PSA members have asked about what industrial provisions apply to the School Psychologist classification to allow them to request to move from their current role to the same role in another location. Others are interested in secondment to another role in another government agency.
Whilst NSW teachers’ “transfer” provisions, do not apply to School Psychologists the Government Sector Employment Act GSE Act 2013 does provide for employee-initiated “re-assignment” to another role. These are called ‘mobility provisions’ and allow for an employee to request “assignment” to another role within the same classification in another location.
In response to an application, the Department would need to consider several factors in assessing the request such as whether there is a suitable vacancy to be filled and how the assignment would impact operational requirements. The employer is however required to properly consider the request in consultation with the applicant.
The relevant sections of the GSE Act 2013 are:
- Assignment to roles in work classifications
- In this section—
assign to a role includes assign to a different role.
- The head of a Public Service agency may from time to time assign Public Service non-executive employees of the agency to roles in the agency in the classification of work in which the employees are employed.
- Public Service non-executive employees may be assigned to roles to enable the flexible deployment of staff resources within the agency and to develop the capabilities of staff.
Members should be aware that your employer utilises these provisions in the usual course of business to assign and/or re-assign employees to roles. However, it is not widely known that the same provisions can be applied in the case of an employee-initiated “assignment”.
If the Department advises a vacant School Psychologist position that interests you, the PSA recommends that you contact the recruitment officer and express interest in being “assigned“ to the role. We recommend that you discuss this with your SPE and Principal beforehand and include them in the correspondence. Members should be aware that approval of an employee- initiated “assignment” request, is at the discretion of the employer.
Alternatively, if you are looking for an opportunity to be seconded to another NSW Government agency, then the following GSE provisions would apply:
- Employee transfers and secondments between government sector agencies
(1) The government sector employment rules may deal with the transfer or secondment of employees between government sector agencies (whether or not at the request of the employees).
In the case of secondments, the classification would need to be recognised as equivalent by both agencies; and approval from both agencies is required.
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