Reallocation of public servants due to an outsourcing process: a case study in a Brazilian public university restaurant

Abstract Objective: to present and analyze an intervention undertaken to plan the reallocation of public servants replaced by an outsourcing process in a Brazilian public university restaurant. Methods: qualitative and descriptive study. We performed documentary and organizational analysis, carried out semi-structured interviews, and applied the Work Ability Index, in 33 employees, in 2016. Results: the gathering of information regarding the workers’ health status, and the analysis of the physical requirements for the envisaged tasks of the positions to be assumed, made it possible to adapt the reallocation to the new functions. It made also possible not to harm the displaced workers who already had medical restrictions, and ensure them with new functions that were compatible with their working ability, or to jeopardize the ones who remained in the original restructured activity. Conclusion: the study indicates that before carrying out reallocation it is important to analyse and understand the work produced by the individual and to involve all implicated actors in the adaptation process for the new roles.