Purpose
This policy outlines the arrangements to be undertaken to transfer a staff member to another position within our company, either at the direction of the business or the request of an employee.
Scope
This policy applies to all continuing and fixed term staff of or company. Staff employed on a fixed-term contract who are transferred will normally have at least 12 months of the contract to run unless work is no longer available for them in the area of their current employment.
Policy Statement
This policy has been developed in support of the provisions for staff to be transferred within our company. Our company recognises that in order to meet its operational requirements, it may be necessary to transfer a staff member from one position to another within the business. A transfer is the administrative relocation of an employee from one position to another within the business. Notwithstanding any other policy or provisions, our company may transfer an employee into another position at their current classification level, fraction and duration. A transfer may be for a defined period or it may be an ongoing arrangement that does not have an end date, except for those staff who are employed on a fixed-term contract of employment. Our company proposals and requests for transfers will be considered in line with the operational requirements of the business and will occur after the consultation has occurred between the employee and relevant officers.
Application of Policy
- A transfer can be undertaken without an external advertisement for the role. If a vacancy exists and it is considered desirable to organise a transfer at a level without advertising, the matter should be referred to the Human Resources Manager.
- Transfers will take place into positions which are classified at the same classification level unless requested by the staff member and agreed by the company.
- A staff member who transfers to another position will retain all of her or his accrued leave entitlements.
- A new Performance Review, Planning process and associated Goals and Key Performance Objectives should normally be developed within six months of the staff member’s transfer into the position.
- Factors that warrant consideration in determining the appropriateness of a proposed Academic Staff transfer and which will be taken into account by our company include, but are not limited to:
- an employee’s possible career paths, trajectories and/or professional standing,
- the potential for redeployment or transfer of an employee including to a suitable vacancy,
- the fit between the employee’s knowledge, skills, competencies, qualifications, experience and personal attributes and the requirements of the proposed position ;
- the employee’s professional development needs;
- the presence of staff in the receiving location who may be interested in an opportunity to fill a new or vacant role;
- whether there is a potential difficulty in recruiting staff to the receiving location; and
- the employee’s performance history.
Transfers at the direction of our company
A transfer at the direction of our company may occur:
- as part of a change management process,
- in order to avoid the need for notification of redundancy,
- because work in a particular unit is declining or increasing,
- it may be related to a staff member’s capacity to perform some or all of the duties of her/his position, and/or
- as part of a developmental strategy
- the emergence of new business opportunities
When an operational requirement for a staff member to be transferred to another position is identified, the current nominated supervisor and proposed nominated supervisor will normally consult about the proposed transfer.
The nominated supervisor of the employee’s current position and/or the nominated supervisor of their potential new position will consult with the affected employee about the proposal for transfer; and will consider the views of the affected employee throughout the consultation process prior to a final decision being made.
If, following consultation with the affected employee, a decision is made to proceed with the recommendation, the employee’s current nominated supervisor will provide a written outline of the rationale for the proposed transfer, details of the consultations with the staff member, and a recommendation that the transfer is approved.
A copy of the Proposal will also be provided to the affected employee who will be invited to submit any comments to the nominated supervisor concerning the proposal, within 5 working days of receiving a copy.
The Proposal and the employee’s written comments will be considered by the delegated officer prior to deciding whether to approve the recommendation for transfer.
If the delegated officer approves the recommendation for the transfer of the employee, a copy of the approval will be provided to Human Resources. HR will write to the staff member concerned formally advising her/him of the transfer arrangements.
If the delegated officer does not approve the recommendation for the transfer, she/he will advise the nominated supervisor and the staff member concerned of this decision.
Transfers at the request of the employee
A staff member may initiate a voluntary request to be transferred to another position and/or organisational unit within the organisation. Our company will consider the request in light of the operational requirements of the relevant units concerned. If a suitable vacancy is available, our company will use its best endeavours to facilitate the requested transfer. However, the organisation is not obliged to facilitate an employees request for a transfer where no suitable vacancy is available.
All staff initiated requests for transfer must be submitted in writing to the employee’s current nominated supervisor for consideration.
The employee’s current nominated supervisor will consult with and provide a copy of their written transfer request to the Human Resources (HR) Manager who will consider the request in conjunction with the prospective organisational unit.
The request will be considered in line with:
- the operational requirements of the business,
- the knowledge, skills, competencies, qualifications, experience and personal attributes of the staff member, and
- the availability of a suitable vacant position at or below the employee’s grade.
- If the HR Manager approves the recommendation for the transfer of the employee, HR will write to the staff member concerned formally advising the transfer arrangements.
If the HR Manager does not approve the recommendation for the transfer, she/he will advise the nominated supervisor and the employee accordingly.
An employee who relocates their residence as a consequence of a staff-initiated transfer will not normally be provided with relocation assistance. However, she/he will have access to paid Personal Leave for the relocation of residence as provided by the organisation’s Personal/Carer’s Leave Policy.
Approvals
A Proposal to transfer an employee and a request for a transfer from an employee must be submitted for approval by the appropriately delegated officer. Information on delegated officers for leave approvals is available in the relevant company Delegations Register.
Documentation
- Transfer request form
- Notification of Transfer form
- Position description
- Delegations Register