PARTNERSHIP MANAGEMENT POLICY

/ DOCUMENT NUMBER:
P&C PM 0014 /
APPROVED BY:
B.Vaneris / RESPONSIBILITY:
People & Culture
EFFECTIVE DATE:
1January 2014 / REVISION NUMBER:
1rev date: 13 June 2014
PUBLICATION STATUS: internal use only
TITLE: / Deployments
PURPOSE: / To outline and define World Vision’s Partnership management policy regarding emergency response, GTRN and other deployments throughout the Partnership.
POLICY: / 1.Deployments are temporary arrangements, typically for a period of up to three months, to provide staff to: (1) respond to a Category III (CAT III) humanitarian emergency; and/or (2) build capacity and/or fill short-term non-emergency capacity gaps in other Partnership locations; or (3) fulfill other short-term objectives by the temporary deployment of staff away from the WV office where the employee is based (“sending office”) to another WV office (“receiving office”). (See Related Policies, below.)
a.This policy does not apply to those employees where deployment to an emergency context is the primary mandate of the employee (e.g., HEA Humanitarian Operations Team/H-OPS and associated functions) as detailed in job descriptions and employment agreements, etc.
2.World Vision (WV) endeavors to attract, develop, and retain a diverse and skilled global workforce as articulated in the Partnership People & Culture “LEADER” strategy. Responding to a CAT III rapid or slow on-set emergency is the responsibility of the entire World Vision Partnership. World Vision also intends to build capacity and mobilise staff to meet strategic goals. World Vision requires the sharing of staff across the Partnership and the use of deployment arrangements to give opportunity for staff of one WV office to be assigned temporarily to another WV office.
3.The Global Technical Resource Network (GTRN) is the mechanism through which staff can apply as Subject Matter Experts (SMEs). This mechanism provides the ability to hold a register of approved staff for emergency response and non-emergency deployments, with final review and approval from WVI’s Global Centre department leaders, including technical/ministry leaders such as for: Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH); Health and Nutrition; Design, Monitoring and Evaluation (DME); etc. and functional leaders such as for People & Culture, Finance, Security, etc. This mechanism is also the tool by which to invite/request deployments and track them as they happen. For all SME deployments, both emergency and non-emergency, staff must first be validated on GTRN as Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) eligible to be deployed. They must also be approved by their current manager as available for deployment
4.Deployment arrangements will be typically for a period of up to three months. Non-emergency deployments may be less than one month. Deployments for emergency responses are typically at least one month. An emergency response arrangement of less than one month would be characterised as a business trip and not a deployment. During deployments, the basic employment relationship between employee and employer will continue. For other work assignments outside of the employee’s regular/home assignment, refer to the Partnership Management Policies on Secondments and International Assignments.
5.Deployments may be extended, typically not for more than an additional period of three months (for a total deployment period of six months), if agreed by all parties, taking into account factors such as: work authorisation, benefits, insurance coverage, etc. For any deployment of longer than three months, additional documentation and OurPeople system reporting requirements may apply.
6.The deployment arrangement will be governed by a deployment Terms of Reference (TOR). The TOR will define projected start/end dates of deployment, key responsibilities and objectives and how salary and benefits will be provided as well as other allowances and benefits. The following items will be included:
a.Base salary to continue to be paid, and benefits to continue to be provided, to employee by the sending office during deployment
b.Additional considerations to be agreed upon between sending and receiving office, covering additional matters related to the deployment, such as:
i)Taxation
ii)Health care benefits (for example, if health care benefits do not apply outside the sending office country)
iii)Insurances (e.g., life, disability, workers’ compensation, medical evacuation, travel insurance, etc.)
iv)Vacation and sick leave allowances
v)Pension, superannuation
c.For emergency response deployment, due to the high intensity of such a deployment, additional items to be included:
i)Deployment allowance to be paid to employee, preferably paid to the employee while on deployment
ii)Compensation days, charged to the Responseprogramme
d.For non-emergency deployment, daily rate to be paid by receiving office to the sending office, to offset salary and other costs, such as continued benefits
e.Travel costs to/from deployment location, and additional costs related to travel such as visas, etc., as determined by World Vision to be reasonable.
f.In-country costs in deployment location – lodging and meals (or per diem)as determined by World Vision to be reasonable.
7.WV entities will comply with all applicable laws (above this policy) relating to deployment arrangements described in this policy. Deployment arrangements will be reviewed to ensure legal compliance with host and sending country laws, including acquisition of required work permits and any other legal requirements, such as payment into local social security programmes. No deployments should be offered without successful completion of all appropriate work permit requirements.
8.There are two Guidelines associated with this policy that help to contextualise this policy to the standard required: Emergency Response Deployments Guidelines, and Non-Emergency Response Deployments Guidelines.
DEFINITIONS: / Deployment:a temporary arrangement, typically for up to three months, to provide staff to: (1) respond to a Category III (CAT III) humanitarian emergency; and/or (2) build capacity and/or fill short-term programming capacity gaps and capacity building with GTRN-registered staff in other Partnership locations; or (3) fulfill other short-term objectives by the temporary reassignment of staff away from the WV office where the employee is based (“sending office”) to another WV office (“receiving office”)
Compensation Day: in this policy, a paid day to be taken off by an employee in recognition of time the employee is away from the sending office during an emergency response deployment; this is not charged to vacation time
WV entity: the WV legal entity which operates in and employs staff in a given context, e.g., World Vision International (which is the registered legal entity in many countries) or other WV legal entity, such as WVUS, WV Australia, WV Kenya, WV Thailand, etc.
WV office: in this policy, referring to the operation (line management, cost centre/s, etc.) of a national or programme office (support or field) or regional office or other Global Centre office
Sending office country: the country from which the deployed staff member is deployed
Receiving office country: the country to which the deployed staff member is deployed
SCOPE: / This policy applies to all World Vision entities across the Partnership in all locations.
BACKGROUND /
  • Related Policies: Partnership Management Policies on Secondments and International Assignments. Refer to Regional Deployment policies for Category I and Category II emergency responses.
  • P&C Portfolio: Staffing Solutions and Diversity
  • This policy replacesthe current Partnership Management Policy on Emergency Response Deployments