Secondment
Secondment is the temporary transfer to other duties. The project or the employee can be internal or external to the council.
The duties or projects covered by a secondment will have an exact end date. The secondment agreement defines and agrees on this end date. All parties involved sign this agreement.
The general maximum period of secondment is 12 months. Each service area is responsible for monitoring secondments.
Managers may consider extending the period of secondment. This ensures that we use the best skills and experience available to us. It can also continue an individual's development too.
Types of secondment
- internal secondments (sideways moves) - this is a move to a post of the same grade in another service area
- internal secondments (promotions) - this is a move to a higher grade
- external or outgoings secondments (to partner organisations) - we remain as the employer and employees continue to be subject to our policies
- incoming secondments (from partner organisations) - we are the host, not the employer
If employees wish to apply for a secondment, they need their manager's approval.
We consider an application in light of:
- service needs
- the benefit to the employee
- the existing team
- the new team
- the broader benefit to us as an organisation
If the payment of the secondment is different from an employee's usual pay, they will earn the new post's wage.
The terms of the secondment will be agreed by the employee, their manager (where their current job is) and the receiving manager.
We may need to replace the employee's original position. This will be on a secondment, temporary or fixed-term contract basis.
Secondment to permanent post
If it becomes possible to fill a secondment permanently, any employees on the 'at risk' register will have prior consideration. This is in line with the redeployment policy.
If there are no such employees, we may offer the secondee a permanent contract when:
- they have been seconded to the role for a minimum of six months
- they have successfully completed a probationary period with us, if recruited specifically for this role
- the possibility of it becoming permanent was made clear during the recruitment process, where this could be foreseen at this point
Where more than one employee meets these criteria, a shortened recruitment process of expressions of interest followed by a selection process will be followed.
If the post-holder does not meet the above criteria, we will advertise the post in line with our normal recruitment procedures. The manager will meet with the post-holder to inform them that we will advertise the post. If they are subsequently unsuccessful at interview, we will discuss a return to the post-holder’s substantive post.