Employment actions that may not require open recruitment

Recruitment waiver

In order to achieve equal access and equal employment opportunity, it is generally necessary to conduct an open recruitment for all positions. There are a few concretely defined circumstances under which a recruitment waiver may be permitted. In such instances, departments follow the instructions outlined on the Recruitment Waiver Request Form for Staff and non-Student Hourly Hires located on the “Forms” page. Human Resources will review the documentation and determine if the recruitment waiver is appropriate. The university reserves the right to waive the posting requirement and to place a qualified individual in a position without recruitment in the following situations:

Emergency hire. This type of search waiver may be requested when there is an urgent and unanticipated need to fill a position, there is not enough time to conduct a search, and the identified candidate has the expertise and is available to begin immediately. If the position is to be filled beyond the duration of the waiver, an open search must be conducted. Emergency search waivers are made for a limited time; not to exceed one year.

Layoff placement. This type of search waiver may be requested to place a current employee into a new position to avoid termination during a reduction-in-force or to place a current VCU classified layoff applicant exercising preferential re-hire rights.

Persons specified in a grant. This type of search waiver may be requested to hire a candidate that has been named as a Principal Investigator in a grant application or for an individual that has been designated in a grant application as someone intended to work on the project.  

Dual career hire. This type of search waiver may be used when the successful recruitment or retention of an executive or senior administrator ultimately depends on an appointment for his or her spouse or partner. Every spouse or partner hire must meet the qualifications of the position and is contingent on ultimate employment or retention of the associated individual.

Multiple hires from a single search. The offer of employment to a candidate that has been identified from an existing applicant pool in response to a recent posting for the same job title or a position with significantly similar job duties, responsibilities and qualifications.  

Dispute resolution. Placement of an individual in a position for the purpose of resolving an employment complaint, grievance, or dispute.

Accommodation. The assignment of new job duties resulting in a university job title change to provide a reasonable accommodation for a qualified current employee with a disability. 

Administrative actions

To support the career progress of current employees, or to satisfy a university business need, departments may request changes to employees’ jobs without the need for an open recruitment in the following instances:

Non-competitive promotion in place (career path advancement). When a manager and employee agree on the criteria necessary for the employee to advance through their career path as part of their career development plan, and the requirements are documented as part of the performance review process, a search is not required to move the individual into the higher level role that corresponds with the outlined career path.

Non-competitive lateral transfer. The movement of an employee from one VCU job title to the same job title or a job title with a similar market range. The employee may be assigned new duties as a result of the transfer, but the employee’s salary should remain the same.

Non-competitive demotion. The movement of an employee from one VCU job title to a job title with a lower market range. The employee is typically assigned new duties as a result of the demotion.Demotions of this type are expected to include a reduction in pay based on the alignment of the job content to the university job structure, but are not mandated. The manager, in consultation with HR,  determines the new salary.

Temporary assignment. The designation of a current employee to fill a position on an interim or acting basis until an appropriate recruitment or appointment can occur.

Reorganization. Management initiated changes to employee job duties and/or positions to meet the business needs of the unit. Typically, individuals are moved (or jobs duties are changed) within the organization, but no positions are added or subtracted. If the proposed reorganization results in the need for a new position, an open recruitment is typically required prior to execution of the reorganization.

For additional guidance on administrative actions that do not require an open recruitment, consult the compensation guidelines for university and academic professionals. Requests for these actions should be submitted to HR for approval via the online position management system Talent@VCU. Instructions for submitting non-competitive job change requests are available in the Talent Recruitment guide.