The following guide forms part of the standard for workforce policies. These policies apply to all eligible staff within NHSScotland, regardless of the board they are employed by.

What is the purpose of the Redeployment Policy?

The Redeployment Policy provides a framework for identifying suitable alternative posts for individuals who are displaced or are unable to continue in their existing roles. 

Who is covered by this policy? 

The Redeployment Policy applies to all displaced employees or those employees who are unable to continue in their current role. It does not apply to bank, agency, and sessional workers.   

Manager’s responsibilities

There are 2 separate manager responsibilities within the Redeployment Policy:

• Manager of an employee who is subject to redeployment.
• Hiring manager who is recruiting to a role and may have an employee redeployed to the vacancy.

As the current manager, you are responsible for:

• Identifying where the Redeployment Policy would be applicable to employees.
• Discussing the Redeployment Policy with employees and making sure they understand their expectations, including the need to participate in the redeployment process actively.
• Supporting the employee to complete the Redeployment referral form.   
• Maintaining regular contact with the employee while they are being considered for redeployment.
• Arranging any training requirement identified to assist with matching to suitable roles.
• Retaining overall management responsibility for the employee until they have been confirmed as successfully redeployed to an alternative role.

As the hiring manager, you are responsible for:

• Using the agreed person specification for the post to consider employees for vacancies promptly, objectively, and without prejudice.
• Actively considering reasonable adjustments to enable the employee to access continued employment.
• Providing clear expectations to the redeployed employee.
• Monitoring the redeployed employee’s progress in the new role.
• Raising any concerns or issues about a redeployed employee as soon as possible during the trial period to enable early discussion and resolution. 
• Seeking advice from HR or designated redeployment contact, where necessary and appropriate, when dealing with redeployment issues. 

Redeployment co-ordination

Redeployment can be coordinated centrally by a redeployment contact or HR practitioner.

The redeployment contact will:

• Coordinate details of all employees who are subject to redeployment.
• Use the information provided in the Redeployment referral form, the Skills profile form and any supporting information to identify potentially suitable post matches. This should be based on the essential criteria for the post, either immediately or with a reasonable period of training.
• Make sure employees matched to vacancies are appropriately prioritised based on the reason for their redeployment. 
• Make sure that any employees on the redeployment register are formally matched to vacancies at any point in the recruitment process. This will normally be prior to advertising, but it can be at any point prior to a conditional offer to candidates through the standard recruitment process.
• Liaise with managers recruiting for a vacancy to appropriately match employees to the role.
• Make sure that a manager's refusal to appoint an employee to a potential match can be justified, and if not, escalate appropriately. 

Eligibility 

There are a number of reasons why redeployment may be considered.

Organisational change

Organisational change may involve an employee being displaced because of a change in the number or nature of roles required. Local organisational change policies will detail the process followed within individual boards. In this situation, employees will be ‘displaced as a result of organisational change’, with the process to be followed as defined within this policy.  

Employees affected by organisational change will be entitled to earnings protection in line with Organisational change pay protection : PCS(AFC)(2022)01. This states that no detriment protection of salary will apply where:

• organisational change impacts an individual’s contractual earnings
• the individual is redeployed into a lower banded post.

In these circumstances, the local Organisational Change Policy may provide further details of specific arrangements relating to redeployment.

Capability

This could be related to health or performance.

Guidance will be taken on the employee’s ability to undertake roles. Occupational health guidance should be taken on fitness to work and whether any reasonable adjustments need to be considered.

Protection of earnings does not apply to redeployment due to capability.  

End of fixed-term contract

Where redeployment results from a non-renewal of a fixed-term contract, the provisions will be in line with the NHSScotland Fixed-term Contract Policy.  

Protection of earnings does not apply to redeployment due to the end of fixed-term contracts unless the expiry of the fixed-term contract would result in a redundancy situation. If this situation is likely to apply, further advice should be taken from HR.

Other appropriate circumstances 

As a manager, you may feel that there are other circumstances in which the employee should be redeployed. If all other options have been explored, the circumstances should be discussed with HR before agreeing to redeployment with the employee. These will be determined on a case-by-case basis to make sure the principles of fairness and consistency of approach are applied.  

Where redeployment may not be appropriate 

Employees covered by visas  

You should be fully aware of the visa conditions that apply to any employees you are considering for redeployment. Redeployment may not be possible for individuals being sponsored for a work visa due to the requirement to apply for an update to their visa. More information about Skilled Worker visas can be found on the UK Government website.

If you have an employee who requires a visa and may be eligible for redeployment, you should contact your HR department for further advice.

Employees unfit for work 

Redeployment may not be appropriate for health cases if medical advice indicates that the employee is unfit for any type of work.  

These situations should be managed through the Attendance Policy. If appropriate, the principles of the Dying to Work Charter should be adhered to.

Redeployment process 

Once it has been agreed that redeployment should be considered for an employee, you should meet with them to:  

• discuss the provisions of the Redeployment Policy  
• confirm the employee’s and manager’s responsibilities    
• support completion of the following forms:
  • Redeployment referral form
  • Skills profile form
• remind the employee of the joint responsibility to access the vacancy lists

As the manager, you are responsible for leading this process.

The form will be passed to the redeployment contact, who will, if necessary, meet with the employee to:  

• confirm their existing knowledge and skills 
• explore training and development opportunities to support potential redeployment

Access period  

You should maintain regular contact with the employee throughout the access period. The purpose is to support the employee. You should discuss any matches identified and changes in personal circumstances that may affect redeployment.

If the person is not able to do their current post while on redeployment, you should identify a meaningful role for the employee. 

The employee's access to redeployment should be for 3 months in the first instance. The 3-month period will begin once the redeployment form has been completed. The form is expected to be completed promptly after it has been agreed upon that the employee will be given access to redeployment.

The access period for employees displaced due to non-renewal of a fixed-term contract can be for up to 3 months. It cannot be less than their contractual notice period. Access to redeployment will run concurrently with the notice period.   

If the employee is not successfully matched to an alternative role within 3 months, you should meet with them to review this. It is an opportunity to consider whether an extension is appropriate or whether it has been clearly demonstrated that a suitable role will not be found.   

The access period may be extended where:  

• Suitable alternative employment opportunities have arisen or will arise within a reasonable time.  
• An extension to the access period may amount to a reasonable adjustment for a disabled employee.  
• Employees have been displaced due to organisational change, including those on grade protection.

The employee will retain their terms and conditions during this time.

In the case of organisational change, access to redeployment is available until a suitable alternative post is identified. You should carry out regular reviews to make sure all options are being fully considered.

Any decisions about extending access to redeployment should be discussed with the redeployment contact before making a decision. This is to make sure that the extension is appropriate.

Matching  

The redeployment contact will use the completed Redeployment referral form and Skills profile form for matching. They will take the following into account:

• essential criteria for the role
• hours of work, shift pattern, and location
• employee’s circumstances
• any training to support meeting the essential criteria

A record of posts considered as a potentially suitable alternative for the employee should be maintained. This should also include information on any posts declined and the reasons for this.

As redeployment aims to preserve employment, the redeployment contact will normally only consider employees for posts at their current or a lower pay band. However, if the employee is disabled, consideration may be given to vacant posts at a higher pay band or grade in exceptional circumstances. 

Exceptional circumstances are where no suitable matches can be identified at the employee’s current pay band.  

Where several employees are suitable for an available post, the redeployment contact will consider the circumstances of redeployment. They will establish whether any employee takes priority over others due to displacement reasons or any characteristics protected under the Equality Act 2010. 

The redeployment contact will:  

• Match the employee with the highest priority to an available post.  
• Advise the employee of the match and pass the Skills profile form to the manager recruiting for the vacancy.  
• Alert the employee's manager.  

If no appointment is made, the same process will apply to those with the next priority level. The process will continue until an employee is appointed or the process is exhausted.  

The prioritisation order is based on employment law requirements and the nationally agreed position in NHSScotland. From highest to lowest, it will normally be as follows:   

• Pregnant employees and employees on maternity, adoption or shared maternity and shared adoption leave, subject to organisational change. This includes any protected period following on from maternity, adoption or shared maternity and shared adoption leave.  
• Disabled employees in line with the Equality Act 2010.  
• Employees displaced on grounds of organisational change, including expiry of fixed-term contracts resulting in redundancy.   
• Employees being redeployed under the Attendance Policy.  
• Employees being redeployed under the Capability Policy.  
• Fixed-term employees who are not in a redundancy situation in line with the Fixed-term Contract Policy.  
• Employees returning from a career break longer than one year. See Career Break Policy.  
• Employees who are unable to continue in their existing role due to other exceptional circumstances.

The employee or hiring manager may consider the matched post unsuitable. The employee should discuss this with you and the redeployment contact. The hiring manager should discuss this with the redeployment contact before giving feedback to the employee. The redeployment contact will arrange for feedback to be given.   

If the employee declines any post that is deemed to be a suitable alternative role, the redeployment contact will discuss this with the employee and their representative to explore the reasons fully. The manager will be involved in this discussion and decide whether the reasons are acceptable and whether additional information is needed to assist with the matching process.

Where the employee has failed to engage with the process, unreasonably refused suitable alternatives, or where there is no potential for suitable alternative employment, consideration should be given to termination of employment in line with the NHSScotland Workforce Policy that led to the employee being placed on redeployment. 

Selection decisions   

The hiring manager should not carry out a full interview as would be expected in a standard recruitment process. Instead, they should focus on the agreed person specification and job description. The purpose of the selection meeting is to make sure that the employee has sufficient skills and experience to carry out the role requirements, either immediately or after a short period of training.

Subject to agreement with HR, the hiring manager may need to use a more formalised selection process in the following circumstances:   

• Where a post is not an exact match, and the individual’s suitability for the role should be explored. 
• Where more than one employee with the same priority level is matched to a vacancy. 

Where an employee is not considered a match, the hiring manager must be able to objectively justify their rationale against the essential criteria for the post. This should include whether training within a reasonable period would enable the employee to meet the criteria. The rationale will be provided in writing to the redeployment contact. 

Any subsequent employment offer will be conditional upon all relevant pre-employment checks in the Employment Checks Policy.   

Unsuccessful candidates are entitled to verbal and written feedback. 

Trial periods or retraining  

The hiring manager will meet with the employee no later than the commencement of the trial period. They should discuss and agree on any training needs, initial expectations, objectives within the role, and clear timescales. The hiring manager and the employee should regularly review these requirements during the trial period. 

Employees appointed to posts via redeployment will have a 4-week trial period. After discussing it with HR or the redeployment contact, the hiring manager may seek to extend the trial period.

An extension may be necessary where the employee requires additional training and development or in response to specific circumstances, such as a reasonable adjustment if the employee is disabled. The length of the extension should be reasonable and for a defined reason. You should take advice from the redeployment contact regarding this.

During the trial period, the hiring manager or the employee may determine that the post is unsuitable. In either case, they must clearly demonstrate the unsuitability of the post.

Any issues arising during the trial period unrelated to the reason for redeployment should be dealt with by the hiring manager. These issues should not be used to consider a trial unsuccessful. Responsibility for pursuing further redeployment, if appropriate, will be passed back to you as the employee's manager.  

Salary during the trial period

Where the pay band of the new post is lower, employees will retain their existing pay arrangements during the 4-week trial period. Upon satisfactory trial completion, or if the trial is extended, they will move to the pay arrangements for the new post. 

Where a disabled employee is appointed to a higher band, the employee will be paid at a higher rate during the 4-week trial period. If the trial is extended, the employee will continue to be paid at the rate of the new post. 

Any employee who does not satisfactorily complete the trial period will return to their substantive pay band.  

Redeployment into a fixed-term post  

If a permanent employee is matched to a temporary or fixed-term post, they will retain their permanent employment status during this period. If further redeployment is to be considered, the Redeployment referral form should be updated with the additional role. The reason for redeployment will remain the original reason, and the employee will be given a further 3 months of access to redeployment.

Download the Redeployment referral form.

Unsuccessful redeployment situations

It may be identified that redeployment is unsuccessful during a trial period. In this situation, the employee will be given access to redeployment for the remaining weeks from the maximum 3-month total access period.