MANAGEMENT OF TRANSFERRED/BUMPED REDUNDANCIES– GUIDANCE NOTES

MANAGEMENT OF TRANSFERRED/BUMPED REDUNDANCIES– GUIDANCE NOTES


All other options should be explored before compulsory redundancy is contemplated.  

The possibility of Voluntary Early Retirement on the grounds of efficiency which may allow an employee who is potentially redundant to remain in employment should be considered before a transferred redundancy.

The Process

This may in practice mean that a specific job is no longer needed or that a group of similar jobs is to reduce in number.  Selection of employees for redundancy will, in the first instance, focus on those who are clearly ‘at risk’ and for whom there are no other reasonable alternative employment options.  Volunteers should be sought.

If there are insufficient volunteers at this initial stage (i.e. before compulsion) then a second stage is possible – a transferred redundancy will be an organisational decision based on the need to match displaced or ‘at risk’ employees with the requirements of jobs occupied by volunteers.  The Council will not normally therefore seek volunteers generally – volunteers will only be sought where there is a threat of compulsion and a potential match of skills is available.

The process of matching the jobs of volunteers with displaced or ‘at risk’ employees is likely to be a complex one involving discussions across Departments.  All potential transferred redundancies must therefore be handled by Human Resources who will be responsible for facilitating the matching process within and across Departments of the Council.

All cases of proposed transferred redundancy must be supported by the Director and agreed by Members.  Proposals should include details of the circumstances of proposed transferred redundancy.

Temporary Staff

A proposal to transfer a redundancy should allow an unplaced employee to avoid compulsory redundancy.  Transferring a redundancy from a temporary employee with less than 2 years service to a permanent employee will not normally be allowed.  It may, however, be possible to transfer the redundancy from a temporary employee with more than 2 years service to a permanent employee where other criteria are satisfactorily addressed.




Criteria

All proposals for transferred redundancies should be assessed against criteria of cost, level and skill when they are submitted for approval.

Cost

Extra costs arising from the proposal should be avoided.  Essentially the cost of making the affected employee redundant should be weighed against transferring the redundancy to someone else (including the actuarial cost of the release of pension, excess travel costs etc).

The cost of any pay protections should be taken into account in the costing exercise – these may occur where the employee is being redeployed to a lower graded job or there could be a saving where the person being made redundant was protected and the new incumbent is less/not protected.

Level

Transferred redundancies will normally be considered where there is a direct transfer at the same grade or where the transferred employee is protected against a lower graded job (within two grades of their original job).  Whilst this will incur protection costs, the arrangement may be overall more cost-effective as a result of lower redundancy costs.  It is also possible that there could be a reduction in protection costs – i.e. where the redundancy volunteer is on protected salary and the transferred employee is not.

Transferring a redundancy to a higher graded employee will be exceptional.  A proposed redundancy which results in a promotion opportunity cannot be targeted for transfer at one employee – it should be subject to a normal competitive selection process.  There may, however, be exceptions where the specific skill requirements of the higher graded post can only be met by a specific group of employees – into which the unplaced employee could consequently be placed.  In such cases there may be a case for ringfencing the promotion opportunity to suitably qualified and experienced staff.  In any event, the proposal must demonstrate that it will result in the appointment of an otherwise unplaced employee.

Skill

There should be a specific skill match between the job which is to be filled and the person proposed for transfer into the job.

Where selection needs to be made either of the employees to be transferred and/or those to be made redundant, careful consideration needs to be given to issues of cost, level and skills match.  If, after considering these factors, there is still a selection process required, then that proposed process should be clarified by Human Resources and must satisfy all normal legislative and local procedural requirements.