Line Managers Guide: Redundancy and Redeployment of Staff who are on Maternity/Shared Parental/Adoption Leave
1. When to use this Guide
Use this guidance when you have staff who are potentially at risk of redundancy and who will be taking maternity leave, shared parental leaveor adoption leave whilst they are still considered to be at risk. For the avoidance of doubt, the term “leave” will be used throughout this document (and related documents) to refer to these specified forms of leave that offer staff additional protection. It should be noted that annual leave and the 2 weeks of ordinary paternity leave are not covered by these arrangements.
Staff who areon maternity leave/shared parental leave/adoption leave and are at risk of redundancy are entitled in law to be offered any suitable alternative vacancy. The University has an obligation to determine whether an available vacancy is suitable for the individual, rather than assessing if they are the best person for that vacancy. Where such an alternative role exists it must be offered to the identified staff member on maternity leave/shared parental leave/adoption leave without a competitive processi.e. they must be given priority for such a role over any other staff member at risk and must not be put in competition with any other staff member who is noton maternity leave/shared parental leave/adoption leave[1]. This is regardless of whether there are other people at risk who might have been better qualified/more suitable for the post.
As a line manager, you should notify staff who are about to go on leavethat you may need to communicate with them during the leave period and therefore require agreement by what method this will happen. If future occasions should occur where this method is not possible/ appropriate, please refer to your HR Partner before communicating with that individual.
If there is more than one staff member identified, who are all either on maternity/shared parental/adoption leave and are at risk of redundancy, please see your HR Partner for guidance. In such cases, you will need to consider for whom the role is most suitable. This may require a competitive process to be undertaken, all-be-it with sympathetic consideration of the particular circumstances of each individual concerned.
2. What is a suitable alternative vacancy?
Any potential redundancy situation places an obligation on the employer to consider whether suitable alternative work may be available. For a position to be a suitable alternative employment (SAE) the work to be done has to be suitable for the staff memberand appropriate for him/her to do in the circumstances, with the terms and conditions of the new job being substantially no less favourable than if they had continued under their previous contract. Staffshould be given sufficient details to enable them to decide whether to apply or accept. The University must offer as much support as possible to staff in seeking alternative employment.
The obligation to offer a suitable alternative vacancy arises only in connection with staff that are on maternity leave/shared parental leave or adoption leave: if a staff member has yet to go on leave or has returned from leave the employer is not under this strict obligation to offer him/her any suitable available vacancy. It will, however, still be under the normal obligation to take reasonable steps to find alternative employment.
3. What do I need to do?
For the purpose of this guidance, it has been anticipated that you have:
a)followed the relevant University redundancy procedures.
b)identified staff at risk of redundancy and who have either alreadystarted their maternity leave/shared parental leave/adoption leave or are due togo on leave before any restructuring process is finalised (i.e. they will still beconsidered at risk of redundancy when they start their maternity/shared parental/adoption leave).
c)if applicable, advised them that they will be included in the redundancy exercise whilst on Ordinary Maternity Leave (OML), Extended Maternity Leave (EML), Shared Parental Leave (SPL) or Adoption Leave (AL) and they have the right to be offered a suitablealternative vacancy, as determined by the recruiting manager. Please note that this applies only until their notice period ends.
In order to ensure accurate and up to date information is available, Managers are advised to meet with the staff member before they commence maternity/shared parental/adoption leave. If the leave has already commenced, managers must make appropriate arrangements to ensure the agreed procedures are beingfollowed.
For staff who are at risk of redundancy and who will be commencing the leave before any restructuring process is finalised, Managers must arrange to meet with the individual prior to their leave commencing, in order to:
a)complete the Redeployment Skills Analysis Form (it is suggested that you work together to complete the appropriate parts of the form)
b)ensure you are clear about and have recorded complete and accurateinformation regarding the staff member’s personal situation, their work experience, qualifications, skills and abilities. Ask questions such as “If I had toconsider you for an alternative position, what do you want me to take into account with regards to your personal situation”. E.g. Hours of work, location,number of days able to work, etc.
c)ask them if they would also like to attacha Curriculum Vitae to the formbut make it clear that this is not mandatory
d)record what is said and share any documentation used to capture thisinformation with the member of staff
e)complete Section 4 of the form
f)check that the form is fully completed and signed
g)advise the member of staff that if their situation changes they must tell you assoon as possible, in order that their form can be amended/updated
As a manager you must make every effort to identify suitable alternative employment(within your own Unit or across the University) for staff who are at risk of redundancy. Additionally you must draw any appropriate jobs to their attention. Where possible, use the preferred communication method that was agreed prior to the leave commencing but if this is not possible, seek advice from your HR Partner.
The staff member should be advised to regularly review the current vacancies advertised on the OU Web pages and advise if any are of interest to them.
4. Useful References
Recruiting Managers Guide - Matching of SAE for Staff at Risk of Redundancy whilst on Maternity/Shared Parental/Adoption Leave
Matching Form: Suitable Alternative Employment for Staff at Risk of Redundancy whilst on Maternity/Shared Parental/Adoption Leave(SAE1)
Redeployment Skills Analysis Form (RSAF)
Human ResourcesHRG331
March 2016
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[1]Does not include staff taking up to 2 weeks of ordinary paternity leave