The Secretary General is responsible for the appointment and posting of staff in accordance with the requirements of the WSB.
The WSB seeks to recruit, hire and retain staff who possess the highest competence, merit, and integrity, taking into account the diversity of the Scout Movement.
As a general principle, the appointment of new staff shall be made on a competitive basis, following a public advertisement of the role. Any exceptions shall be decided by the Secretary General in consultation with the Senior Management Team.
Appointment shall not be granted to a person who bears any of the following relationships to a staff member: father, mother, son, daughter, brother, or sister.
The spouse of a staff member may be appointed provided that the spouse has been recruited through a competitive selection process and is fully qualified for the position, and provided that the person is not given any preference for appointment by virtue of the relationship to the staff member. The appointment of a spouse to a position should not cause any actual or perceived conflict of interest and should not report to the same line manager or be a line manager to the other.
Term of appointment
Staff shall be appointed for a fixed term where possible as specified in their employment contract, subject to relevant laws and regulations, and to a probationary period. The duration of the contract will be determine based on the nature of the role and the availability of funding, and the legal employment requirements in the country of posting.
Where possible, staff and their line manager will engage on a discussion regarding extension of a fixed-term contract within a period of 3 to 6 months prior to its expiry.
When any employment contract comes to an end, there is no obligation by the WSB to extend or renew the contract, regardless of the length of service by the staff member, unless otherwise mutually agreed and communicated.
Duty station
Staff are as part of their appointment allocated to a duty station, customarily a WSB Support Centre. In exceptional personal situations, staff may file a request to work for an extended period from a different duty station than the WSB Support Centre they are contracted from. Such request should be submitted to the SMT member of the team they are assigned to and will be assessed using the following criteria
- business continuity and needs of the organization
- feasibility of the role to be located outside of the contracted Support Centre
- specific conditions for that particular staff that led to the request (e.g. family, health, …)
- frequency of the required visits to the Support Centre from (noting travel costs to the normal duty station in such a situation are generally to be shouldered by staff)
The request will be reviewed by a panel composed by the SG, the SMT member concerned and the local HR, which will consider the following in its decision.
- an assessment of budget and work permit implications
- which allowances, if applicable, continue to be extended if the request is granted
- upon renewal of contract, or on a timeline agreed by the panel (whichever comes earlier), the arrangement will be reviewed and reconsidered according to the above criteria.
Obligation to supply information
On appointment, and periodically thereafter on request, staff shall promptly and accurately supply the local human resources team with any information that may be required to determine their status and entitlements, or to complete administrative arrangements in connection with their appointment, including any subsequent changes affecting their status or entitlements. Wherever possible by law, background screening shall be conducted as part of the recruitment process.
At any time during their appointment, staff may be required to supply information concerning facts related to their appointment and relevant to their employment by the WSB, and any facts relevant to their integrity, conduct, and service as staff.