Deployment or suitable alternative work
Last updated:16.1 Every reasonable effort must be made to assist the person at risk of redundancy to find suitable alternative employment.
16.2 Where suitable alternative work is available within the school it should be offered. If suitable alternative work in terms of pay, grade, job content, status and place of work is made and the employee unreasonably refuses it there will be no liability to make a redundancy payment.
16.3 With the agreement of all concerned, an employee can be offered a “bumped” redundancy if their Head Teacher agrees to accept another employee on redeployment from a different department, who would otherwise be redundant.
16.4 The Council operates an Employee Transfer Register and those issued with formal notice of compulsory redundancy within Maintained Schools may choose to be added to this register and obtain a guaranteed interview where they meet the essential criteria for suitable vacancies within Buckinghamshire Council Services only (see Toolkit).
16.5 Where a new post secured from the Employee Transfer Register is significantly different there is an entitlement to a four-week trial period and if this should prove unsuccessful the original redundancy payment entitlements would still apply.
16.6 To help facilitate the redeployment of an employee ‘at risk’ of redundancy, reasonable retraining may be offered e.g., online skills training, job shadowing etc. if it has been determined that there are no suitable alternative opportunities available without retraining. This training may take place prior to an individual being redeployed (i.e. to improve their chances of redeployment) into a new job or following redeployment (training specific to the role offered) into a new job or a combination of both depending on the circumstances of each individual case. Details will be determined according to need, on a case-by-case basis.
16.7 Employees who are under notice of redundancy and have completed two years continuous service or more, will be entitled to reasonable paid time off to look for alternative employment e.g., to prepare CVs and job applications, to attend interviews, and visit job centres/recruitment agencies. This will need to be agreed with the Head Teacher/line manager to ensure work commitments can be met. This should not exceed two fifths of their contractual weekly hours of work/a weeks pay in total.