Recruitment and Retention Remuneration Policy

Purpose

From time to time payments may be required to attract or retain staff for positions that are of strategic importance, or where staff offer a skill set or have attributes which are demonstrably difficult to obtain.  This policy sets out clearly defined parameters for such payments.

Organisational scope

All Permanent and Fixed Term Staff.

Definitions

R&R

A Recruitment and Retention Allowance is a non-superable payment increasing the remuneration normally paid by the University.  An R&R is paid along with the staff member's other remuneration.

Retention Payment

A one-off non-superable payment made at a specified time subject to certain specific requirements being satisfied.

Content

1. Criteria

1. An R&R or Retention Payment will normally be paid to permanent and fixed term staff only.  They will normally not be paid to casual staff.
2. An R&R will only be approved where there is sufficient evidence that:
   1. an R&R is necessary to recruit or retain the person in question; and
   2. a failure to recruit or retain the person in question would cause the University (i.e. Department, School or Division) significant difficulties in meeting their objectives or requirements.
   3. There must be evidence of the risk caused by not recruiting or retaining the person in question: failure to recruit or retain is not in itself a sufficient basis for an R&R.
3. The size of an R&R will be determined by a range of factors including
   1. salaries within the area and across the University; and
   2. internal and external salaries from the recruiting market.
4. The duration of an R&R will be determined taking into account development, secondment and recruitment options.
5. A Retention Payment may be approved in situations where the primary focus is retention until a particular point in time.  Examples could include retention through to completion of a particular project or retention to a date by which it is anticipated that a succession plan will have been developed.

2. Terms and conditions of R&Rs

1. An R&R will:
   1. only be offered in relation to a specific position; and
   2. not be taken into account for superannuation deductions or contributions.
2. R&Rs shall have a specified end date, with a maximum duration of three years.  At the expiration of the period a new application may be made, but there should be no expectation of automatic renewal.
3. An R&R will cease immediately upon receipt of resignation from the position.
4. An R&R shall normally reduce automatically with performance salary increases (i.e. progression for academic staff, PDR for general staff).  An R&R may also reduce automatically with any across the board salary increase or for any other specified reason.
5. For Academic Staff, an R&R will reduce or cease upon promotion.
6. For General Staff, an R&R will reduce or cease upon re-evaluation of the recipient's position to a higher level.  Under the Remuneration Policy, consideration will be given to incorporation of the R&R into the recipient's salary within their new level.
7. For Academic Staff subject to an annual or biennial performance review, an R&R will either:
   1. Be reviewed at the time of the annual or biennial performance review; or
   2. Have an end date that coincides with a biennial review.
8. The University reserves the right to undertake a review of an R&R at any time at its sole discretion, with the possible outcomes being that the:
   1. amount of the R&R will increase, decrease or remain the same; and/or
   2. terms and conditions of the R&R are amended or remain the same; or
   3. R&R will cease.

3. Terms and conditions of Retention Payments

1. A Retention Payment will:
   1. only be offered in relation to a specific position; and
   2. not be taken into account for superannuation deductions or contributions.
2. Retention Payments shall have a specified date on which they become payable, if the employee is still employed in the position on that date.  They must also specify certain specific requirements that shall be met by that date.
3. Unless agreed otherwise, a Retention Payment will not be paid if a staff member resigns, retires or transfers to another position, if the effective date of the resignation, retirement or transfer is prior to the specified date on which the Retention Payment becomes payable.

4. Complementary strategies

1. An R&R or Retention Payment should not be the principal method to deal with recruitment and retention.
2. In addition to applying for an R&R or Retention Payment, managers should be taking steps such as undertaking career development planning and succession planning and/or looking to address shortcomings in organisational structure.

5.Approval delegation

1. An R&R or Retention Payment for Academic Staff needs to be endorsed and authorised as follows:
   1. recommended by HODs /Managers; and
   2. endorsed by PVC (and Dean in Health Sciences); and
   3. approved by the Deputy-Vice-Chancellor (Academic).
2. An R&R or Retention Payment for General Staff needs to be endorsed and authorised as follows:
   1. recommended by HODs /Managers; and
   2. endorsed by PVC in Academic Divisions (and Dean in Health Sciences), or by Director, Deputy-Vice-Chancellor or Chief Operations Officer in service divisions; and
   3. approved by the Director of Human Resources.

Related policies, procedures and forms

• Remuneration Policy
• Academic Promotions Policy
• Performance and Development Review Policy
• Application for a New Recruitment and Retention Allowance (DOCX)

Contact for further information

If you have any queries regarding the content of this policy or need further clarification, contact your Divisional HR Manager or an HR Adviser in the Remuneration and Policy team:

Email rrs.info@otago.ac.nz
Tel +64 3 479 8255