend team meetings and participate in any other business unit activity be responsible for their own career and take control of their transition including developing a Transition Plan and applying for jobs independent of the redeployment process prepare and maintain an up to date resume, participate in interviews in a positive manner and accept constructive feedback comply with all other reasonable and lawful agency directions behave and conduct themselves in a manner consistent with the Public Sector Act 2009 and the Code of Ethics for the South Australian Public Sector. Managers: provide the employee with duties commensurate with their substantive remuneration level until the employee is assigned or transferred to alternate duties. continue to manage and develop the employee, in line with agency performance discussions or formal performance development reviews accommodate the employee s attendance at interviews and training courses in work time in partnership with the case manager, ensure the employee s access to support services and career development funds maintain relevant communication with the employee and case manager throughout the employee s redeployment period. Practitioner s Guide Page 4 of 8
Case managers: explain the redeployment processes partner with, and empower, the employee to be responsible for their own career and take control of their transition ensure the employee is considered for current and anticipated vacancies negotiate duties for the employee commensurate to their substantive remuneration level ensure a performance management process is in place when the employees is assigned or transferred to alternate duties in another public sector agency liaise with the employee to identify and facilitate access to training and development. KEY ACTIONS As a minimum, your key actions as a case manager of an excess employee are: You must meet with the employee once they have been advised verbally by the Agency (e.g. Director and/or manager responsible for the decision) that they are excess. You will facilitate a conversation regarding the employee s recent change experience and ascertain the employee s preparedness for redeployment and retraining. The employee s level of understanding of the redeployment arrangements will inform your approach to educating the employee on relevant policies, processes and practices. The end of the first quarter of a redeployment period is an appropriate time to conduct a formal case management review to ensure initial documented outcomes are still relevant and achievable. You should invite the employee to assess the effectiveness of their participation in the process and confirm whether identified development objectives are being achieved. You will conduct regular meetings prior to completion of the first quarter. You should continually assess the excess employee s circumstances, collate relevant documents and undertake other review actions to assist evidence-based decision making. You should work with the employee to identify their current skillset to assist in the identification of suitable alternate roles. CASE FILE An individual case file should be created and maintained for each excess employee. An excess employee s case file constitutes an official record of the agency s case management, decisions and actions and would generally contain: employee details all communication to and from the employee all communication to and from the applicable union relevant agency documents e.g. Prior to Declaration template (or similar) case notes information on all jobs the employee applies, or is submitted, for. Include documented outcomes of agency assessments of the employee s suitability and the employee s responses position descriptions resumes career plans copies of vocational or functional assessments (if applicable) copies of employee performance assessments If an agency elects to engage an external case management service provider, the above list can be provided as a guide to the provider to ensure appropriate records management. Practitioner s Guide Page 5 of 8
RETRAINING A feature of redeployment includes retraining and agencies need to consider supporting and funding relevant training. You should record all training and professional development activity provided to excess employees. A Transition Plan is a practical tool that will help you work with the employee to identify realistic career transition objectives and relevant development activities. This requires little formal preparation and you can use the Transition Plan template or an equivalent document. For a more structured evaluation, a professionally conducted vocational assessment will objectively analyse an employee s current skillset, work capacity, vocational options and required training. Other retraining options may include work shadowing, on the job training and participation in relevant vocational education and training courses. VACANCY MANAGEMENT Vacancy management processes within agencies need to ensure that employees who are excess to requirements have been actively considered for any vacancies within the agency. Practical examples include but are not limited to: Transferring or assigning the employee to vacant roles either in the agency they are substantively employed in, or elsewhere in the public sector. Providing access to, and consideration for, advertised vacancies on Jobs SA ahead of other potential applicants. Transferring or assigning the employee to roles or work assignments prior to the engagement or extension of contractors, consultants and temporary labour hire. An excess employee may not be requested to undergo a merit-based selection process unless there is more than one excess employee being considered for the same vacancy. JOBS SA Jobs SA is the website that advertises vacant roles in the South Australian public sector. As a case manager, you can access the website to view vacant roles 48 hours before they are published to allow you to match your excess employee s skills to vacancies. Prior to loading vacancies for publication on the Jobs SA site agencies, through their HR areas, are encouraged to view the Excess Employee Database (EDD) and compare the profiles of excess employees with the requirements of the vacancy in their agency. When you identify a vacancy on the Jobs SA site for which an excess employee s skills can be matched, you should contact the agency advertising the relevant vacancy to request that the excess employee is given priority consideration, ahead of other employees. The agency advertising the vacancy is to hold their vacancy from being advertised until the suitability of the submitted excess employee has been assessed. Suitability is to be considered broadly by the agency advertising the vacancy. For example, they should consider whether the employee has the skills and capabilities to perform the duties to a substantive extent (including with training). If the agency advertising the vacancy accepts the excess employee is suitable, the agency is to proceed with normal employment contract administration processes and approvals required within their agency. If the vacancy manager, case manager and the excess employee agree that the vacancy is not suitable for the employee, no further process needs to be undertaken. Practitioner s Guide Page 6 of 8
DISPUTE REGARDING SUITABILITY If the agency advertising the vacancy does not accept the submitted excess employee, the agency must document their assessment of the excess employee s skills using the Excess Employee Suitability form. The excess employee must be provided the reasons for the agency s assessment and must be afforded the opportunity to provide a response. The agency advertising the vacancy is not to release their hold on the vacancy, without your agreement, until this process is complete. If a dispute regarding the excess employee s suitability cannot be resolved through completion of the Excess Employee Suitability form, the agency advertising the vacancy is to escalate the matter to the directors responsible for human resources within both agencies for advice. If agreement on suitability cannot be reached at the director level, the matter could be escalated to the respective chief executives (or agency heads) who may seek advice from the Commissioner for Public Sector Employment. RIGHT OF REVIEW The rights of review or grievance of excess employees will depend on the relevant category of employment and are provided either in legislation (e.g. Part 7 of the Public Sector Act 2009) or industrial instrument (e.g. HR Manual for employment under the Health Care Act 2008). In the first instance, excess employees should raise any concerns with you or their agency s human resource area. DOCUMENTS A number of documents have been developed to help agencies with the management of excess employees, particularly those covered by the South Australian Public Sector Wages Parity Enterprise Agreement: Salaried 2014. Prior to Redeployment Agency Checklist (Appendix 1) The purpose of this form is to help agencies observe the consultation and notification obligations as outlined in the South Australian Public Sector Wages Parity Enterprise Agreement: Salaried 2014 and Commissioner s Determination 7: Redeployment, Retraining and Redundancy. This template can constitute or support an agency s business case to the chief executive or agency head, and helps agencies document evidence of: organisational change exploration of alternatives to redeployment the process undertaken prior to the formal declaration of an employee as excess. It is intended to be a form for agencies to use internally and can be adapted into agencies existing forms. Letter of Declaration (Appendix 2) It is mandatory to supply excess employees with a letter of declaration. Employee Information form for Excess Employee Database (Appendix 3): It is mandatory to submit this form to the Office for the Public Sector. The purpose of this form is to register the excess employee on the Excess Employee Database (EED). The EED is an online database that records, monitors and reports on the number of excess employees in the public sector. It is your responsibility to ensure accurate and up to date information on your excess employees is on the EED at all times. Transition Plan (Appendix 4): This form identifies an excess employee s relevant and realistic development needs to inform pathways into specific roles. Excess Employee Suitability (Appendix 5): It is mandatory to complete this form in the event of an inter-agency dispute regarding an excess employee s suitability for a role. Practitioner s Guide Page 7 of 8
ENQUIRIES The Office for the Public Sector can be contacted for further information on (08) 8226 2700 or publicsectorhr@sa.gov.au. REFERENCES Fair Work Act 1994 (SA) Public Sector Act 2009 Public Sector Regulations 2010 Code of Ethics for the South Australian Public Sector Work Health and Safety Act 2012 Return to Work Act 2014 South Australian Public Sector Wages Parity Enterprise Agreement: Salaried 2014 Commissioner s Determination 7: Redeployment, Retraining and Redundancy Commissioner s Determination 2: Excess Employees - Income Maintenance Commissioner s Guideline: Management of unsatisfactory performance (including misconduct) Practitioner s Guide Page 8 of 8