Constantine Primary School

Redeployment and Redundancy Policy

Preamble

Our school policy is derived from the Model Redeployment and Redundancy Policy of the Cornwall Local Authority, with no amendments.

Scope

The following will be applied to teachers employed in schools with delegated budgets within the Cornwall Local Authority (LA).

Background

As a good employer, the LA in partnership with schools and the appropriate trade unions should seek to manage changes to the workforce, however they arise. This could be done through long term planning, prudent use of existing resources, redeployment and/or retraining whenever and wherever possible. If a reduction in the staffing levels is unavoidable then volunteers will be sought and only if insufficient, or unacceptable, volunteers are not forthcoming will compulsory redundancies be considered. Redundancies will only be used as a last resort.

The policy seeks to balance the retaining of staff through redeployment or retraining and meeting the management needs of the schools. It recognises the needs of the individual to either remain in work or to retire with an acceptable level of compensation for loss of office with the schools need to balance their finances, the employment obligations of the Council as the employer, and the long term sustainability of the scheme.

Our aim should be, given the overall growth and instances of staff returning to work, to redeploy individuals rather than using very limited resources in declaring redundancies. Consequently, the policy should be designed to facilitate and support the retaining of staff within the service. The policy should include measures to enable staff to move to new schools without incurring additional costs.

The policy links into the financial planning and management systems currently available to schools through the Accountancy teams to ensure sound staff management. The SIPS and School Improvement Advisers also have a key role by assisting the personal development of staff by facilitating moves from one school to another in order to benefit the professional development of that individual teacher.

For any policy to be acceptable to the different stakeholders it must be seen as workable and helpful. A joint approach, whereby schools are involved with the decision taking process including the application of the redeployment/redundancy process with the associated costs, would be more likely to be effective and helpful to all the interested parties. An approach whereby the LA enters into a voluntary agreement with the schools so that both parties accept responsibility for the implementation of the policy may be a way forward. The voluntary agreement could be that each school individually agrees to work with the LA to manage the redeployment/redundancy process.

Compensation Packages with effect from 1 September 2007

The market evidence from both the south west region and nationally strongly suggests that the majority of Local Authorities have proposed or are proposing to move towards a compensation figure paid as a single payment based upon the current Government redundancy tables. Most Local Authorities are ceasing to pay for any access to pension; some have allowed individual schools to grant access to an individual’s pension but any costs incurred above the compensation payment would be borne by the school.

On this basis, Cornwall LA adopts a compensation package for teachers being made redundant based on a multiple of two times the number of weeks an employee would be entitled to under the statutory redundancy formula, inclusive of any redundancy payment, to a maximum of 60 weeks pay (the compensation payments will be based on the employee’s actual salary).

The LA, in line with other Authorities, will not support a teacher’s access to pension.

However, a School may decide to support the individual’s access to pension. If they do so then the LA’s financial support will be limited to the amount of compensation the LA would have otherwise paid to the individual. Any and all additional costs will be funded by the school.

Redeployment Incentives

Scope and Introduction:

The LA introduces a broader policy to encompass other circumstances where redeployment may be an appropriate consideration, eg expiry of fixed-term contracts and redundancies. In consideration of the control of staffing and recruitment by Governing Bodies, the following Redeployment Policy specifically relates to schools. The Policy is managed by CSF HR and the procedure and guidance notes relating to this policy provide further detail on the implementation of this process.

Each school will be asked to confirm the Governing Body’s commitment to the principle of redeployment, and their commitment to giving serious consideration to redeploying staff (from another school facing redundancy) where appropriate opportunities may exist. Schools would be required to adopt this policy. This may be set up as a ‘Redeployment Agreement’ between the LA and the school.

Procedure

•  CSF HRwill manage the process by holding lists of staff facing compulsory redundancy or who are volunteering for redeployment, which may either be circulated to schools periodically (effectively marketing employees facing redundancy) or as and when a situation occurs.

•  CSF HRwill hold the full details of the employee facing redeployment/redundancy and may undertake a redeployment interview (or other information gathering process) to understand the employee’s chosen area of work, experience, preferred hours of work (part-time/full-time), location and current rate of pay.

•  CSFHR will also be able to explain the redeployment process and the rights of employees in such circumstances.

•  Where a possible redeployment opportunity is identified, it may be arranged for the employee to visit the school and undertake a selection process which may include interview, lesson observation as well as the opportunity for the employee to have a tour of the school and ask any relevant questions of the Headteacher.

•  In cases of redundancy consultation in schools, it may be recommended to schools that volunteers for redeployment should be sought (at the time of informing staff and asking for potential volunteers for redundancy).

•  At the point of asking for volunteers, it should be specified that the LA reserves the right to select the most cost effective volunteer.

Training and Development for teachers facing redeployment

An employee facing redeployment should be provided with appropriate training and development opportunities during and after the relevant notice period and during any notice period where the post offered is substantially different from the one previously held.

Trial Period

Where a Governing Body agrees to appoint a redeployee, this may be undertaken on a trial basis of up to 4 school weeks. Consideration should be given as to whether an additional period of time for trial should be written into the Policy. Following consultation, the parties may agree an extension to the trial period.

Where all parties agree that the trial period has been unsuccessful, the redeployee retains their entitlement to a redundancy payment.

Consideration should be given to the question of the redeployee unreasonably turning down what is considered to be suitable alternative employment, and where the employer feels the trial has not been successful, whether the redundancy payment is forfeited in such circumstances.

Pay Protection

Salary safeguarding by the LA (including pay increases and increments) will be in accordance with the statutory provisions contained in the School Teachers’ Pay and Conditions Document. Essentially it will continue for a period of up to 3 years but will be eroded by annual salary changes. This safeguarding is subject to the employee not unreasonably refusing an alternative post within the LA at a grade equivalent to his/her safeguarded salary level.

The receiving establishment will be expected to take all reasonable steps to allocate to the employee responsibilities that are commensurate with the grade upon which his/her safeguarded salary level is based.

Additional Travel Expenses

In accordance with the local agreement (Green Book, part 3 section 15) where an employee’s place of employment is changed by organisational circumstances beyond their control, they will be eligible to receive an allowance equal to the difference between the cost of travelling from their home to their new place of work and from their home to their old place of work. This allowance will be paid for a period of 24 months (this period may be extended a further 12 months in cases of exceptional hardship) and will be based on either second class rail and/or bus fares of the current mileage allowances etc.

Appeal Process

An employee selected for redundancy has the right to appeal against a redundancy decision. The process for appeal is set out in the procedure and guidance notes relating to the redeployment and redundancy policy.

Knock-On Redundancy Procedure

In the interests of avoiding compulsory redundancies, arrangements for knock-on redundancies may be made where possible. CornwallCouncil operates a knock-on redundancy procedure which is included in the procedure and guidance notes relating to this policy. Where a knock-on redundancy is made there is not necessarily any financial saving to the Authority, but there is the avoidance of a compulsory redundancy.

Support for the Redeployee

Arrangements should be made to support the redeployment of employees subject to redundancy with a view to securing their future employment which may include the following:-

•  time off to seek other alternative employment

•  skills training / re-training

•  interview skills / self-marketing training

•  personal support (ie Occupational Health, counselling etc).

In addition, the following parameters apply to schools where an employee is made redundant or redeployed:

a)  In the event of a teacher or teaching assistant being declared redundant or being redeployed to another school, the school declaring the reduction would be expected to reduce its full time equivalent (fte) by the equivalent number over the following 12 months. This would include the use of supply/casual and temporary staff other than those recruited to cover for illness, secondment or maternity absences.

b)  Individuals cannot be offered alternative work within 1 month of leaving their substantive post by any organisation covered by the Redundancy Modification Order 1999.

c)  In the event of a school not meeting the above parameters the LA reserves the right to apply a penalty clause of the full redundancy costs to be recharged at the rate of 1/12 for each month that the fte is in excess of the agreed fte limit, pro-rated for part-time staff.

Any deviation from the agreed policy must be agreed by the Portfolio holder in consultation with the Director or Deputy Director before any action is taken.

Redundancy Selection Criteria Policy

Principles

The following bullet points may be considered in respect of defining effective selection criteria. The criteria should:-

•  be fair, objective and based on non-discriminatory factors;

•  be weighted fairly and transparently;

•  should be in the best interests of the school.

Process

•  Detailed records of the application of the criteria should be kept, along with explanations of scores/assessments etc.

•  The records should be available to individual employees/trade union representatives for scrutiny as required.

•  An appeals process is included in the procedure and guidance notes relating to this Policy. Relevant information relating to the application of the selection criteria should be made available to all parties in the event of an appeal and so as to allow for a fair appeals process.

•  Trade Union representatives should be consulted and the selection criteria should be agreed with Trade Unions prior to being ratified by the full Governing Body and applied by the Personnel Committee of Governors.

Criteria

•  The criteria that may be considered should be appropriate and in the best interests of the school. The following are provided as examples of possible criteria:

•  relevant skills and experience linked to the School Improvement Plan (see Appendix 1 as an illustrative example)

•  job performance

•  disciplinary records

•  attendance records

•  suitability for retraining.

•  Schools may choose to use all or a combination of the suggested criteria as listed above. There is no single model that will suit all cases and as such Governors will need to adopt an appropriate model which meets the needs of the school. Consideration should be given to the future viability of the school to maintain a balanced workforce and continue to successfully deliver its service. The model in each case should be discussed with the appropriate Trade Unions as it is the Council’s intention to be clear, transparent, reasonable and fair in the use of selection criteria for redundancy.

•  In the event of two or more employees being awarded the same score, an additional criterion will be required to finalise the selection. It should be noted that dismissal may be unfair if the selection of a redundant employee cannot be objectively justified. A suggestion for the additional criteria would be to base the selection on length of service.

NB length of service may amount to indirect age discrimination under the Employment Equality (Age) Regulations 2006. Therefore, where length of service is used it must be objectively justified that a person’s age is not a determining factor in the selection in order to avoid discrimination.

Weighting

•  The weighting may be applied in order of importance (for example, job performance or relevant skills are likely to be considered the most important aspects and therefore should be awarded the highest weighting).

•  In the interests of creating a policy that allows the school to adjust the criteria to best meet the needs of the school, the weighting of the criteria may be determined by the school within certain parameters which may include:-

•  that the weighting is explained and justified in the redundancy consultation papers

•  that different weightings of different criteria can be related to meeting the best interests of the school

•  that the weighting is not directly or indirectly discriminatory on the grounds of race, colour, sexual orientation, nationality, ethnic origin, religion, political belief, disability, age, gender or marital status.

Application of Criteria

•  Consideration should be given to anticipated staff turnover, retirements, cessation of temporary work in the first instance.

•  Consideration should be given to seeking volunteers for redundancy or redeployment prior to application of the criteria for selecting employee(s) to be compulsorily made redundant.