Workforce Management Statistics (WMS)

Appointments are the act of placing a person in a job or position. They include employees who were:

• appointed to another role in the organisation
• reappointed to the same role after a new recruitment process for that role
• employed in multiple roles and received a new contract for each
• on secondment
• appointed after completing an apprenticeship with the organisation.

NB: placing a casual or temporary employee multiple times does not count as separate appointments unless multiple new contracts were issued.

Appointments do not include employees who were:

• absorbed in an acquisition
• promoted to a new role in the organisation (this should be recorded in the 'promotions' section instead)
• changing their employment status, such as from part-time to full-time 
• temporarily filling a position and expected to return to their previous position, such as 'acting in a higher role'.

How to report internal appointments

• Internal appointments are those where an organisation fills a position from within its existing workforce, such as an internal recruitment process.
• Include all appointments from within the business, such as permanent appointments, fixed term transfers and secondments.
• Do not include in promotions, employees absorbed through acquisition, or employees who changed employment status (e.g. part-time to full-time or casual to permanent).

How to report external appointments

• External appointments are those where a position is filled from any suitable applicant outside the organisation, such as external recruitment exercises, cold canvassing, or previously submitted resumes.
• Enter the total number of external appointments made during the 12-month reporting period.

'Non-binary’ refers to people whose gender identity is neither female nor male. It is a term for any number of gender identities that sit within, outside of, across or between the spectrum of female - male binary. A non-binary person might identify as gender fluid, trans-masculine, trans-feminine, agender, or bigender.

Primary and secondary carers, on paid and/or unpaid parental leave are recorded in separate tables in the Workforce Management Statistics file. Paid parental leave includes both employer-funded paid parental leave and/or the government paid parental leave.

• A primary carer is the person who most meets the child's physical care and needs, including feeding, dressing, bathing and otherwise supervising the child in an age-appropriate manner.

• A secondary carer may be the current partner of the primary carer, the other legal parent of the child or the current partner of the other legal parent of the child. 

• Equally shared parental leave policies offer the same type, length and conditions to employees of all genders, who require parental leave, with no distinction between primary and secondary carers.

​​​​How to report employees on primary carer’s parental leave and equally shared parental leave

• Enter the total number of employees who were on primary carer's parental leave (paid or unpaid) during the 12-month reporting period.

• If you offer equally shared parental leave without using the primary/secondary carer definition, you should record employees on parental leave in the primary carer’s section.

• Include every employee who was on parental leave at any point in the reporting period. This includes employees who commenced parental leave both during and before the start of the reporting period. 

How to report employees on secondary carer’s parental leave

• Enter the total number of employees who were on secondary carer's parental leave (paid or unpaid) during the 12-month reporting period.

• Include every employee who was on parental leave at any point in the reporting period. This includes employees who commenced parental leave both during and before the start of the reporting period. 

• You must answer this question regardless of whether you provided employer-funded leave in addition to the government scheme.

• If you offer equally shared parental leave without using the primary/secondary carer definition, you should record all employees under primary carer’s leave section of the WMS.

A promotion is a permanent change when an employee:

• advances or rises to a higher office or rank on an ongoing basis or fixed-term contract

• is promoted from one managerial role to another

• does not return to their previous role.

A temporary change is not a promotion. For example, when an employee:

• transfers to a position of equal rank, even if their duties increase

• relocates to a higher role in an overseas office

• is appointed to a higher role but is meant to return to their previous role

• earns a salary raise.

The WMS requires employers to report on:

• all promotions that occurred in the 12 months period for each ABN in the submission and

• promotions from non-manager to manager.

How to report on promotions

• Enter the total number of promotions made during the 12-month reporting period.

• The promotion should be reported under the category that the person moved into.

How to report on promotions from non-manager to manager

• Enter the total number of promotions made during the 12-month reporting period.

• Promotions from non-manager to manager are a subset of the total number of promotions and therefore cannot exceed the number of promotions reported in Q 1.

• The promotion should be reported under the category that the person moved into.

A voluntary resignation is when an employee:

• gives up their employment voluntarily

• is on a fixed-term contract and ends their contract earlier than the agreed end date

• is employed in multiple roles and resigns from one or more, count each resignation separately.

For labour hire organisation, educational institutions, or other employers with casual or temporary employee pools, a voluntary resignation is when an employee:

• gives their employer a resignation notice

• informs their employer that they cannot accept any placements.

The following are not counted as voluntary resignations:

• retirement

• employer-initiated terminations or redundancies

 NB: If redundancies are offered on a voluntary basis (e.g., a voluntary redundancy program) and an employee chooses to take up this offer, this is still considered an employer-initiated redundancy and should not be counted as a voluntary resignation.

How to report voluntary resignations

• Enter the total number of voluntary resignations made during the 12-month reporting period.

Ceased employment on parental leave

This refers to any employee who exited the organisation for whatever reason, including resignations, redundancies and dismissals, during the 12-month reporting period, regardless of when the parental leave commenced.

• Include those where parental leave was taken continuously with any other leave type. For example, where annual leave or any other paid or unpaid leave is also taken at that time.

• Do not include employees who ceased employment after they returned from parental leave, even if they returned for just one day.