D EPARTMENT OF JUSTICE RECRUITMENT AND SELECTION POLICY

 EMPLOYEES’ COMPENSATION DIVISION LABOUR DEPARTMENT STATEMENT OF
BILL LOCKYER STATE OF CALIFORNIA ATTORNEY GENERAL DEPARTMENT OF
  COMMITTEE ASSISTANCE DEPARTMENT INTERNATIONAL & ENVIRONMENTAL PLANNING

  US DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION
DATE INDIANA DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION ATTN INDOT PROJECT MANAGER
STATE OF WISCONSIN DEPARTMENT OF ADMINISTRATION DIVISION OF ENTERPRISE

DD EPARTMENT OF JUSTICE RECRUITMENT AND SELECTION POLICY epartment of Justice





Recruitment and Selection Policy

Purpose

  1. The Department of Justice aims to attract, select, appoint and retain quality staff. This policy sets out the principles and procedures to ensure staff recruitment and selection practices are consistent, merit-based and aligned with the Department’s vision and mission.

Scope

  1. This policy and procedure applies to recruiting and selecting applicants for continuing and fixed-term appointments at the Department of Justice.

  2. This policy does not apply to the appointment of casual staff which are covered by different guidance. The appointment of a casual employee can only be made from a casual employment register or from a pool of suitable applicants established following advertisement in the Gazette.

Policy Statement

  1. The Department’s objective is to recruit, select and appoint the best people available for positions. This will be done within approved establishment and budget limits. Selection will be on the principles of the State Service and in particular on merit and equal opportunity.

Principles

  1. Recruitment within the Department of Justice will meet the following principles to ensure that recruitment processes:

Conflict of Interest

  1. A person who has or has had a close personal relationship with an applicant, or who has had any other non-work related interest, is to consider whether they should take part in any aspect of the selection process if it could lead to a potential or actual conflict of interest. In these circumstances a person must decline an invitation or nomination to join a Selection Panel.

  2. Conflicts of interest may arise in situations where a person's private arrangements, benefits, interests (whether pecuniary or otherwise), personal circumstances or personal or family relationships could, or could be perceived to impinge on a person's ability to act impartially. If such a situation becomes apparent after applications are received, the selection committee member must notify the Chair and withdraw from the process at the earliest possible stage.

  3. However it is recognised that there will be circumstances where there may be perceived conflicts of interest which do not necessarily preclude membership on a selection panel. The most obvious example is where internal candidates apply for a position and often members of the panel will know them from a direct working perspective. However this can be managed effectively through the composition of the panel, declaring this to other panel members and ensuring this is mentioned in the selection report.

  4. All selection panel members are also required to sign a ‘Conflict of Interest Acknowledgement Form’ as part of the selection process and this is submitted as part of the Selection Report. Further guidance can be found in the Department of Justice Conflict of Interest Procedures.

Direction Selections

  1. It is normal Agency procedure not to approve direct selections (promotion without advertising) into positions unless there is a significant reason as to why the occupant should be directly selected into a higher classification on a permanent basis.

  2. If a direct selection process is to be undertaken, the matter is referred through HR to the State Service Management Office for approval. It is very unusual to get such approval and special circumstances must be clearly demonstrated in order for the matter to be approved.

  3. The State Service Management Office will consider the special circumstance on a case-by-case basis and will normally only approve promotion without advertising of one classification level.

  4. If the State Service Management Office approves the intention to promote without advertising, the intention is placed in the Gazette and 14 days is allowed for any aggrieved employee to make application to the delegate for a review of the matter.

Recruitment Procedures

  1. Positions become available in a variety of circumstances through resignation, retirement, leave, redesign of area, project vacancy etc.

  2. A manager can fill a position either through a permanent appointment or in a temporary (fixed term) capacity.

  3. Permanent filling of positions is the preferred option in filling vacancies in the Agency. However, to meet the operational needs of the output, fixed term appointments are permitted for a specified term or for the duration of a specified task or project.

  4. Overall the procedures for filling permanent or fixed term positions in the Department are the same.

Pre-Recruitment Activities

  1. The first decision is to determine if the position needs to be filled and if so on what basis such as permanent or fixed term.

  2. Once the need to fill a vacancy is identified, the Statement of Duties is to be reviewed by the appropriate manager to ensure that it correctly reflects the duties and requirements of the position. If there is to be any change to the classification, the Output Manager and Human Resources must approve any changes before the recruitment process continues.

  3. If no Statement of Duties exists for the available position, or if it requires revising, this is the responsibility of the appropriate Manager. Once the new Statement of Duties or amendments have been drafted, it should be forwarded on to Human Resources and, if appropriate, approved by an appropriate delegate. Where the Statement of Duties is for a new role, Human Resources will review and evaluate the position and develop up a position statement that will then, if appropriate, approved by Agency Executive.

Approval to fill the position

  1. Prior to commencing the recruitment process, the sponsoring Manager is required to gain approval from the relevant Output Manager and forward this to the Director Human Resources. This requires A Request to Fill Position Form is to be completed and forwarded to Human Resources. The forms can be sent to [email protected]

  2. The request will be reviewed and submitted to Agency Executive for approval to advertise. (Note that as at June 2014 if approved by Agency Executive these applications still require approval through the State Service Vacancy Control process).

  3. Once Agency Executive has approved or not approved the filling of the position, Human Resources will notify the relevant manager.





Advertising the position

  1. The position is then to be advertised. All positions filled on a permanent basis are to be advertised in the Tasmanian Gazette (State Service Notices) as a minimum. The manager of the position can decide whether the position is to be advertised in the local or national newspapers. For fixed term positions up to 12 months these may be advertised through an internal Expression of Interest (EOI).

  2. The panel convener (chair) usually acts as the contact officer for the vacancy once it is advertised.

  3. All job applications are forwarded through Human Resources to collate prior to sending to the Selection Panel convenor.

Essential Requirements

  1. If the position requires essential requirements such as a qualification, drivers licence etc. approval from Human Resources must first be obtained before advertising the position. The exception is when an essential requirement is already contained in the Statement of Duties.

Pre-employment Checks

  1. Some positions within the Agency may require a pre-employment check because of the nature of the duties and responsibilities attached to the position. In particular quite number of positions such as Probation Officers, Court Support Officers, Program Facilitators and all positions located within Prison Services need to undertake Australian Institute of Forensic Psychology (AIFP) testing.

  2. In order to incorporate this requirement in the Statement of Duties, provide the following information to Human Resources who will then seek approval from the State Service Management Office:

    • A statement explaining the nature and responsibilities of the position. For example detailing if the position has regular handling of money, drugs or dangerous items, working in a high security area, regular contact with clients, level of duty of care; and

    • A statement as to why it is in the public interest for a pre-employment check to be carried out.

Selection Panel Procedures

  1. The purpose of a selection panel is to assess the comparative merit of each applicant and to recommend for appointment the best person for the job. The Selection Panel has the ultimate responsibility to ensure that the person chosen to fill the vacancy is the most appropriate to meet the objectives of the role as well as those of the values of the Department. The deliberations of the selection committee should at all times remain confidential, support impartial decision-making, and avoid any potential perception of bias.

  2. The procedures which provide direction and guidance for the Selection Panel are in a separate document titled Recruitment and Selection Procedures.

Advice to Candidates

  1. The convenor, unless delegated is generally responsible for providing advice and feedback to candidates, including advice on short-listing and post selection counselling.

  2. Human Resources send out all acknowledgement letters and once the process is finalised will send out the successful letter and unsuccessful letters to candidates.

Probation

  1. Probation is to be applied in relation to the appointment of a person as a permanent employee to the State Service [Section 37(6) of the Act]. Therefore it does not apply for fixed term positions.

  2. In general terms the period of probation for permanent employees on appointment will be 6 months from the date of appointment although for Corrections Officers that period is 12 months.

  3. Extensions beyond these periods will not be granted except in exceptional circumstances and prior approval must be sought through Director HR well before the end of the probation period. For example where an employee on probation is absent from duty on approved leave or workers compensation, the Head of Agency may determine that the absence does not form part of the employee's period of probation and extend the employee's probation accordingly.

Legislation and Documents

  1. The following legislation, policy and procedures are relevant to this policy:

    • State Service Act 2000

    • Employment Direction 1 ‘Employment in the State Service - advertising, employment categories, employment status-conversions, promotion, secondment, probation’

    • Employment Direction 2 ‘State Service Principles – provides for the SS principles in application to the Code of Conduct’

    • Employment Direction 7 ‘Pre-Employment Checks’

    • Employment Direction 11 ‘Statements of Duties’

    • Department of Justice ‘Recruitment and Selection Procedures’

    • Department of Justices ‘Conflict of Interest Procedures’

Further Information

  1. Further sources of information and support can be obtained through:

    • Human Resources



Policy Title

Recruitment and Selection Policy

Branch

Human Resources

Date of first Issue

1/8/2014

Version Number

2.0

Approval

Approved by AE on

4 August 2014

Date of this version

1/8/2014

Next Review Date

1/8/2016



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