Pay Protection Guidance in Redundancy and Redeployment Situations

This guidance outlines how pay protection works where an employee moves into a role that is one grade lower because of a redundancy situation or medical redeployment. It is designed to support managers to apply pay protection fairly, consistently, and transparently.

Pay protection is a temporary measure that helps employees adjust to a lower graded role when the change is not voluntary. It ensures employees do not experience an immediate and significant reduction in salary because of organisational change, redundancy avoidance, or a medical recommendation. 

Pay protection may apply in the following circumstances: 

  1. Redeployment During a Redundancy Process

Employees may be redeployed to another suitable role to avoid compulsory redundancy. 
Where the redeployed role is one grade lower, pay protection can be applied to: 

  • Maintain their current basic salary for a defined period (maximum of 2 years)
  • Allow a gradual transition to the pay of the new role
  • Avoid financial detriment caused by organisational change 

This support only applies where the redeployment is involuntary (i.e., the employee is not choosing to step down).

   2.  Medical Redeployment

Pay protection may also apply where an employee is medically redeployed following: 

  • Occupational Health advice
  • Reasonable adjustment considerations
  • A determination that the employee is no longer able to undertake their substantive role safely or effectively 

Here, pay protection helps ensure the employee is not financially disadvantaged because of a health related change that is outside their control.

To ensure fairness and consistency, the following principles apply: 

  • The new role must be formally evaluated as one grade lower.
  • The move must be involuntary (i.e., driven by redundancy, being on the redeployment register as a result of being at risk of redundancy or medical need).
  • The employee must be appointed through the redeployment process, not an open competitive recruitment.
  • Pay protection does not apply if an employee expresses a preference to voluntarily move to a lower grade.

Pay protection is typically provided for a maximum of 2 years unless the pay level for the new grade overtakes the protected pay level before this time. This provides the employee time to adjust to and transition to the lower pay range. The employee’s existing basic pay is maintained for the duration of the protection period which means that their pay holds still until they are align with the maximum of the lower pay grade. 

A staff member on protected pay will not be entitled to incremental progression in their old grade but will receive the national cost of living increases. Incremental progression within the old role is paused. This is because cost of living awards are considered adjustments to the overall pay spine and they are linked to experience and performance in the original higher graded role. Once an employee is redeployed to a lower graded post, it would be inappropriate and inequitable for them to continue advancing on a grade they no longer occupy. This approach ensures fairness across the workforce, while still applying cost of living awards to maintain the real terms value of protected pay. 

At the end of the protection period the protected pay ends, and the employee is placed onto the top of the incremental band for their new lower grade excluding the excellence ranges.  

The pay which is frozen at their current pay level excludes any additional allowances, shift allowances, additional contractual earnings or contractual overtime. These allowances end as they relate to duties the employee is no longer doing. 

This means that if a person is redeployed from a role which has a shift allowance into a role which does not have shift allowance, the shift allowance stops and is not included in the two-year period. Likewise, if the new role has a shift allowance this would become payable in addition to the frozen pay as this is a payment relevant to the new job duties and not part of the base pay element. 

If the lower grade range has moved up to incorporate the value of the frozen pay during the two year protected period, this would bring the pay freeze period to an end at that point in time. 

If in the two-year period, the employee chooses to move again to a new post, the pay protection period ends.

Scenario Description Pay Protection
1. Matched to a suitable alternative post at a lower grade  Employee is formally matched during a restructure/change process  Yes
2. Redeployee applies for a lower graded vacancy (voluntary application)  Employee chooses to apply for a lower graded post while on the redeployment register  Yes
3. Redeployee requests to move to a lower graded post  Employee proactively asks to move down a grade  No
4. Redeployment due to disciplinary, capability, or sickness absence procedures  Employee is redeployed to a lower grade following formal procedures  No
5. Redeployment as a reasonable adjustment (disability)  Employee redeployed due to disability related needs  Case by case, but likely to apply
6. Regrading results in a lower grade (role changes)  Job evaluation reduces grade due to structural change  Yes
7. Significant change in duties (>40%) and employee is not appointed to the new post  Post must be advertised; employee unsuccessful and enters redeployment  Yes, if redeployed to lower grade through matching
8. Redeployee accepts a new post during the protection period  Employee moves again within two years  Protection ends and they move to the lower salary
9. Redeployee applies for a same grade vacancy  Employee applies for a role at their existing grade  Not applicable