Seniority in Public Service

I work in the public service for the past seventeen years. At present the organisation are looking at reassigning people to other areas in the organisation. They are reassigning people on the basis of seniority in the department rather than seniority in the organisation. I moved to a new department 5 years ago and my name has been put forward for reassignment even though I am on my grade for the past 14 years. My understanding is that seniority in the public service and the the civil service is based on seniority on the grade. Could anybody clarify this?

Depending on the reason why you moved Departments, you may have been obliged to give up your seniority at the time. But you would have been informed of this at the time.

Surely you can be reassigned for any reason? I would imagine that it's more likely to be moved based on how long you are in your area. If you have moved in recently it would not make sense to move you again ,
Do you want to move? If your pay and conditions aren't affected and you're doing the same job for 5 years it's probably a good idea to move.

Seems a bit silly - Have you consulted with your union?

Complainer said:

Seems a bit silly - Have you consulted with your union?

Click to expand...

I'd be surprised if the unions weren't consulted on this issue. Whether it was clarified that the service was total service or department service maybe worth asking. Personally I'm not in favour of the seniority for these types of decisions.

Worked my a local authority and it is their policy to move staff to a new department every 5 years, didn't make any sense to me either.

Rois said:

Worked my a local authority and it is their policy to move staff to a new department every 5 years, didn't make any sense to me either.

Click to expand...

I'd love it as it expands your knowledge base. Think its an excellent idea at the entry and lower grades. I always moved sections every 3 or 4 years and it helped me decide what section I finally want to work in.