Secondment
G u i d e l i n e s
CONTENTS
1. What is a Secondment? 2
Definition 2
Identifying a Secondment
Opportunity 2
Terms of Employment 2
2. Application for Secondment 2
Temporary Posts 3
Exchange of Employees Scheme 3
3. Before Secondment 3
Reaching Agreement 3
Payment for Secondment 4
Written Confirmation 4
Induction and Training 4
Backfilling of the Substantive Post 5
4. During Secondment 5
Supervision or Contribution
Management 5
Managing People
Fife Council May 2008
Tracking Secondments 5
Contact with Substantive Service 5
5. Returning from Secondment 6
6. Changing the Duration of a
Secondment 6
7. Secondments Outwith Fife
Council 6
Terms and Conditions of
Employment 6
Responsibility for Salary 7
Pension 7
Responsibilities for Health and Safety
7
8. Manager Checklist for
Considering a Secondment
Request 8
9. Quick Reference Guide
Managing Secondments 10
Secondment
1 TE12
1. What is a Secondment?

Definition
A secondment is where an employee temporarily transfers to another job for a
defined period of time for a specific purpose, to the mutual benefit of all parties. A
secondment job can be full-time, part-time or job share.
Given the need for induction and training, it is unlikely a secondment of less than
four months would be effective. Instead managers should consider offering acting up
duties. For more information see advice on additional payments when undertaking
higher duties from FISH.

Identifying a Secondment Opportunity

If a single suitable employee with the right skills has been identified for a defined
project or piece of work, the secondment may be agreed. There will be no need to
advertise. If a more than one employee is suitable, managers may wish to use a
selection process.
Alternatively, employees can request to undertake a secondment as part of their
development for Contribution Management. Approval will be subject to the needs of
the Service.

Terms of Employment
Pay will usually be at the grade of the secondment post. A Service may agree to pay
the difference in salary where this is lower than the employees current grade.
If the secondment is for two years or less the employee will normally return to his
or her substantive post. If the secondment is for more than two years but less than
four years the employee will return to the same type of work but this may be
within a different section. The employee will usually return at the substantive pay
level including appropriate increments.
When a secondee cannot return to their substantive post, the substantive manager
will explain the reasons why this is not possible (Managing Change, Service provision
etc.) In these circumstances, managers should first consult HR Direct to ensure that
all alternatives have been considered.
Note: if a Teacher undertakes a secondment for more than 2 years, he or she is
entitled to preservation of that salary and conditions even if he or she returns to his
or her substantive (lower) post.
Employees continuity of service will not be affected as long as the secondment is
internal and Fife Council remains the (contractual) employing organisation.

2. Application for Secondment

If a manager has identified an employee with the suitable skill-set, the secondment
should be discussed in detail with the employee. Ideally, the employee should be
given reasonable time to consider the opportunity before deciding whether to
accept it.

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An employee requesting a secondment must obtain approval from his or her
manager before applying. The manager will discuss with the employee whether it is
possible for him or her to be released.
Requests will not be unreasonably refused. If a request is refused the employee
should be told the reason for refusal. Alternative development opportunities may be
suggested. If an employee believes the reasons for refusal are unreasonable he or
she can discuss this with the managers manager.

Temporary Posts
12BU

A temporary post can be considered as a secondment opportunity if it meets one or

both of the necessary criteria i.e. meeting an organisational or development need.
An employee should request to be released from his or her substantive post in
order to apply for the temporary vacancy. If permission is not given but the
employee decides to take the job this is not a secondment. The employee must
U U

resign and will then be treated as a temporary employee. This may result in the
employee being fairly dismissed from employment with the Council at the end of the
temporary contract.
Depending on the reason for the temporary contract the employee may be entitled
to redundancy pay. Redundancy pay will be based on the employees original start
date with the Council. The Service employing the person will incur all of the costs.
For more information see TE11 Temporary Employment Guidelines and current
HU UH

legislation, for example, the Fixed Term Employees (Prevention of Less Favourable
Treatment) Regulations 2002.

Exchange of Employees Scheme

13BU

This scheme allows for employees to temporarily second to another organisation

(within the UK or abroad). Secondment should be to a similar Section or Service
whenever possible. The secondment would be for a defined period of time and up to
three months in total.
Employees have the option to swap jobs with a European colleague or take a work
placement on a shadowing basis with no exchange taking place. Once the employee
has identified a suitable exchange opportunity, their line manager should contact HR
Direct for specific advice.

3. Before Secondment
2B

Before authorising, managers must fully assess the feasibility of releasing an employee
to undertake a secondment.
Section 8 contains an example checklist for managers who are considering a
secondment request.

Reaching Agreement
14BU

The substantive manager must discuss the development objectives and contact
arrangements with the employee and secondment manager. The secondment
agreement must be approved by all three parties and should include:
Clear reasons for the secondment
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 Start and end dates
Clear arrangements for maintaining communication with the substantive
manager
Training requirements
Replacement arrangements
Statutory obligations
Expected benefits of the secondment
Monitoring arrangements
For certain groups of staff statutory requirements for maintenance of professional
registration (e.g. SSSC) must be explicit in the agreement.

Payment for Secondment

15BU

Normally, the Service that receives the secondee will pay his or her salary during the
secondment period. For a secondment outwith the Council payment may be
processed differently. This is outlined in section 7 Secondments Outwith Fife
Council.

Written Confirmation
16BU

The secondment manager is responsible for providing written confirmation of the

secondment as a temporary contractual change. This must be sent to the secondee
before starting the secondment. A copy should be sent to the secondees
substantive manager.
The substantive manager is responsible for issuing an amendment letter. This
compliments the confirmation letter. It must include:
Secondment end date
Maximum period of release
Implications (if any) on the employees terms and conditions of employment
Time-scales for notice of recall or change to secondment agreement
Arrangements for maintaining contact between substantive manager and
secondee
For more information see TE53 Secondment Letter Templates.
HU UH

Both managers must also alert their relevant Service payroll administration team to
ensure Delphi Payroll records are amended.

Induction and Training

17BU

An induction appropriate to the job and the experience of the secondee should be
arranged.
For more information see IN11 Induction Guidelines.
HU UH

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Backfilling of the Substantive Post
18BU

Options to cover for the seconded employee include:

Redistribution of workloads throughout the remaining team
Backfill with a secondment
Backfill by recruiting on a temporary basis
If a replacement is recruited, this must be done on a temporary basis so that there is
no increase in establishment.
It must be confirmed in writing to the employee who is backfilling the secondment
that the work is temporary until the secondee returns to his or her substantive post.
The temporary contract should ideally be for a defined period. If this is not possible
the contract must explicitly state that employment will end when the secondee
returns to his or her substantive post. There should be a provision to end the
contract early if required. This would be needed if the secondment ended early.

4. During Secondment
3B

Supervision or Contribution Management

19BU

A copy of a secondees most recent supervision or Contribution Management

agreement should be made available to the secondment manager to support
continuing development throughout the period of secondment. A copy of the final
secondment Contribution Management agreement should be sent to the employees
substantive or new manager at the end of the secondment.

Tracking Secondments
20BU

Because individual managers change roles over time, Services must keep track of all
secondments using Delphi or a dedicated database to ensure they do not continue
indefinitely. Reports should be run periodically to ensure secondments are regularly
reviewed and do not run over the termination date as this may have a significant
impact upon the employees terms and conditions of employment.

Contact with Substantive Service

21BU

It is important to ensure that the secondee maintains contact with, and receives
information from, his or her substantive team / Service. This is the joint
responsibility of the secondee and his or her substantive manager. It may include:
Providing team and, or, Service meeting minutes
Keeping the employee on relevant group mailing lists (post and email)
Information regarding team or substantive role changes
Arranging regular informal meetings
Remembering to invite them to work related social events
It is also vital to ensure that a secondee should be considered as part of any
Managing Change process within his or her substantive Service / section.

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5. Returning from Secondment
Ideally, planning should commence no later than four weeks before the date of
secondees return. His or her role, location, work priorities and future Contribution
Management objectives should be considered.
If the secondment has been longer than two years or significant change has occurred
during it, re-training and, or, re-induction may be required.
To assist with personal and business learning the secondee should meet his or her
secondment line manager to evaluate and review the learning points from the
secondment. (It may be useful to use the framework of an exit interview.)
For more information see RS15 Exit Interviews Procedure and RS62 Exit Interview
Model Forms.
The employee should meet his or her substantive, or new, line manager to review
the key learning from the secondment and discuss how this can be used in his or her
permanent post. For more information see Contribution Management
documentation.

6. Changing the Duration of a Secondment

If any party wants to change the length of the secondment (including early
termination) this should be discussed between all relevant parties and ideally agreed
four weeks before the original end date of the secondment. It may not be possible to
agree such requests due to service delivery or other reasons.
If the secondee becomes pregnant during the secondment, it is advised that a
meeting be arranged between all parties. The meeting will provide an opportunity to
discuss whether the secondment will continue while the employee is on maternity
leave (depending on the duration of the secondment). Managers should contact HR
Direct for advice before the meeting.
Any temporary employee covering for the secondee must be given the proper
notice of early termination of the contract.

7. Secondments Outwith Fife Council

This section addresses issues specific to the secondment of employees into or from
organisations outwith Fife Council.
Before an employee undertakes a secondment outwith Fife Council, a contractual
agreement must be negotiated detailing arrangements between both organisations.
An example contract is available in TE53 Secondment Letter Templates. The
agreement must be confirmed and accepted in writing.

Terms and Conditions of Employment

To ensure a secondees best fit into another organisation it is desirable that he or
she take up the secondment organisations terms and conditions as far as practicable.
It is important to review the terms and conditions of both organisations and issue an
amended statement of particulars detailing any changes to terms and conditions
during the period of the secondment e.g. place of work, salary, leave arrangements,
sickness reporting etc.

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To ensure continuity of service Fife Council must remain the secondees employing
organisation. There are also contractual elements where Fife Council conditions
must apply e.g. disciplinary procedure.

Responsibility for Salary

The substantive employing organisation should remain the paying agency for tax and
pension purposes. It will invoice the receiving organisation for the reimbursement of
salary and other direct employment costs during the secondment. According to
HMRC rules, VAT may or may not need to be added. Therefore before drawing up a
contractual agreement, managers should contact the Accounting Control Team in
Finance and Resources.
In exceptional circumstances the secondee may be paid directly through the payroll
of the secondment organisation, e.g. where pay scales are more suitable to the salary
of the secondment post.

Pension
If an employee is in the Fife Council Pension Scheme and continues to be paid
through our payroll, the secondee can remain a member of the pension scheme
during the secondment.
If an employee is to be paid directly by the external organisation his or her
continued membership of the Local Government Pension Scheme depends on
whether it is an admitted body under the pension regulations. If not, the secondee
would not be eligible to pay into the Local Government Pension Scheme during the
secondment. Secondees should check their personal circumstances directly with the
Pensions Section.
For more information and a list of admitted bodies see RS55 Employment in Local
Government Modification Order (Associated Employers).

Responsibilities for Health and Safety

The secondment employer will be responsible for the Employers Liability Insurance
and have a duty of care under the relevant Health and Safety legislation for the
secondee.

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8. Manager Checklist for Considering a Secondment Request
7B

The following questions provide a checklist to allow managers to make an informed

decision and record the information required for future correspondence.
Point Notes

Consideration

Included in
Required

Letter
What is the reason for the
secondment?
What are the benefits to the employee
for undertaking the secondment?
What are the benefits to the Service/
Council?
Is the secondment within or outwith
the Council?
- Is there an existing Secondment
Agreement?
- Who pays secondees salary?
- Are there pension implications?
- How will supervisory and
disciplinary matters be dealt with?
- Health & Safety responsibilities
Suitable employee identified?
Request received from employee?
If Request Is Granted
What are the financial implications on
the team?
- Who pays?
- What budget?
During the secondment, how will the
main duties & responsibilities of the
secondee be covered?
- Redistribution of work?
- Recruiting a replacement?
What are the terms & conditions of
the secondment post?
- How do they differ to the
employees current T&Cs?
What are the start and end dates of
the secondment?
What arrangements are in place
should any party wish to terminate or
change the secondment?

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Point Notes

Consideration

Included in
Required

Letter
If Request Is Granted (continued)
What are the training requirements of
the secondee?
How will I keep in contact with the
secondee?
- Contribution Management
arrangements?
How will I keep track of the
secondment to ensure it does not
continue indefinitely?
Does the secondee need to maintain
Professional Registration during his or
her secondment?
What are our statutory obligations?
If Request Is Refused
Reasons for Refusal
- What will the impact be on the
employee?
Are there any alternative options
whereby the employee could attain
the benefits without having to be
seconded?

Correspondence Checklist
26BU

Correspondence Sent
Letter to employee
Letter to secondment Manager
Letter & contract to external secondment
organisation
Letter to Service Admin team for Delphi
Payroll amendments

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9. Quick Reference Guide Managing Secondments
The following table summarises issues to be considered before, during and after
secondment.

Before During After

The Secondment The Secondment The Secondment
Identify reasons for Training requirements Evaluation of secondment
secondment

Assess secondment is Monitoring arrangements Reintroduction into

most appropriate method substantive workplace
of filling the post

Assess implication on Maintaining contact with Training and re-training

employee/ team/ Service substantive manager / requirements
delivery and anticipated team regarding proposed
benefits changes or developments
to substantive post

Can Service delivery be Maintaining professional Networking opportunities

maintained without registration
replacing the employee?
(e.g. reallocation of work)

Negotiate Secondment Contribution Management

Agreement if involving utilising knowledge, skills &
external organisation. experience gained from
secondment into substantive
post.
Consider replacement
arrangements & financial
implications

Negotiate and agree

specifics of secondment
with all parties, confirm in
writing & update Delphi.

Training requirements

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Before During After
The Secondment The Secondment The Secondment
Statutory obligations

Keeping in touch
arrangements

Confirm secondment in
writing

Produced by Fife Council Human Resources Section

26 May 2008: Issue Number 3.0

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