Recruitment Selection and Appointment Procedure - Direct appointments

Parent Policy

Recruitment, Selection and Appointment

Preamble

As a general rule, it is the University’s position that all jobs should be advertised in order to ensure that the best person is selected through an open and competitive process. However, there are some circumstances where advertising is not required. One such circumstance is where there are special and exceptional circumstances to directly appoint a person into a position.

Proposals for a direct appointment will be judged on a case-by-case basis. It is expected that direct appointments will only apply in a very small number of cases. In accordance with the University’s commitment to creating and maintaining a strong academy, continuing direct academic appointments will only be made on the approval of senior academic management.

This procedure applies to direct appointments of academic and professional staff.

Definitions

Dean or Divisional Director: means the dean of the faculty or director of the division (or equivalent) or his or her nominee in any case where the dean or director has formally nominated a person to act as his or her nominee for the purpose.

Direct appointment: occurs where there are special and exceptional circumstances to appoint a person directly into a position without following the Recruitment, Selection and Appointment Procedure - Recruitment of fixed-term and continuing staff.

Faculty or Divisional Cluster: refers to a cluster of Faculties and/or administrative Divisions that is serviced by a particular HR Service Hub.

GCAP: means the Graduate Certificate of Academic Practice.

Head of unit: is ahead of an academic or organisational work unit, for example Head of School, Head of Department or where applicable, a person acting as his or her nominee.

Hiring manager: is the manager responsible for filling the vacancy, usually the supervisor of the position.

HR Business Partner: is a member of the Monash HR community who operates as a strategic partner responsible for providing a range of human resources services for an assigned Faculty or administrative Division. HR Business Partners are located within a HR Service Hub.

HR Service Hub: is the centre for human resources services and activities within a Faculty or Divisional Cluster.

Job Request: is the screen in Rex where all necessary information relating to a particular position is recorded.

Position description: describes the organisational location, primary objectives, key responsibilities and results areas and the key selection criteria for a position.

President-led campus: refers to the University’s campuses which have local governance and independent budgetary control, including the Gippsland campus, Monash South Africa and the Malaysian Sunway campus.

SAAC (Special Academic Appointments Committee): is a Committee chaired by the Deputy Vice-Chancellor responsible for academic staffing matters and comprised of the President of Academic Board, a Pro Vice-Chancellor and a Dean. For the purposes of this procedure, SAAC is responsible for approving all continuing teaching and research direct appointments and any fixed-term teaching and research direct appointments at Level C and above.

Selection criteria: specify qualifications, knowledge, experience and demonstrated abilities required to perform the duties and responsibilities of the position.

SPAC (Special Professorial Appointments Committee): is a committee operating under University Council delegation to the Vice-Chancellor and is responsible for approving all special professorial appointments. SPAC is chaired by the Vice-Chancellor.

Special and exceptional circumstances: for the purposes of this procedure, include:

• where the nominee has a unique or specific skill set which is strongly desired by the University;
• where the appointment is integral to maintain the stability of a research team;
• where the nominee has achieved a distinction of high order in his or her field of research;
• where it can be demonstrated that advertising would not provide an advantage to the University; and
• where rapid action needs to be taken in order to attract an outstanding candidate, or to keep a key staff member at the University.

Relevant Enterprise Agreement: means the Enterprise Agreement that applies to a particular staff member. The Monash University Enterprise Agreement (Academic and Professional Staff) 2009 will apply to academic and professional staff at the University and, depending on the services provided by a trades and services staff member, the Monash University Enterprise Agreement (Trades and Services staff - Building and Metal Trades Staff staff) 2009 or the Monash University Enterprise Agreement (Trades and Services Staff - Catering and Retail, Cleaning and Caretaking, and Miscellaneous services staff) 2005 will apply.

Rex: is the University's online recruitment system, which administers requests to advertise, selections and appointments and generates employment contracts.

Step 1: The hiring manager requests a direct appointment

Where a hiring manager seeks to make a direct appointment, s/he will:

• ensure that the position has been established by the appropriate delegated authority;
• ensure that funding is available;
• prepare position-specific information about the role to provide to the HR Business Partner for the position description;
• prepare a statement in support of the proposed direct appointment;
• enter information regarding the appointment into the Job Request in Rex; and
• upload the statement in support of the proposed direct appointment to Rex.

The statement in support of the proposed direct appointment must include:

• details of how the proposed appointment meets the requirement for “special and exceptional circumstances” (see the Definition above);
• verification that the proposed appointee has the required qualifications and work rights for the position;
• a declaration of any potential conflict of interest (for example, if the proposed direct appointee is a relative or close friend - see the Conduct and Compliance Procedure - Conflict of Interest);
• for academic staff, an assessment of whether the incumbent’s qualifications or experience is sufficient to exempt the staff member from having to complete the GCAP as a condition of probation(see the Recruitment, Selection and Appointment Procedure - Probation and confirmation of academic appointment); and
• for professional staff (external candidates only), the names of three senior University staff who have reviewed the position description and the candidate’s CV and who are prepared to support the appointment of the proposed appointee.

Step 2: Monash HR completes all detailed information in Rex

The HR Business Partner will:

• confirm or draft the position description in consultation with the hiring manager;
• where required, arrange for the professional staff position to be classified in accordance with the Recruitment, Selection and Appointment Procedure - Classification for Professional Staff;
• provide advice to the hiring manager on all aspects of the proposed position, including the appropriate mode of employment, the relevant level of superannuation and whether any pre-employment checks are required for the position;
• ensure that this advice is provided in accordance with the requirements of the relevant Enterprise Agreement and University policy; and
• ensure that all requirements of the position are accurately reflected in the position description and all other recruitment documentation.

Before proceeding with the direct appointment, the HR Business Partner will:

• identify any suitable indigenous candidates in consultation with the Advancing Indigenous Employment Coordinator; and
• liaise with the University’s Placement Coordinator to identify any suitable redeployees (in accordance with the Leaving Monash Procedure - Redundancy and redeployment).

If there are no suitable redeployees or indigenous candidates for the proposed position, the HR Business Partner will proceed with the direct appointment by:

• confirming that the statement in support of the proposed direct appointment is provided by the hiring manager;
• completing the Proposed Direct Appointments Checklist to confirm that the statement meets the eligibility criteria; and
• arranging any required pre-employment checks and referee checks.

Once all the details have been finalised, the HR Business Partner will:

• complete the detailed information in the Job Request in Rex, including the name and details of the proposed appointee; and
• upload any required documentation, including the position description, the statement in support of the direct appointment and the completed Proposed Direct Appointments Checklist.

It is the responsibility of the HR Business Partner to ensure that all personal information is protected and only used for the primary purpose of assessing the suitability of the candidate for the position (for more information on privacy see the Conduct and Compliance Procedure - Privacy).

Step 3: The Dean or Divisional Director endorses the direct appointment

The completed Job Request will then be forwarded electronically via Rex to the Dean or Divisional Director for endorsement. If the position is a Level A or Level B fixed-term academic appointment, the Dean will also approve the appointment.

For appointments at president-led campuses, the Pro Vice-Chancellor will perform this function, in consultation with the Dean.

Step 4: The delegated authority approves the direct appointment

The endorsed appointment will then be forwarded electronically to the relevant approver in Rex. Although the required approvals may vary between Faculty/Division, the following table summarises the approvals that are required for all direct appointments to the University. Also included in this table, is the Monash HR representative responsible for administering the direct appointment process.

*No Level A continuing direct appointments permitted.

Step 5: The hiring manager confirms appointment with the incumbent

If the direct appointment is approved, the hiring manager:

• will discuss probation with the incumbent;
• confirm the commencement details for the incumbent; and
• notify the Monash HR representative who is responsible for administering the process of all details relevant to the incumbent’s appointment.

Step 6: Monash HR issues the formal offer of employment

The Monash HR representative who is responsible for administering the process will then:

• complete the appointment information in Rex to generate the letter of offer;
• forward the letter of offer and associated documentation to the incumbent through Rex; and
• manage the appointment process through to induction and onboarding.

Maintaining recruitment records

At the end of the recruitment process, the hiring manager and approvers must ensure that all relevant recruitment documentation is provided to the relevant Monash HR representative.

The relevant Monash HR representative will maintain a recruitment file for each recruitment activity and will ensure that:

• all records relating to the successful candidate are retained for two years; and
• all records relating to the unsuccessful candidates are securely destroyed after six months.

All documentation, including written notes can be subject to a Freedom of Information application.

Information relating to the recruitment activity should not be included on the incumbent’s personnel file.

Responsibilities

Hiring Manager

The hiring manager is responsible for:

• ensuring that the position is established by the relevant delegated authority and that funding is available;
• providing position-specific information via Rex and to the HR Business Partner; and
• preparing a statement in support of the proposed direct appointment.

Dean or Divisional Director

The Dean or Divisional Director is responsible for:

• endorsing all direct appointments in their Faculty or Division; and
• approving academic staff direct appointments at Level A and B

Executive Director (Monash HR)

The Executive Director, Monash HR is responsible for approving professional staff direct appointments at HEW Levels 1 to 9.

Vice-President (Administration)

The Vice-President (Administration) is responsible for approving professional staff direct appointments at HEW Level 10 and above.

Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Education)

The Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Education), as chair of SAAC, is responsible for approving the following direct appointments:

• continuing Level B teaching and research (including education-focused) appointments; and
• all Level C and D teaching and research (including education-focused) appointments.

Senior Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research)

The Senior Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research) is responsible for approving the following direct appointments:

• Level C and D research-only appointments.

Vice-Chancellor

The Vice-Chancellor, as chair of SPAC, is responsible for approving all Level E direct appointments.

HR Business Partner

The HR Business Partner is responsible for:

• developing the new position description, in consultation with the hiring manager;
• confirming that the hiring manager’s statement in support of the proposed direct appointment meets the criteria of this procedure;
• completing all relevant requisition information in the Job Request, attaching the position description and the statement;
• administering the direct appointment process for all HEW1 to 9 positions and academic Level A and B fixed-term appointments;
• providing advice to the hiring manager throughout the process; and
• ensuring the proper execution of this procedure for all direct appointments.

Manager, Senior Academic Appointments

The Manager, Senior Academic Appointments is responsible for administering the direct appointment process for Level B (continuing) and all Level C, D and E appointments.

Manager, Remuneration and Senior Professional Appointments

The Manager, Remuneration and Senior Professional Appointments is responsible for administering the direct appointment process for HEW Level 10 appointments.

Recruitment, Design and Delivery (Monash HR)

The Recruitment, Design and Delivery team in Monash HR is responsible for:

• maintaining this procedure and all related recruitment procedures and guidelines;
• providing expert advice and support to the HR Business Partners
• administering and maintaining the Rex e-Recruitment system; and
• providing reports and data from Rex, on request.

Related procedures

• Recruitment Selection and Appointment Procedure - Recruitment of fixed-term and continuing staff
• Recruitment Selection and Appointment Procedure - Recruitment of casual and sessional staff
• Recruitment Selection and Appointment Procedure - Recruitment of Level E professorial staff
• Recruitment Selection and Appointment Procedure - Pre-employment Checks
• Recruitment Selection and Appointment Procedure - Adjunct Appointments (academic staff)
• Recruitment Selection and Appointment Procedure - Honorary Appointments (professional staff)
• Recruitment Selection and Appointment Procedure - Probation and confirmation of academic appointment
• Recruitment Selection and Appointment Procedure - Professional Staff probation (currently under review)

Related documents

• Accompanying partner recruitment protocol
• Proposed direct appointments checklist - Academic staff (Currently under review)
• Proposed direct appointments checklist - Professional staff (Currently under review)
• Recruitment guidelines
• Position description (PD) template [Word] [PDF]
• Position description Assistant Lecturer (Education-focused) [word]
• Position description Lecturer (Education-focused) [word]
• Position description Senior Lecturer (Education-focused) [word]
• Position description Associate Professor (Education-focused) [word]
• Position description Professor (Education-focused) [word]