Organisational change

Analytical job evaluation is recognised as a sound basis on which to determine work of equal value, as covered in the Equal Pay Act now incorporated in the Equality Act 2010.  It therefore provides a means to ensure that equal value pay issues are addressed.   

Care has been taken in the design of JEGS to minimise bias. The main risk to achieving fairness and consistency in job evaluation is bias which can be introduced into the job evaluation process in various ways.   Good practice in job evaluation is about building protection against possible bias throughout the job evaluation process.  To achieve fairness and consistency at Sport Wales the following good practice is applied: 

• involving post-holders and/or line managers in completing relevant job information documents when roles are evaluated 
• ensuring that evaluators are trained in job evaluation 
• ensuring trained evaluators are available to offer assistance to post-holders to complete job information documents where needed 
• ensuring job evaluation panels are representative of the workgroups being evaluated where possible 
• either using a job description which follow the JEGS factors, or Job Analysis Form (JAF) as the basis for evaluation  
• involving trade union representatives to support post-holders through the process, if required 
• to ensure transparency, keeping records of the assessment of each JEGS factor and the overall score for each role evaluated  
• excluding personal characteristics and qualities of the post-holder from consideration, focusing solely on the requirements of the role.  

The majority of JEGS evaluations undertaken will be based on the Job Description or JAF submitted by the post holder alone. This process involves the following steps: 

• Where the role is new, the Line Manager will draft a Job Description using the Sport Wales template which reflects the JEGS factors or; 
• Where a post-holder already occupies the role, they will complete a Job Analysis Form (JAF) and seek approval from their line manager before submitting to the HR Team 
• The HR team will organise a JEGS panel which will consist of at least two trained evaluators, including an HR representative and a Trade Union representative 
• The panel will meet to evaluate the role assessing the information provided in the Job Description/JAF against the seven JEGS factors – Knowledge and Skills, Contacts and Communication, Problem Solving, Decision Making, Autonomy, Resource Management and Impact 
• The panel will reach an agreed scoring recommendation and record both the scoring process (via the JEGS software) and the final score (locally). 
• The scoring recommendation will be provided to the line manager who will relay the outcome to the post-holder.  

In some instances, it may be necessary to collect more information from the post-holder, line manager or both, in order to complete the job evaluation process. That may include when; 

• insufficient information is provided in the Job Description/JAF in order for the panel to score 
• a new post is created and the expectations of the role are unclear from the documentation provided to the panel 
• a post is scored on the boundary between two grades 
• a grading decision is disputed by either the post-holder or the line manager after the panel give their recommendation.  

In these instances, the panel HR representative will put follow up questions to, and if necessary, interview either the Line Manager or post-holder or both (depending on whether the role is currently occupied by a post-holder) to gather the relevant information. The panel will then be reconvened to deliver a recommendation.  

Where a job evaluation (resulting from a JAF raised by the post-holder) outcome indicates a higher grade due to the acquisition of additional responsibilities beyond the scope of the role at appointment, managers may discuss with the post-holder whether those responsibilities remain a requirement of the post, or whether the role should be realigned to reflect its original scope and grade. Responsibilities removed as part of any realignment should not be reassigned at a later date, unless the employee requests to undertake the additional responsibilities as a temporary measure to support their personal development. If responsibilities are reassigned under any other circumstance, the employee will be entitled to request a further job evaluation.  

Where a job evaluation panel has provided a grading recommendation, it is unlikely that there will be a case for reviewing that decision.  However, the post holder or line manager can request a review of the decision where it appears that: 

• there has been a failure of process, for example, the relevant guidance has not been properly followed 
• significant new information becomes available, or material aspects of the role were not considered as part of the original evaluation, or 
• discrimination (unfair, biased or inconsistent treatment) has occurred in the way the evaluation was carried out. 

It may be possible to resolve some concerns through informal discussion. Where this does not resolve the situation, the post-holder should write to the HR team clearly serrtting out the grounds for requesting a review. Requests that fail to provide sufficient evidence of a failure of the original process will be declined and the post-holder will receive a written explanation as to why.   

Where a review is agreed, a further evaluation panel will be convened to reconsider the scoring outcomes. This panel may include members of the original panel alongside new, independent members. The outcome of a review will be final.

The HR team will hold the library of job evaluations.  These are helpful when looking to identify roles for benchmarking and providing quality assurance. As a minimum, a record should be maintained which shows the following for all posts which have been evaluated: 

• the date of the evaluation 
• scores by factor 
• the final agreed overall score 
• the evaluated pay band. 

In many cases, the characteristics of posts will change over a period of time, minor changes are unlikely to result in a grade change.  However, where there has been substantial change, managers have a lead responsibility for monitoring changes and referring the post for job evaluation where necessary. 

To make sure we’re attracting and recruiting the right people to support the direction and culture of the organisation, our values are embedded in all aspects of recruitment and selection. These are reflected in our job descriptions, person specifications, and interview design, and continued through to induction, performance and development approaches.  

Prior to a vacancy being authorised, managers will consider all options to workforce planning for their department. The HR team are available to support the planning process and identify opportunities and alternatives where replacement or additional posts may not be possible. All vacancies must be authorised by a budget holder. 

The recruitment and selection guide for managers gives further advice for recruiting managers.  

All posts must have an up-to-date job description which includes a person specification. This document will describe the duties, responsibilities and level of seniority associated with the post, and the qualifications, knowledge, experience, skills and values required for the job. The Recruiting Manager will be responsible for creating the job description, with support from the HR Team. 

A job evaluation exercise will be carried out on all new jobs, and replacement posts where there has been a substantial change in the nature of the post since last evaluated.  

On some occasions it may be appropriate to advertise posts on an internal basis only. This may be to encourage development opportunities and recognise and reward the skills of staff within the organisation. This may also be required where there is the need to apply redeployment principles due to restructuring, and where skills are available within the existing workforce. Depending on circumstances, internal only posts may be open to individuals working at Sport Wales on a casual or secondment basis, as well as to individuals on permanent or fixed term contracts. Employees are asked to discuss any application with their line manager before applying for a position internally. All internal candidates will be required to complete an expression of interest form.  

On other occasions it may be considered necessary to advertise a vacancy both internally and externally concurrently. For example, this may be required in order to widen the pool of potential candidates or where the skills required are not considered to be reflected within the current workforce. Internal candidates will still be eligible to apply for these vacancies but will compete with external candidates, following the external application process. 

The decision to advertise both internally and externally will be at the discretion of the recruiting manager, in discussion with the HR team.  

The HR team can advise on best practice, advertising methods and associated costs. Recruiting managers will advise on industry specialist media or publications that they would like to utilise.  

All external vacancies will be promoted via our official social media channels. 

We are committed to developing a truly inclusive working environment within Sport Wales. Our policies and procedures around recruitment and selection ensure that no job applicant receives less favourable treatment because of their age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage or civil partnership, pregnancy or maternity, race, religion or belief, sex, or sexual orientation. 

Job adverts will be placed strategically to guarantee the widest possible reach, ensuring accessibility and inclusiveness. All job adverts outline Sport Wales’ commitment to equality, as does the information contained within our recruitment materials.  

All recruiting managers and participants involved in recruitment and selection will have received equality training. Information and guidance will also be available from the HR team, outlining fair and robust procedures to protect against discrimination.  

‘Blind’ shortlisting will take place for all vacancies, where applications are anonymised and all personal details are removed, before being seen by the shortlisting panel. This helps ensure that processes for recruitment and selection will be free from discrimination and should not disadvantage any job applicant.  

We are a level 3 Disability Confident leader and offer interviews to disabled applicants who meet the minimum criteria for a job vacancy, in line with the scheme.  

We collect information about the characteristics of vacancy applicants using a diversity monitoring from. As part of our commitment to transparency, we use this data to monitor and report on the proportionate representation of applicants in comparison with our workforce. This information is published in our Annual Report.  

All candidates will have the opportunity to apply for a position in Welsh. Where an applicant expresses Welsh as their preferred language, the rest of the recruitment and selection process, including all correspondence and interviews, will be offered in Welsh. Applications submitted in Welsh will not be treated less favourably than an application submitted in English. 

Shortlisting candidates for interview will consist of an assessment against the job description and person specification using their job application. Shortlisting will be carried out by at least two people, one of which will be the Recruiting Manager for the post. The assessment will be based on education and professional qualifications, experience and knowledge, skills, aptitude and abilities, and Sport Wales values. Candidates will need to meet a minimum threshold in every shortlisting area in order to be shortlisted. Candidates who are successful at the shortlisting stage will be invited to progress to the interview staqe. 

The selection process will minimise bias. Therefore, no person who has a close personal relationship with a candidate should shortlist or be on the interview panel.  

All interviews will be conducted by a panel of a minimum of two people, one being the Recruiting Manager (Chair) and one being a member of the HR team. Panels should contain no more than four individuals, and should have a gender mix. The Recruiting Manager may invite an external specialist to sit on an interview panel in certain circumstances. 

The recruiting manager is responsible for developing the interview questions. They will also develop a bullet‑pointed outline of the key elements expected in a response that meets the minimum scoring threshold. This guidance should allow scope for individual experience and approach, while providing sufficient structure to support consistent scoring by all panel members and minimise the risk of bias, including where panel members may be less familiar with the role or its technical requirements. During interviews, all panel members will use this to make notes and score candidates. Notes will need to be clear, fair and justifiable as they may be open to challenge.  

Interview questions should include a combination of technical (post specific) and value-based questions. Interview questions should not be in any way discriminatory or unnecessarily intrusive. Interview question guidance is available for Recruiting Managers. Some interview questions may be shared with candidates in advance. 

There are a range of selection assessment methods that can be used alongside the traditional interview which will help the panel gain a greater insight into the candidate. Common assessment types include presentations, psychometric testing, ability and aptitude tests. Further guidance is available for Recruiting Managers. Candidates will be notified in advance of interview arrangements, including the assessment methods to be used. 

Following interview/assessment the recruiting manager will make appointment recommendations, clearly showing the reason for appointment or non-appointment.  

Recruiting Managers should contact both the successful applicant, and the unsuccessful candidates as soon as possible by telephone, wherever possible, to provide the interview outcome and offer feedback. If the candidate prefers, feedback may be given at a later date or by email.  

Where in-person attendance is an essential requirement of the interview process, candidates will be reimbursed for any reasonable expenses incurred. Where in-person attendance is not essential, candidates may be offered the option to attend the interview online.

Once a decision has been made, direct offers of employment will be made by the Recruiting Manager. Feedback to unsuccessful candidates on their application and interview will only be offered to those short listed for interview.  Due to our practice of anonymised shortlisting, we are unable to provide specific feedback to candidates who are unsuccessful at the shortlisting stage. Recruiting managers will provide feedback to all unsuccessful internal applicants at the shortlisting stage. 

Starting pay for all external recruits will normally be at point 1 of the grade. However, a higher starting point within the grade may be offered at the discretion of the Recruiting Manager, for example, where the candidate’s current salary is higher than point 1 of the Sport Wales grade.  

If a candidate has scored high enough to be appointed, the recruiting manager has the option of adding them to a reserve list. The reserve list will be held for 6 months. If a vacancy arises in that time, with the same job description, person specification and salary scale, the Recruiting Manager has the option to offer the role to an applicant on the reserve list, with no need for a further interview.  

Records for successful candidates will be added to their personnel file upon commencement of employment. All other documentation relating to the vacancy, including records of individual assessments will be kept for one year.  

The equality and diversity data obtained through application processes will be used to monitor equality and diversity which is necessary to help us ensure we are meeting our equality obligations. Information gathered on individual candidates will be treated as strictly confidential, and processed  in accordance with the Sport Wales privacy notice.  

All appointments will be subject to the receipt of satisfactory references. References will only be sought after an appointment offer has been accepted. Requests for references for staff that are leaving, or have left, Sport Wales, should be forwarded to the HR team to respond to ensure they are factual and objective. .  

Sport Wales works with the Disclosure and Barring Service to enable safer recruitment decisions by identifying candidates who may be unsuitable for certain work, especially that involving close and regular contact with children or vulnerable adults. Eligible posts will require a satisfactory Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check, and this will be made clear to applicants before any offer of employment is made. For further information, and full details of the procedure, please refer to the Sport Wales DBS Policy contained within our Code of Conduct. 

A warm welcome to Sport Wales is crucial to help new starters settle into their new role and to ensure they have the knowledge and support they need to perform their role. This begins before they join (onboarding) and continues throughout their first few months in post (induction). 

All candidates, regardless of the outcome of their application, should have a positive experience of our recruitment process. The way we manage recruitment activity can influence both an individual’s perception of Sport Wales and our wider organisational reputation. Care should therefore be taken at all stages of the process to ensure candidates are treated fairly, consistently and professionally.  

Most communication with candidates prior to successful appointment will be between the candidate and the HR team via our online recruitment system..However, the Recruiting Manager’s email address will also be provided on every job advert, ensuring candidates have a means of asking any questions they have about the role, or flagging any challenges they are having.  

Employees who leave the organisation will be invited to attend an exit interview. The information provided is useful in identifying trends, learning and development, and evaluating the effectiveness of HR policies and procedures. 

Any candidate who believes they have been treated unfairly or has a complaint about the recruitment process should contact the HR team outlining their concerns. 

Redundancy happens when a role is no longer needed. Under employment law, a dismissal will usually be considered a redundancy if it happens mainly because one of the following situations applies: 

• The organisation is closing, or plans to close, either completely or at the location where the employee works; or 
• The organisation needs fewer employees to do a particular type of work, either across the business as a whole or at the place where the employee works. 

Redundancy is therefore about the role no longer being required due to organisational change, not about an individual employee’s performance or conduct. 

Where organisational change may result in redundancies, Sport Wales will follow a clear and structured process to ensure fairness, transparency, and legal compliance. The process will normally include the following stages: 

Business Case: The relevant manager, Leadership or Executive member will develop a clear business case setting out the reasons for the proposed change, the roles affected, and the evidence supporting the need for restructuring. 

Consultation: Meaningful collective and individual consultation will take place with affected employees and their representatives before any final decisions are made. Consultation will focus on the reasons for the proposals, ways to avoid or reduce redundancies, and how the impact on employees can be minimised. 

Selection: Where roles are reduced or changed, fair and objective matching and/or selection processes will be applied in line with this policy, using clear criteria and assessment methods. 

Redeployment: Wherever possible, suitable alternative employment will be explored. Employees who are displaced or not matched to a role will be supported through the redeployment process and given priority consideration for suitable vacancies. 

Dismissal: Where redundancy cannot be avoided, notice of dismissal will be confirmed in writing, setting out notice periods, redundancy payments, and available support.

Management  

• Provide a clear written restructuring proposal (business case) setting out the evidence and justification for the need to restructure and evidence of an equality impact assessment.  
• Gain agreement from Board and/or Welsh Government, if appropriate.  
• Meet with employees affected as part of the consultation process.  
• Ensure reasonable adjustments are considered during consultation, selection, and redeployment processes. 
• Respond to employee consultation feedback.  
• Communicate outcomes decisions with wider team.  
• Confirm redundancies with those affected.  
• Act in accordance with this policy and guidance from HR.  
• Discuss suitable redeployment opportunities with employees ‘at risk’ of redundancy.  
• Support employees throughout the process.  

HR  

• Provide relevant manager with advice, support and planning throughout the restructuring exercise.  
• Ensure statutory consultation periods are adhered to.  
• Notifying the Trade Union at an early stage, where practicable, providing details of proposal before any consultation period  
• Attend consultation meeting with ‘at risk’ employees, if required  
• Liaise with relevant manager to identify suitable alternative employment opportunities for ‘at risk’ employees.   
• Along with relevant manager, support affected employees throughout the process  

Employees  

• Attend consultation and other meetings as required.  
• Providing written documents to assist in redeployment process, if applicable.  
• Submitting any requests for voluntary redundancy within the timeframe specified.  

Sport Wales is committed to fully involving employees and their representatives throughout any redundancy exercise.  Sufficient time will be allocated to ensure consultation is meaningful.  

Individual consultation will take place in all redundancy situations, regardless of the number of employees affected, and will begin before any final decisions are made. Sport Wales will engage with the trade union and/or employees to consider any proposals submitted and will incorporate these, wherever possible, into the process of handling the prospective redundancies.  

The aim of consultation is to enable employees to discuss the redundancy situation, share their views and explore the possibility of alternative action.  This process provides employees with the opportunity to voice their concerns, participate meaningfully and make informed decisions.  

• The consultation timings will reflect statutory provisions  
• 30 days where 20 to 99 redundancies are proposed; and  
• 45 days where over 99 redundancies are proposed.   

Employees who are on leave, including family  or sickness absence will be communicated with as soon as possible, and protection will apply as appropriate.  

A period of consultation will begin for employees identified as at ‘risk’ of redundancy. Sport Wales will inform them of the following:   

• the reason(s) for the redundancy proposals 
• the proposed structure highlighting those roles at ‘risk’ of redundancy 
• the total number of employees affected 
• the proposed method of selecting the employees who may be redundant 
• the proposed approach to implementingredundancies, including timescales and procedure  
• the proposed method of calculating the amount of any redundancy payments  
• the right to be accompanied by a union representative or colleague at formal meetings 

The Trade Union and/or employee representative will also be provided with this information.  

Consultation will be undertaken with  the aim of reaching agreement with the appropriate representatives (collective) and employees (individualDiscussions will include the information outlined above, as well as options for avoiding redundancies, reducing the numbers affected, minimising the impact where redundancies cannot be avoided.   

Final decisions will not be made until employees and/or appropriate representatives have had the opportunity to respond to the proposals within a set time frame.  Where agreement cannot be reached, Sport Wales will explain why it cannot adopt the views put forward by the representatives or employees.  

Prior to confirming any redundancies, Sport Wales will take steps to explore all possible suitable alternatives to maintain the needs of our organisation.  

Sport Wales will explore the following options (non-exhaustive):  

• Redeployment of employees to other suitable alternative work with retraining as appropriate 
• Where possible, prioritising employees ‘at risk’ of redundancy for vacancies in other departments within Sport Wales 
• where an employee or employees within Sport Wales possess appropriate experience and suitable skills, Sport Wales will look to them before seeking assistance from contractors, agency staff, or consultants 
• restricting external recruitment 
• allowing for turnover to reduce workforce 
• reduction in hours and/or pay (with agreement from employees)  
• reducing or eliminating overtime 
• non-renewal of fixed term employee contracts if Sport Wales has reasonable justification for so doing 
• consider voluntary redundancy, in line with the approach set out in the Voluntary Redundancy section of this policy. 

Employees identified as at risk of redundancy who are pregnant, or on maternity leave, adoption leave, shared parental leave, neonatal care leave or bereaved partner’s paternity leave are entitled to be offered any suitable alternative roles within Sport Wales and given first refusal over other affected employees.  

For pregnant employees, this protection applies from the point the employee tells Sport Wales that they are pregnant and continues to apply for 18 months after either the expected week of childbirth, or the exact date of birth, if the employee informs Sport Wales of this, and includes the period spent on maternity leave.  

For employees who take maternity leave, protection will apply for 18 months beginning with the date that childbirth occurred.  

For employees who take adoption leave, the protection will apply for 18 months starting from the date of placement of the child.  

For employees who take shared parental leave, the protected period is for 18 months from when the child is born. The employee must have taken six or more consecutive weeks of shared parental leave and not taken maternity or adoption leave for the protection to apply. If less than six consecutive weeks of shared parental leave are taken, protection will only apply during the period of shared parental leave.  

For employees who take neonatal care leave, the protected period is for 18 months from when the child is born, provided the employee has taken more than six consecutive weeks of neonatal care leave. Otherwise, protection will only apply during the period of neonatal care leave.  

Employees who take bereaved partner’s paternity leave are entitled to redundancy protection whilst on leave and where the leave lasts for six or more consecutive weeks, the protected period continues to apply when they return to work, ending 18 months after the child’s date of birth, date of placement, or the date the child entered Great Britain.  

If you have any queries about whether this applies to you or how it will affect you, please raise these with the relevant manager.

Sport Wales will consult with affected employees regarding the proposed new structure, including Job Description content.  Where there are changes to existing roles, a new Job Description and Grade will be provided.     

Where there are changes to roles, Sport Wales will look to evidence which existing roles closely match the new role.  This will involve setting matching criteria by comparing the Job Description or Job Analysis Form with the new proposed post.  Matching decisions will be made by the relevant Director, Head or Lead and will be independently verified by another senior manager at the same level.  Where there is a 70% or higher match the new post will be deemed a suitable alternative role and offered to the employee.  Where the number of employees matched to a role exceeds the number of posts available, a selection process will be undertaken.  This may include an interview process and will be based on minimum selection criteria aligned to the roles requirements, such as education, experience, knowledge and skills.  Employees who are appointed will be entitled to a four-week trial period, further details are set out in the suitable alternative work section below.  Where an employee unreasonably refuses a suitable alternative post, they will lose their entitlement to redundancy pay.  

Where redundancies are identified as unavoidable, Sport Wales will normally seek to minimise compulsory redundancies by taking the initial step of inviting applications from all areas of the business for voluntary redundancy.  Opportunities for voluntary redundancy may be offered at various stages of the process or may be for a restricted period of time.  Voluntary redundancy is one of several options that may be used to minimise compulsory redundancies and will normally be considered alongside consultation, matching, and redeployment efforts. It does not replace these processes and may not be appropriate or available in all circumstances. 

The final decision on accepting a voluntary redundancy application will be made by a Sport Wales panel.  Employees must be aware that volunteering for redundancy will not necessarily lead to an approval of that application. Sport Wales may deem that the volunteer’s skills and capabilities continue to be required. A key consideration will be if a volunteer will protect the position of another colleague at risk if they can then slot into the now vacant position . In some cases, the cost of redundancy is prohibitive. In these circumstances, the application is likely to be denied.  

Any acceptance of an application for voluntary redundancy will be confirmed in writing and the individual invited to a meeting to discuss arrangements for the termination of their employment, including any entitlement to voluntary redundancy pay, as set out below. 

To avoid redundancies, employees who are not matched to a role or who are displaced as a result of organisational change will be supported to find suitable alternative work.  Sport Wales will provide employees with as much information as is possible about any suitable alternative work to enable employees to assess whether the post is appropriate for them.  Redeployment opportunities will be actively explored both before and, where necessary, during an employee’s notice period.  

Where suitable alternative employment is secured, the employee and Sport Wales may agree a trial period in the new role (for example, four weeks).  Any such trial period will be written into the offer.  If either Sport Wales or the employee decide that the trial period is not working, Sport Wales and the employee will be entitled to consider the application of voluntary redundancy, or remain in the redeployment pool for the remainder of their notice period unless the reason in question is unconnected to the new employment such as an incidence of gross misconduct. If Sport Wales offers the employee re-employment of a post that is of the same grading and skills, but the employee unreasonably rejects an offer of suitable alternative employment, there will be no entitlement to a redundancy payment. The same will apply in the event that the employee, having taken up the offer of the suitable alternative role, then resigns before the end of the trial period.  

Where there is more than one suitable applicant for a vacancy, Sport Wales will use a selection process which may include an interview process, with a minimum selection criterion based on the requirements (education, experience, knowledge and skills) for the post to allow for fair selection of the most suitable applicant.   

Where an employee is re‑employed by Sport Wales following redundancy: 

• If the employee is re‑employed within four weeks of the termination date, and the offer of re‑employment was made before the termination took effect, continuity of employment will be preserved. In these circumstances, the redundancy will not take effect and any statutory, contractual or enhanced redundancy compensation paid will be recoverable. 
• If the employee is re‑employed after a break of more than four weeks, the re‑employment will be treated as a new period of service and continuity of employment will not be preserved. Statutory redundancy pay will not be affected. Any contractual or enhanced redundancy compensation will be repayable for a period of 12 months after the date of redundancy, on a sliding scale of 25% reduction every three months. 

Where an employee is re‑employed by an organisation covered by the Local Government (Modification) Order: 

• Re‑employment within four weeks of the termination date will result in continuity of employment being recognised. In such circumstances, any contractual or enhanced redundancy compensation paid by Sport Wales will be repayable. 
• Statutory redundancy pay is not repayable. 

An employee may opt to take voluntary, for example if they have not secured suitable alternative role.   

Voluntary Redundancy will be applied as follows for employees who have over two years’ service:  

• 3 weeks’ pay per year of service, based on actual weekly pay (those aged over 55 and in the LGPS may have a pension strain as detailed below)  
• Payment capped at the equivalent of 18 months’ pay  
• Payment is also subject to any cap implemented by the government, e.g. introduction of £95,000 compensation payment cap   
• Those aged over 55 in the LGPS will have access to their unreduced pension.  Compensation payments will be adjusted to take account of any pension strain costs.  Any surplus compensation will be paid to the employee by Sport Wales.  
• As per HMRC rules, the first £30k of any compensation payment on termination of employment will be paid tax and NI free (subject to any other qualifying factors)  

Where an employee does not opt for voluntary redundancy or secure suitable alternative employment and redundancy cannot be avoided following meaningful consultation and redeployment efforts, compulsory redundancy may apply, with the right of appeal as set out in this policy. 

Compulsory Redundancy will be applied as above with the following adjustments to the calculation of the compensation payment:  

• 2 weeks’ pay per year of service   
• Payment capped at the equivalent of 12 months’ pay  

Employees with under 2 years’ service, will not qualify for redundancy pay but will receive contractual notice.  

All employees will be expected to work their contractual notice period, however, Sport Wales reserves the right to make a payment in lieu of notice (PILON) in exceptional circumstances. 

Employees will be entitled to appeal against their selection for redundancy.   

Appeals must be made in writing to the Appeals Officer within five working days of the notification of selection for redundancy, clearly stating the grounds for appeal.  

The appeal will review the redundancy decision and the process followed, including consultation, selection or matching, scoring, reasonable adjustments, and consideration of suitable alternative employment. 

The appeal will be heard impartially by an Appeals Officer who has had no prior involvement in the redundancy process and is normally the same grade as, or more senior than, the original decision-maker. 

The employee will be invited to an appeal hearing without unreasonable delay and may be accompanied by a trade union representative or work colleague. 

At the hearing, the employee will explain their grounds for appeal. The Appeals Officer may ask questions, seek management’s response, and adjourn if further information or review is needed. 

The Appeals Officer will consider the representations before reaching a decision, which will normally be confirmed in writing within five working days. 

The outcome may uphold or overturn the redundancy decision, amend the selection or matching outcome, require further consultation or review, or identify further steps in relation to suitable alternative employment. There will be no further right of appeal. 

Sport Wales recognises that a period of change brings uncertainty and unease.  We will offer employees and managers support and assistance through our counselling provider.  

Those who are under notice of redundancy will be offered financial advice, job seeking advice and funded training up to £1,000 from Sport Wales.  This funded training will be paid directly to training providers and can be used to cover the cost of any form of training that the employee may find useful to develop themselves.  

Employees may also be able to access ReAct funding of up to £1500 for retraining.  Employees will be given contact details to contact ReAct to discuss their eligibility.  This would be in addition to the £1000 funded by Sport Wales.  

Reasonable time off will be given to allow employees to look for another job, arrange training, attend interviews and seek information about alternative employment.