Who can use this correspondence?

This correspondence can be used by all employers.

Commentary

The need to provide an employee with this letter may arise in the following situations:

• the employer has a number of work sites and wants the employee to relocate to another work site; or
• the employer is changing premises and accordingly the employee will be moving to a new premises.

It is recommended that you discuss the details of the relocation with the affected employee before it is confirmed in writing.

The employee’s contract of employment, or an industrial instrument covering the employee, may provide an employer with a right to relocate an employee. However, even in those circumstances, the relocation must be reasonable. In the absence of such a right (or the relocation being reasonable), the employee must consent to the relocation. If you are unsure of your ability to require an employee to relocate, seek legal advice.

If there is no power to relocate an employee or the relocation is unreasonable and the employee refuses the transfer, the employer could be exposed to legal claims. The legal claims could potentially include, for example, redundancy, unfair dismissal, adverse action, an industrial dispute and/or a breach of contract.

This letter is not suitable to use in the following situations:

• the relocation will involve an unreasonable increase in the employee’s travelling time to get to work in the new location;
• the relocation will involve a change to other terms or conditions of the employee’s employment, for example, the employee’s position, title, or duties; or
• the employee does not have a current written employment contract allowing for reasonable relocation.

Legal advice should be sought in these situations.

Letter to employee regarding promotion

This letter is useful when promoting an employee who, apart from their title, position description or remuneration, retains their existing terms and conditions.

This letter is not suitable where the employee does not have a current written employment contract or the contract does not reflect the terms and conditions the employer desires. In those circumstances, consider offering the promotion only if the employee enters into a new contract of employment on the employer’s desired terms.

To complete the letter, we recommend that you prepare a position description for the employee’s new position, mark it as ‘Schedule A’, and attach it to the letter.