Civil service reassignment of employee

Rule III of CSC Memorandum Circular No. 40, Series of 1998 (Revised Omnibus Rules on Appointments and Other Personnel Actions) includes reassignment in the enumeration of personnel movements that do not require the issuance of a new appointment, to wit:

SEC. 6. Other Personnel Movements. The following personnel movements which will not require issuance of an appointment shall nevertheless require an office order by duly authorized official.

a. Reassignment – movement of an employee from one organizational unit to another in the same department or agency which does not involve a reduction in rank, status or salary. If reassignment is without the consent of the employee being reassigned, it shall be allowed only for a maximum period of one year. Reassignment is presumed to be regular and made in the interest of public service unless proven otherwise or if it constitutes constructive dismissal.

Constructive dismissal exists when an employee quits his work because of the agency head’s unreasonable, humiliating, or demeaning actuations which render continued work impossible. Hence, the employee is deemed to have been illegally dismissed. This may occur although there is no diminution or reduction of salary of the employee. It may be a transfer from a position of dignity to a more servile or menial job.

No reassignment shall be undertaken if done indiscriminately or whimsically because the law is not intended as a convenient shield for the appointing/disciplining authority to harass or oppress a subordinate on the pretext of advancing and promoting public interest.

Reassignment of small salaried employees is not permissible if it causes significant financial dislocation.

Sufficient reasons to warrant the continued reassignment of the employee and performance of functions other than those attached to the position must be established. (Emphasis in the original; bold italics supplied.)

Section 10, Rule VII of the Omnibus Rules Implementing Book V of Executive Order No. 292, to wit: "Sec. 10. A reassignment is the movement of an employee from one organizational unit to another in the same department or agency which does not involve a reduction in rank, status or salary and does not require the issuance of an appointment."