Effective and consistent recruitment practices are essential to ensure that all applicants are treated fairly and with equality of opportunity.
This Recruitment Policy defines the principles that the Company considers important in the recruitment process and aims to ensure that good practice is applied consistently across the Company.
This Recruitment Policy covers all current employees and applicants for employment with the Company. The policy covers all internal and external recruitment.
2. Equality and Diversity in Recruitment
It is against the Company’s Equality and Diversity Policy to discriminate either directly or indirectly on the grounds of race, nationality, ethnic origin, gender, marital status, pregnancy, age, disability, sexual orientation, gender reassignment, ethnicity, cultural or religious beliefs. Reasonable adjustments to the recruitment process will be made to ensure that no applicant is disadvantaged because of their disability.
The Company will never exclude any candidate with a disability unless it is clear that the candidate is unable to perform a duty that is intrinsic to the role, having taken into account reasonable adjustments. Interviewers must only ask a candidate questions about their health where this is directly necessary for a particular role and, in any event, only once they have been shortlisted.
As required by the Equality Act 2010, additional support will be provided to disabled employees to ensure they are not subject to unlawful or less favourable treatment during the recruitment and selection process. Reasonable adjustments will be made to remove any barriers the employee faces during the process.
All employees are required to comply with the requirements of the Equality and Diversity Policy at every stage of the recruitment process including production of job descriptions, advertising material, instructions given to recruitment agencies, shortlisting of applications, interviewing, selection decisions and offers of employment.
3. Recruitment Authorisation
Any vacancy must be authorised by the Managing Partner before any attempt is made to fill the role.In making the request to the Managing Partner, consideration should be given as to whether the duties of a vacant role could be redistributed among the rest of the team or elsewhere in the Company.
4. Job Descriptions and Person Specifications
Once authorisation has been obtained, the recruiting manager must produce a job description for the vacancy which provides a fair and accurate representation of the role and follows the format which is laid out in the Job Description Form. The job description will include a clearly drafted person specification.
The job description will describe the duties, responsibilities and seniority of the post and the person specification will describe the qualifications, knowledge, experience, skills and competencies needed for the role to be carried out effectively.
The Job Description Form should be given to all candidates prior to interview to enable them to prepare adequately for the interview, which will improve the success of the interviewing process.
Particular care must be taken when producing job descriptions to ensure that unreasonable requirements are not placed on the job holder, which cannot be objectively justified and may unfairly disadvantage certain groups e.g. women, ethnic minorities, elderly or disabled persons.
5. Shortlisting
In order to shortlist candidates for interviews, the Company will:
Identify specific job-related criteria using the job description.
Match these criteria with those detailed in the candidate’s CV; and
Use this information to select which candidates will be invited for interview.
Candidates who apply for positions with the Company, whether through a direct advertisement or a recruitment agency, will be informed of the outcome of their application as quickly as possible.
6. Recruitment Interviews
The interview will focus on the needs of the job and skills needed to perform it effectively in accordance with the guidance.
Managers conducting recruitment interviews will ensure that the questions that they ask job applicants are not in any way discriminatory or unnecessarily intrusive. No assumptions will be made on the grounds of age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage or civil partnership, pregnancy or maternity, race, religion or belief, sex or sexual orientation
Sometimes, interviews may be held remotely via online video platform, such as Zoom or Microsoft Teams. Before the interview, the interviewer will provide the interviewee with details of how the interview will be conducted. The interviewer will also give the interviewee the opportunity to provide details of any reasonable adjustments that should be made or technological difficulties that they may encounter.
If it is necessary to use selection tests as part of the interview process, they will only relate to non-biased, genuine requirements of the job. Records of any testing undertaken will be retained for a period of one year.
7. Offer of Employment
Once the most appropriate candidate has been selected, this appointment needs to be approved by the Managing Partner and the terms and condition of the offer of employment must be confirmed by the Managing Partner.
In setting a starting salary, the Company must bear in mind the salary of existing employees in a similar role in order to ensure that inconsistencies are not created within the Company.
An offer should be made verbally to the candidate and, once agreed, a contract of employment must be raised and sent out with the offer letter.
8. Right to Work in the UK and Illegal Working
It is against the law for a Company to employ a person who does not have permission to live and work in the UK.The Company will not employ an individual unless they have a legal right to work in the UK.
All offers of employment will be subject to the individual providing the required original documents or the Company being able to carry out a check on the Home Office online right to work checking service, confirming their right to do the work. In order to enable the Company to conduct an online check, the individual must have shared their right to work details using the Home Office ‘Prove your right to work to an employer’ online service.
The requirement to prove a legal right to work in the UK will apply to every person who is offered employment with the Company, regardless of their race, nationality or ethnic or national origins.
If an applicant is not able to prove a legal right to work in the UK, then they will be advised to contact the Citizens Advice Bureau for further advice. In these circumstances, the employment offer will be put on hold while further checks are made.
In the event that an individual has time-limited permission to live and work in the UK, they must provide evidence of their renewed right to live and work in the UK at the expiry of the current permission.
If it becomes evident to the Company during the course of an employee’s employment that they do not have the right to work in the UK, the Company will, following an investigation into the circumstances and having established that the employee does not have the right to work in the UK, terminate the employee’s contract of employment.
If a line manager becomes concerned that an employee in their team or department is working in the UK illegally, they should report the matter to the Managing Partner, giving reasons for the concern. The Managing Partner will investigate the matter further.
9. References
Details of referees will usually be sought from an applicant once an offer of employment is made and referees will not be approached without the applicant’s permission.
References will usually be sought in writing and require that a standard reference form be completed. Details may be checked or clarified by telephone where necessary.
Any offer of employment will be conditional on references being satisfactory to the Company.
10. The Bribery Act
When recruiting for posts that may be vulnerable to bribery risks (such as roles in Purchasing, Marketing or Distribution), and subject to the requirements of the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974, the Company may need to carry out additional checks during the recruitment process.
These checks may include carrying out criminal record, bankruptcy and credit reference checks and/or taking up additional references.
11. Qualification Certificates
All applicants are required to provide evidence of qualifications, either in the form of original certificates, which will be copied and then returned, or photocopies. Confirmation will be sought from the relevant Examination Board if certificates cannot be produced.
The employment offer will be conditional upon valid evidence of qualification and the offer may be withdrawn if this is not supplied within a reasonable timescale.
If an applicant falsifies certificates or evidence of qualifications and this subsequently comes to the attention of the Company, at any stage during employment, then the individual will be subject to disciplinary action and may be liable to dismissal.
12. Complaints Prodecure
Any applicants who consider that they have been unfairly treated or discriminated against during the recruitment process should write to Andrew Haggard stating the grounds of the complaint. Any employee who wishes to complain about their experience of the recruitment process should do so by means of the Grievance Procedure.
