Transferred officers’ compensation
Direction and guidance on determining teachers’ eligibility for compensation and the benefits available to eligible transferred officers.
Audience
Department teachers (permanent), recruitment officers and shared services staff.
| Version | Date | Description of changes | Approved by |
|---|---|---|---|
| V01.0.0 | 06/09/2024 | Under the 2023 Policy and procedure review program, new policy document consolidating existing instructions and improving clarity and readability. | Chief People Officer |
| Ongoing union consultation is occurring and amendments may be made from time to time. |
About the policy
Under the Employee benefits and entitlements policy, the department is committed to providing attractive benefits and entitlements for all employees by providing eligible employees appointed to a new location with applicable compensation where they are required to move residence to take up the position.
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Commercial accommodation | All accommodation in hotels, motels, guest houses, boarding houses, self-contained serviced flats, caravans and cabins. |
| Dependent child | Any child that is part of a family:
|
| Dependent relative | A person who is:
|
| Excess rent | Rent in excess of the officer's weekly contribution. |
| Household | The transferred officer, partner and any dependent children and dependent relatives. |
| iSeries | A database that holds staff records of position numbers, details, funding, staff details, and role assignments. |
| Location | The location of the transferred officer's workplace, college, campus or institute. |
| Partner | The spouse or de-facto spouse of a transferred officer. |
| Privately owned accommodation | A place where a transferred officer is staying in a private residence with the owner and/or occupiers of that residence, or as a tenant. |
| Transferred officer | Someone who has been assigned to a new location outside of the Sydney metropolitan area for an indefinite period of time. Due to this assignment, the officer needs to leave their current home and find or move to a new residence. |
Recruitment officers:
- identify teachers that are eligible for transferred officers’ compensation (TOC)
- maintain accurate records of the eligibility process.
Shared Services team:
- process the list of eligible teachers provided by recruitment teams
- email eligible teachers to share the determination and claim forms
- receive and process TOC claims.
Permanent teachers:
- once TOC eligibility has been determined, engage removalists and provide supporting information to the department.
What needs to be done
These procedures outline requirements for the transferred officers’ compensation (TOC) determination as per the Teaching Services Act 1980 and the Technical and Further Education Commission Act 1990.
1. Determine eligibility of transferred officers
Recruitment officers must determine the eligibility of transferred officers for transferred officers compensation (TOC).
1.1 Identify teachers who may be eligible for TOC
When appointing an existing permanent teacher to a new permanent position, recruitment officers must complete an initial assessment of their eligibility for TOC against the eligibility criteria listed in section 1.2 below.
If the teacher appears to be eligible, recruitment officers must notify the teacher they may be eligible for TOC, subject to a full assessment.
1.2 Perform full TOC eligibility assessment
Before eligible teachers can receive TOC, they must meet the TOC determination eligibility criteria, as outlined in this section.
Recruitment officers must:
- assess teachers against the criteria listed below
- note the assessment results in the SharePoint Excel spreadsheet. The Teacher Recruitment Support Lead will verify the eligibility outcome
- add eligible teachers to systems to notify the Shared Services team and Move Dynamics.
To determine whether transferred officers meet the eligibility criteria, recruitment officers must:
- review the method through which the teacher was appointed to their new school (which category of transfer)
- compare this to their service history (how long they worked in their previous position).
Method of appointment
A ‘transferred officer’ is an officer assigned to a new, long-term location beyond the Sydney metropolitan area, which would require them to change residences.
Transferred officers may include:
- promoted officers (such as teachers relocating due to promotion)
- school teachers (nominated transfers).
The following are not considered transferred officers:
- officers in their initial job
- those re-employed
- those transferred at their own request, via job swap, or due to misconduct, except when explicitly allowed.
Service history
Officers transferred under their own request or through position exchange are only considered transferred officers if they have served at least one of the following:
- 2 years in a declared living allowance district
- 3 years in a Schedule B area
- 5 years in any other similar institution.
For further details, refer to the Determination under Teaching Services Act 1980 and under Technical and Further Education Commission Act 1990 – Transferred officers compensation (PDF 97 KB).
Review the travel distance (using Google Maps) between the teacher's current home address and their new school to determine whether they meet the eligibility criteria.
For the teacher to be eligible:
- the travel distance must exceed 50km
- the 2 schools (the new and previous schools) cannot both be located within the Sydney metropolitan area.
2. Process transferred officers compensation claims
The Shared Services team will, as outlined in this section:
- process eligible teachers
- process claims and expenses.
The Shared Services team:
- receive a list of eligible teachers
- notify appropriate teams within HR Shared Services to initiate claims with eligible teacher
- record their correspondence
- review and process quotes for relocation
- process and approve purchase orders in response to vendor invoices and payment requests
- track the status of relocations, vendor invoices and payments.
- maintain records for FBT and auditing purposes.
The Shared Services team:
- receive completed Claims Forms from teachers
- review the claim, expenses and determine the compensation amount
- attach the completed worksheet to systems
- complete an Expense Claim (or ‘Special Payment Request’) form based on the review outcome
- forward the Expense Claim form and all supporting documents to the Finance team for payment arrangement
- advise the teacher of claim outcome and breakdown of reimbursement to be paid.
3. Arrange and claim removal expenses
After the department has determined TOC eligibility, the transferred officer:
- may contact Move Dynamics on 1800 600 925 to arrange for a removalist
- must apply for a vendor number using the Request to create employees as suppliers (vendors) (staff only) (PDF 134 KB)
- must return the relevant claim form to the Shared Services Team.
The transferred officer may need to provide supporting documentation such as receipts, lease agreements, contracts for sale, market appraisals or home insurance policies.
Refer to the:
- Claim form for conveyancing and associated costs (staff only) (PDF 269 KB)
- Claim form for costs other than conveyancing and removalists (staff only) (PDF 185 KB)
4. Benefits available to eligible transferred officers
Transferred officers are entitled to special leave allowances, as well as the payment of a depreciation and disturbance allowance and a school uniform allowance.
They are also entitled to the payment of costs associated with:
- the removal of personal and household effects
- furniture storage
- temporary rental accommodation
- travel, meals and accommodation
- the education of children in Year 12
- the sale of residence at their former location, or the purchase of a residence at the new location if they do not own a property at their former location
- purchasing a new residence, or land on which to erect a residence.
For more detailed information on these benefits, refer to the Transferred Officers Compensation Information Kit (staff only) (PDF 582 KB).
To make a claim, refer to the:
- Claim form for conveyancing and associated costs (staff only) (PDF 269 KB)
- Claim form for costs other than conveyancing and removalists (staff only) (PDF 185 KB).
Record-keeping requirements
Recruitment officers must maintain accurate records throughout the eligibility determination process.
Mandatory tools and templates
- Claim form for conveyancing and associated costs (staff only) (PDF 269 KB)
- Claim form for costs other than conveyancing and removalists (staff only) (PDF 185 KB)
- Request to create employees as suppliers (vendors) (staff only) (PDF 134 KB)
- Determination under Teaching Services Act 1980 and under Technical and Further Education Commission Act 1990 – Transferred officers compensation (PDF 97 KB)
Supporting tools, resources and related information
Policy contact
Teacher recruitment team
teacherrecruitment@det.nsw.edu.au
EDConnect, HR Shared Services
1300 32 32 32
The Executive Director, Employee Relations monitors the implementation of this procedure, regularly reviews its contents to ensure relevance and accuracy, and updates it as needed.