16Merit principles to be applied in employment decisions

#### 16 Merit principles to be applied in employment decisions 16 Merit principles to be applied in employment decisions > > (1) This rule applies to any of the following decisions (an employment decision)— > > > > > (a) the employment of persons in any kind of employment and the assignment under section 38 or 46 of the Act of persons to roles, > > > > > (b) the transfer or secondment of an employee to a Public Service agency from another agency, > > > > > (c) the conversion to ongoing employment of an employee’s temporary or term employment. > > > (2) Any employment decision relating to a role in the Public Service is to be based on an assessment of the capabilities, experience and knowledge of the person concerned against the pre-established standards for the role to determine the person best suited to the requirements of the role and the needs of the relevant Public Service agency. > > > (2A) If an employment decision is based on a comparative assessment— > > > > > (a) the process provided for in rule 17(2) must be completed before the assessors give a report about the assessment (an assessors’ report) to the person who will make the employment decision, and > > > > > (b) the assessors’ report must take into account all of the information obtained for the comparative assessment, and > > > > > (c) the assessors’ report must— > > > > > > > (i) reflect the consensus of the assessors, or > > > > > > > (ii) in the absence of a consensus—include the recommendation of each assessor. > > > (2B) Subrule (2A) does not apply to recruitment action commenced before the commencement of the [Government Sector Employment (General) Rules (Amendment No 14—Miscellaneous) 2025](/view/pdf/asmade/sl-2025-451). > > > (3) Without limiting subrule (2), the following principles apply in relation to employment decisions— > > > > > (a) any recruitment action (whether for ongoing employment, temporary or term employment or casual employment) is to take into account— > > > > > > > (i) long and short term capability needs to meet the objectives of the relevant agency, and > > > > > > > (ii) existing workforce capabilities, > > > > > (b) pre-established standards for the capabilities required for a role are to be expressed as levels against each capability, > > > > > (c) any assessment for a role is to include appropriate methods to assess different requirements, > > > > > (d) except in the case where a development opportunity is being provided, a person may be employed in a role only if the person meets the pre-established standards for the role, > > > > > (e) any employment decision is to be made on balance taking into account all the results provided by the assessment process. > > > (4) This rule does not apply to the employment of a person as a special office temporary employee. > > Note. > > The Commissioner may issue guidance in relation to the application of the merit principles to the assignment of persons to roles. > > **rule 16:** Am 2014 (624), Sch 1 \[4\]; 2019 (443), Sch 1 \[2\] \[3\]; 2025 (451), Sch 1\[4\].