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Recruitment and starting work

Recruitment and starting work

The basic principle that runs throughout employment law is that employers must act demonstrably fairly and without prejudice at all times. During recruitment, on boarding, and induction process’s, this should always be at the forefront of your mind.

In the section of the course, you will focus on the responsibilities of employers, HR, and employees during the recruitment and induction process.

Topics to be covered

  • Protected characteristics
  • Discrimination
  • Advertising jobs
  • Shortlisting
  • Interviewing
  • Right to work
  • Copying documents
  • When to contact the home office
  • Disclosure and barring service
  • Induction processes

Protected characteristics

No unlawful discrimination can occur at any stage in the recruitment process on the grounds of protected characteristics.

The nine protected characteristics of the equality act 2010 are:

  • Page
  • Disability
  • Gender reassignment
  • Marriage and civil partnership
  • Pregnancy and maternity
  • Race
  • Religion and beliefs
  • Sex
  • Sexual orientation

Discrimination

There are four categories of discrimination all of which are actionable in civil court: direct discrimination, indirect discrimination, harassment, And victimisation.

Discrimination is direct when someone treats, or proposes to treat, someone unfavourably because of a characteristic protected by law. Discrimination is indirect when there is a practice, policy, or rule that applies to everyone in the same way but has a worse effect on some people than others.

You also cannot discriminate against someone because of their relationship with a protected individual. This is actionable in court and is known as discrimination by association.

In the Coleman V Attridge law Case in 2008. Sharon Coleman successfully claims suit for associated discrimination. Coleman had a disabled child and required flexible working hours. Attridge law refused Coleman the same flexible hours as parents whose children were not disabled and dismissed her.

Advertising jobs

To avoid discriminating:

  • Adverts must not specify a protected characteristic, for example, recruiting from a particular ethnic origin or favouring candidates of a certain sexual orientation.
  • Adverts should include requirements for educational attainment where it is required for the role.
  • It is advisable to advertise in places and magazines, etc, that are not targeted towards a gender specific audience, for example women’s magazines.

You may, however, be selective in a job advert if the specification is central to the position and the role could not be completed suitably without that criteria. For example, advertising for a female Muslim doctor for a FGM clinic that is specifically for Muslim women, in order to make service users feel safer and to improve the likelihood of them seeking help.

Job advertisements should include a job description and person specification. The job description should include the main purpose of the job, essential tasks, and the scope of the role.

The person specification should not include any discriminate requirements, it’s good practice to include only what is required for the role, including:

  • Skills and knowledge, such as veterinary nurse qualifications
  • Experience for example, a minimum of two years experience in a small animal work
  • Aptitudes, for example, good Job advertisements should include a job description and person specification. The job description should include the main purpose of the job, essential tasks, on the scope of the role.
  • Personal qualities, like being good at working as part of a team

Job specifications Must only ask for specific qualifications if they are needed for the role.

Shortlisting

When organizing a list of candidates to interview you should:

  • Avoid discrimination
  • Set a list of criteria which demonstrably relate to the job
  • Ensure that those who are tasked in shortlisting have sufficient knowledge of appropriate equality legislation
  • Have at least two people involved in the shortlisting process. Small businesses can allow one person to shortlist.
  • Keep a record of the decisions you take – you might be asked to disclose these after the process is finished.
  • Mark each candidate fairly and objectively in respect of each criterion.

Interviewing

Before the interview, ask the Candidate if there are any reasonable adjustments they need to attend the interview.

To begin the interview, it can be helpful to give the candidate an outline of the company, the job, and if appropriate, a brief outline of what they can expect from the interview.

You should also:

  • Use open questions which prompt conversations
  • Keep conversations relevant to the job
  • Refrain from asking personal questions which could be considered discriminatory
  • Allow candidates sufficient time to answer and ask questions

If you are scoring candidate or keeping notes, be aware that these could be disclosed after the process has been completed.

It is also good practice to end the interview by telling them when they will hear from you about the job to inform them that, if they are successful, you will undertake pre-employment checks before entering into a contract of employment with them.

 

Right to work

You must always check that the person you are going to employee has the right to work in the UK and that the documents are valid.

If you employ someone that you know does not, or if you have reasonable cause to believe that they do not, have the right to work in the UK, you could be sentenced to a term of imprisonment not exceeding five years and subject to an unlimited fine.

You could commit an offense if you have any reason to believe that:

  • The employees permission had expired
  • The employee is not permitted to do certain types of work
  • The employee has incorrect Papers
  • The employee didn’t have permission to enter or remain in the UK

There is a civil penalty for failure to check documents or failure to check them properly or promptly. This could result in a fine of up to 20,000 pounds for each illegal worker.

To check that someone has the right to work in the UK:

You must see the applicants original documents

With the applicant present, you must check that the documents are valid

You must make a copy of the documents and record the date that you made the check

There can be circumstances where an applicant will have documents showing different names, for example, where someone is divorced. In this case, make sure you also check the supporting documents which prove that the difference in the documents are both genuine.

When you are checking the documents you are trying to identify if the documents are genuine, original, unchanged, and belong to the person.

In order to check the Validity you must:

  • Check that the applicants permission to work in the UK has not expired
  • See if the documents have photos that are the same across all documents in the paragraph identify if the photos look like the applicant and that the date of birth is the same across all documents
  • Check if the documents give the applicant permission to do the type of work you are offering

If the applicant is a student, you must see evidence of this study and vacation times.

Copying documents

When taking a copy of the documents, you should use a photocopier and you should make sure you copy the whole document, make a record of the date the copy was taken, and sign it.

For passports, copy any page with the expiry date and applicants details, such as that date of birth, and copy pages which have endorsements, such as a work visa.

For biometric residence permits and residence cards in the biometric format, you should copy both sides.

You must retain copies of the documents during the course of the applicants employment and for two years after they stop working for you.

When to contact the home office

There may be circumstances when an applicant legitimately can’t show you the documents, for example, if they have an application in process with the home office or an outstanding appeal.

If this is the case you must contact the home office, who can check the employment status of the applicant.

If the applicant is permitted to Work in the UK, the home office will provide you with a positive verification notice to confirm that the applicant has the right to work. You must keep this document.

You must contact the home office in the following circumstances:

  • The applicant shows you an application registration card
  • The applicant provides a certificate of application that is less than six months old
  • You are reasonably satisfied that they cannot show you the documents because of an outstanding appeal, administrative review, or application with the home office.

Disclosure and Barring service

For some jobs, such as safeguarding roles and working with children and vulnerable adults, you will need the applicant to be checked with the disclosure and barring service (DBS).

If an applicant has an online DVS, they can give the prospective employer the option of checking this online. Otherwise, DBS checks usually take about eight weeks to process and return but they can take considerably longer. There are three types of DBS checks:

  • Standard-this checks for spent and unspent convictions, cautions, reprimands, and final warning ‘s.
  • Enhanced-this is the standard check plus any additional information held by local police which is reasonably considered relevant to the role applied for.
  • Enhanced with list checks – this is like the enhanced check but it includes a check of the barred lists

To obtain a DBS check:

  • The employer gets an application form from the DBS or a registered body that gives access to DBS checks
  • The employer gives the applicant The form to fill in and return to them, along with documents proving their identity
  • The employer sends the completed application form to the DBS or their umbrella body

Alternatively, the DBS can send a certificate to the applicant and the employer has to ask the applicant to see the certificate.

Induction processes

It’s important to have a thorough and documented induction process. In some circumstances, errors could end up as part of a performance or disciplinary process and, ultimately, at unemployment tribunal. Here are the checks to make during an induction process:

  • Has the responsible person and explain to the new employee how their job and roll fits into the company and its wider vision and goals?
  • Has the responsible person and explain to the employee the companies and departments expectations about performance?
  • On the employees first day, has HR or the responsible person confirmed when the person will be paid and how, It’s important to have a thorough and documented induction process. In some circumstances, errors could end up as part of a performance or disciplinary process and, ultimately, at unemployment tribunal. Here are the checks to make during an induction process:
  • Has the employee been briefed on health and safety at the earliest opportunity?
  • Has the employee been told about the training they can expect during the induction process and after?
  • Have you confirmed that the employee understands the contract of employment?

Furthermore:

  • Has the responsible person told the new employee about the companies terms and conditions and any trade union or other employee representation?
  • Has the employee been informed about hours, breaks, and holidays, facilities, pension arrangements, paternity, maternity, and shared leave sick pay, notice periods, and line management arrangements?
  • Has the employee been given access to information about company policies where appropriate? Including, but not limited to, performance, discipline, whistleblowing, bullying, harassment, smoking, Internet access, data protection, health and safety, grievance, and safeguarding policies?
  • Finally has the employee received a written copy of their terms and conditions within two months starting the job?

Summary

  • During the recruitment and induction process, employees should store and retain documents in case they are asked to demonstrate that the process and decisions have been demonstrated Lee fair, reasonable, and without bias.
  • You must Always check that the person you are going to employee has the right to work in the UK and that the documents are valid.
  • You must date and sign the documents once you have taken copies and confirmed that they are valid.
  • The next module looks at the employment contract between employer and worker and examines elements of the contract, such as working time regulations, flexible working and compressed hours, and pay.