Establishment of a secondment

Internal and External Secondments (involving University of Exeter staff only)

Secondments provide a fantastic opportunity to develop the knowledge and skills of employees, enhancing their career development and motivation, as well as transferring new knowledge, skills and ways of working into your work area. Therefore where secondments can be accommodated, the University encourages Line Managers to support them. This open, supportive approach also encourages individuals to approach you to discuss opportunities prior to them applying for secondments and allows you as a line manager to be involved in the process from the start.

All types of secondments need to be considered carefully in the context of the business needs, resources, commitments and, in the case of Internal and External secondments, the need to backfill a post using a fixed term contract. If you are approached by an employee who wishes to undertake an Internal or External secondment you should discuss this with your College Manager/ Head of Service and HR Business Partner/ Manager in the first instance, who will be able to advise on the next steps. As a secondment constitutes a change to an existing contract, approval must be sought for this change through the usual approval route.

Individuals may approach you having shown an interest in or having applied for a secondment in the following ways:

• An individual has applied for an Internal Secondment that has been advertised internally
• An individual may apply for a External Secondment in response to another organisation’s advertisement
• An individual may have been offered an External  Secondment opportunity by another organisation through cooperative working or networking channels

In all cases, individuals should be encouraged to discuss the opportunity with their line manager in the first instance. Developing a work environment in which secondments are encouraged is therefore a useful basis for such discussions.

A internal secondment should be approved through the eSR1 system as normal.

Incoming Secondments (involving secondees from an external organisation)

Incoming secondments are a fantastic way to bring in new skills, knowledge and ways to working to the University of Exeter and are to be encouraged. If you identify an opportunity for an Incoming Secondment you should discuss this with your College Manager/ Head of Service and HR Business Partner/ Manager in the first instance, who will be able to advise on the next steps.

For the majority of Incoming Secondments, the Secondee is already identified due to an existing collaboration with an external organisation. Certainly it is likely that the substantive employer has been identified even if the specific secondee has not. If this is the case, then a fair and open selection process should take place and advice should be sought from your HR Business Partner or Manager. Selection for secondments should be rigorous and in line with the Recruitment and Selection policy. The guidelines related to duration of secondments and contractual arrangements and Intellectual Property Rights are particularly relevant.

Creation of a new secondment opportunity

All internal secondments must be advertised in a fair and equal way. Applications must be considered fairly. Employees with priority redeployment status would retain this priority if applying for secondments.  An eSR1 is required.

Creation of a new, open-ended post from a secondment opportunity

Occasionally, an internal secondment opportunity becomes an established post during or at the end of the secondment period. Unless there are exceptional circumstances, the new open-ended post must be advertised, as a minimum internally; there is no automatic right for an Internal Secondee to be appointed to the new role on an open-ended basis (unless their substantive e post is no longer required). Employees with priority redeployment status would retain this priority if applying for secondments.  An eSR1 is required.