Job Sharing Policy and Procedure - September 2020

9. Recruitment and Selection

When a full time or job share portion of a post becomes vacant the following recruitment procedure will apply:

• All recruitment advertising for a full time/job share portion of a post, both external and internal, will include a general statement indicating that the post is available for job share (unless an exemption has been agreed).
• (The Job Share Policy will be accessible for applicants to view on the ‘Job’s and Careers’ page of the Council’s Corporate Website.

In drawing up a shortlist and making an appointment the provisions of the Recruitment and Selection Policy and Procedure will be followed throughout.

Each candidate applying for a post on a job share basis (with or without a partner) will be interviewed and assessed individually and selected purely on merit and suitability for the post against the selection criteria.

Where a job share candidate is selected, the remaining part of the post should be offered, on a job share basis, to other applicants in strict descending order of suitability for the post irrespective of whether their original application was for job share or not.

If no suitable candidates accept the post on a job share basis, the post should be advertised again, on a job share basis.

While another job share partner is being sought the manager should consider what temporary arrangements can be made to cover the remaining hours, for example, acting up, temporary cover etc. Alternatively, the successful applicant may be requested to work additional hours up to full time basis on a temporary basis, however there will be no requirement for him/her to do so.

If, after a reasonable period of time (no less than three months, no more than six months) no suitable partner is found then the following procedure will apply:

• The successful applicant appointed on a job share basis will be offered the post on a full-time basis; or
• If the employee does not wish to accept the post on a full-time basis s/he can propose an alternative flexible working arrangement for consideration by the manager, e.g. working 4 days per week instead of 5.

If neither of the above options is considered viable by the manager and/or employee and following discussion with a HR Advisor the following shall apply:

• Exploring redeployment to another vacant job share or part time post in line with the Redeployment policy and procedure; or
• Once the above options have been fully explored, the appointment of the remaining job sharer will be terminated with due notice.

Once suitable job-share partner(s) are identified by interview and it has been decided to offer the post(s), formal offers of appointment will be made subject to agreement on working arrangements, between the line manager and job-share partners.

If no formal agreement on the details of the individual job share can be reached then the appointment will not be confirmed and the post(s) shall be re-advertised.

If one job sharer leaves, the vacant portion of the job share post will be reviewed by the budget manager and subject to service delivery needs, budgetary position etc the remaining portion of the job may be offered to the other partner.

If the remaining partner does not wish to cover the full hours then the vacant job share post will be re-advertised as a job-share vacancy in accordance with the normal vacancy approval process and Recruitment and Selection Policy and Procedure.