Human Resources - Police Officer postings protocol (L1800)

1. Summary of changes

1.1. The following amendments have been made to this protocol in July 2023 

• paragraph 3.2.2 added
• paragraphs 3.9 and 3.10 

2. What this protocol is about

2.1. The purpose of this protocol is to provide guidance on the consideration process for the timely release of officers to take up new appointments.

This protocol is not nor is it intended to be contractual. Compliance with this protocol and any governing policy is mandatory.

3. Detail the protocol

3.1. General considerations

3.1.1. For the purposes of this protocol the normal place of duty will be a police station or other police establishments. The chief constable reserves the right to post any officer to ensure the effective delivery of policing services to the people of Kent. The responsibility for postings is delegated to the Director of Human Resources, whose decision is final.

3.1.2. Day to day activity is managed by HR Resourcing. Rank-specific plans are used to inform posting decisions to ensure a balance of numbers, ranks and skills across the force. Divisions/departments are responsible for the deployment at a local level.  

3.1.3. The force's desire is to achieve a balanced profile of skills and experience across the divisions, commands and headquarters functions. When the force is considering larger scale migration, specifically designed processes (such as desktop selection) may be utilised. It is recognised that the necessary redistribution of resources may involve compulsory posting in order to achieve a more equitable distribution of officer and skills profiles. Consideration will be given to link to other force procedures to include over-riding welfare considerations, part-time/flexible working and primary carer roles, recuperative/restrictive duties, disability and occupational health recommendations where appropriate.

3.1.4. Police officers will be required to have a current performance development review (PDR) when being posted to another role. If the officer's annual PDR is due (or will become due within 60 days either side of the likely posting date) then the PDR must be fully completed before the move takes place. Officers in supervisory ranks are required to have completed all of their subordinate's PDRs before they will be moved (again PDRs due/becoming due within 60 days either side of the likely posting date).

3.2. General postings

3.2.1. HR Resourcing will consider distance and time taken to travel when determining a posting. The Director of Human Resources, or appropriate delegate, will determine what is considered a reasonable travelling distance. All officers should be aware that organisational need will take priority, and the chief constable reserves the right to post officers anywhere in the county to meet skills or establishment needs.

3.2.2. Where known, postings will not include locations deemed by Professional Standards to be unsuitable due to links to a notifiable association or intelligence which causes concern for officer safety or where the individual specifically requests not to be posted, unless there are exceptional circumstances considered and supported by the Professional Standards Department and the Head of Resourcing.

3.3. Postings on appointment

3.3.1. On appointment, all officers will be posted to Kent Police College. Once they have completed their initial training, they will be posted to a division. This posting decision will be based on organisational need. However, individual welfare requests will be considered on a case-by-case basis. Reports to be submitted by officers on form 1068. The officers' divisional posting will not be to their home town during their probation period (exceptional circumstances will be considered and determined by the Director of Human Resources or appropriate delegate). Upon conclusion of the officer’s probation period, the HR Resource Planning team will review the divisional postings and may change them to meet organisational requirements at that time. Once officers have completed their probation, they are eligible to apply for a transfer as per the section '3.5 development/officer requests' of this protocol or when successful at a selection process.

3.4. Postings on selection

3.4.1. When an appointment decision has been reached it should be confirmed in writing to both the officer and their local senior leadership team (SLT) by the line manager/human resources managing the selection process. Notification should be immediately sent to HR Resource Planning, so that activity can commence with regards to agreeing a posting date.

3.4.2. All posting dates will be confirmed by the Resourcing Deployment Panel which is held on a monthly basis. Only in exceptional circumstances will the Head of Resourcing or appropriate delegate, make resourcing decisions outside of the formal posting and deployment panel process.

3.4.3. Officers should be aware that postings on selection may be delayed to meet overall organisational need and the force reserve the right to determine a suitable posting date based on operational resourcing requirements.

3.5. Development/officer requests

3.5.1. There may be times when an officer wishes to be posted from their existing division/department on the grounds of development or for welfare reasons, or the SLT is wishing to support an individual with a move for their department or welfare support.

3.5.2. If this is the case, the officer should submit a 1068 to the local SLT and a copy to HR Resource Planning for consideration and support. This report should outline the reasons for transfer and roles/locations that the individual or SLT feel should be considered to support the individual/business need.

3.5.3. If the report is not supported, the SLT are required to communicate with the individual the reasons why. This should be documented and the request then placed on the officer's personal file.

3.5.4. If the report is supported, the SLT needs to endorse the report and send to HR Resource Planning who will include the request of the posting plan and review options that may be available.

3.6. Re-deployment within division/department

3.6.1. The divisional commander or head of department may re-deploy within their division/department to meet a policing requirement.

3.7. Compulsory/organisational need

3.7.1. There may be occasions when the force needs to consider compulsory/organisational need postings in order to meet performance requirements or to achieve appropriate skills and/or strength balance. A number of factors may be considered, including:

• force performance/risk
• skills profile of the individual and balanced to the unit (including where appropriate the probationer profile on division)
• any identified preferences
• any organisation over-riding need
• any personal over-riding need identified (see link to force procedures, above)
• home address of the officer in line with travelling distances

This may, on occasions, necessitate the posting without a recruitment and selection process. The decision for such postings sits with the Director of Human Resources, or appropriate delegate, and the rationale for any such posting will be fully documented.

3.7.2. Where possible, preferences may initially be sought and considered prior to any compulsory postings. Reasoning for the posting will be given. A reasonable notice period will be given which may be reduced in agreement with the organisation and the officer. It is a continuing condition of service that police officers are able to serve anywhere within force boundaries.

3.7.3. An officer may be posted in the best interests of the individual or organisation. Each case will be documented and subject to the approval of the Head of Resourcing.

 3.8. Senior leadership postings

3.8.1. Senior leadership postings include the posting of all police officers at the rank of chief inspector or above.

3.8.2. The chief constable reserves the right to post any officer to ensure the effective delivery of policing services to the people of Kent. The responsibility for postings is delegated through the Director of HR (Kent and Essex) to the Human Resources (HR) resource planning team at an operational level.

3.8.3. Senior police officers will be posted:

• at the discretion of the chief constable/chief officer team
• following an advertised recruitment and selection process
• as a result of an organisational move of management following force wide promotion processes

3.9. Return on investment

3.9.1. Where an individual undertakes a formal course and/or learning initiative that is in high demand, has a high financial cost or provides a skill(s) that are operationally scarce/highly necessary, a requirement may be placed on the individual to remain in their current post for a period of time to enable a return on investment (ROI). The course and/or learning initiatives for which this applies will be determined by the quarterly resourcing priorities process, following proposal from the Head of Resourcing, Head of L&D and where necessary, Head of Profession. In making the determination the resourcing position and priorities, the Perfect Profile and any other necessary factors will be considered. The course and/or learning initiative will then be updated within the ‘I am Eligible’ document as part of the Success Factors/Manager Toolkit documentation.

3.9.2. All individuals undertaking the formal course/learning provision will be informed of the requirements prior to it commencing. In most cases the ROI period will be for a period of 18 months post course or initiative end date, albeit this can be determined as per the above process. Should a case for initiating a ROI need to be made outside of the above process to ensure timeliness, this will be determined by Force Resourcing Panel or the Director of Human Resources or appropriate delegate in exceptional circumstances.

3.9.3. In exceptional operational circumstances it may be necessary for an individual to move post prior to the end of the ‘ROI period’, such cases will be determined as part of the Force Resourcing Panel as part of the standard officer advertising and posting process. In the event of local moves, the Head of Department will need to make a case to be signed off by the Head of Resourcing.

3.10. Appeals

3.10.1. Where an officer or Command Team member wishes to appeal against a posting decision, they should submit their grounds for appeal in writing to the Head of Resourcing within 14 days of the posting decision. The Head of Resourcing will arrange for the appeal to be considered at the appropriate level. The appeal decision will be final.

4. Equality Impact assessment (EIA)

4.1. This protocol has been assessed with regards to its equality impact. As a result of this assessment the protocol has been graded as having a medium potential impact. 

5. Risk assessment

5.1. There is no specific risk assessment or health and safety consideration thought relevant to the content of this protocol.

5.2. Officers and members of police staff engaged within the process must remain aware that they must follow the protocol correctly. A failure to fully adopt the principles set out in this protocol could have a detrimental effect upon individuals on placement, officers and staff and the reputation of the organisation.

6. Consultation

6.1. This is a format change only, hence no consultation is necessary.

7. Monitoring and review

7.1. Monitoring will be undertaken by the Head of Resourcing, with a review being undertaken two years after this protocol is in place.

8. Governing force policy

8.1. This HR protocol supports the overarching HR Policy L1.

9. Data security

9.1. Essex Police and Kent Police have measures in place to protect the security of your data in accordance with our Information Management policy - W1000 Policy - Information Management.

10. Retention and disposal of records

10.1. Essex Police and Kent Police will hold data in accordance with our Records Review, Retention and Disposal policy - W1012 Procedure/SOP - Records Review, Retention and Disposal.

10.2. We will only hold data for as long as necessary for the purposes for which we collected.