Medical redeployment

On this page	Guidance on the process for medical redeployment
Reference to the Procedure	Sickness Absence Procedure - Section 13

Where an employee is unable to continue in their role and/or carry out their duties to the required standard due to a disability, redeployment should be considered as a reasonable adjustment. Medical advice will be taken from Occupational Health to determine an individual's suitability for redeployment.

Under these circumstances an employee will have priority status over other redeployees, such as those at risk of redundancy (excluding those with a protection period who are also marked as priority), due to the employers’ legal obligations under the Equality Act. They have an automatic right to be offered any suitable vacancies without going through a competitive selection process. Consideration must be given to whether the vacancy is a suitable alternative role, and if so, the role must be offered. 

If there is more than one priority status candidate where a vacancy is considered to be a suitable alternative role then the Recruiting Manager will need to consider all priority redeployees, considering skills, job knowledge, and experience. A selection process will be required in these cases.

Medical redeployment can be considered at any stage of the Sickness Absence Procedure, including as an outcome to a Stage 3 formal meeting. Where redeployment opportunities are being explored, this will usually be for a period equal to the employee’s notice period but should be extended to take account of any University closure periods.

The employee should engage with the University’s recruitment and HR Advisor team to identify suitable roles at the same grade or one grade lower (see Redeployment Procedure: pay protection). Advice may be obtained from Occupational Health on the suitability of any roles/duties the employee can carry out and any reasonable adjustments that may be required in the role. On receipt of the report from Occupational Health the manager and HR should meet with the employee to confirm that the employee agrees with the recommendations of OH around the type of role/duties that could carry out, with or without adjustments.

If an employee does not have a disability but is suffering from ill health which is affecting their capability or suitability for their existing role then redeployment may be considered as an alternative action to dismissal under the Sickness Absence Procedure, however the obligations under the Equality Act would not arise and the same priority considerations would not apply.

If an alternative position can be identified the employee may be offered the position on a trial basis for up to 3 months. If the trial is mutually successful, the appointment will be confirmed at the appropriate grade in relation to the post. If the trial is unsuccessful or where redeployment is not possible, there may be no alternative but to proceed to the formal stages of the procedure.

Where an employee is redeployed into an alternative role, and following any agreed trial period, this is a permanent change to their contract. It does not prevent the employee from applying for any roles which are advertised in the future.

Further information can be found via the University’s Redeployment procedure.