Supportive Empathetic Accountable Honest
Recruitment Policy
Version 2.0
Author - Linda Pietrzyk (Operations Manager)
Review Date – 21st June 2024
Review Due – 21st june 2025
Table of Contents
Introduction
Equality, Diversity and Inclusion
Recruitment Authorisation
Job Descriptions
Recruitment Interviews
Offer of Employment
References
Qualification Certificates
Work Permits and Illegal Working
Personnel Records
Complaints Procedure
Interview Questions Template
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Introduction
Effective and consistent recruitment practices are essential to ensure that all applicants are treated fairly and with equality of opportunity alongside ensuring that the people we support are appropriately safeguarded.
The recruitment process must result in the selection of the most suitable person for the job in respect of skills, qualities, experience and qualifications. To this end, SEAH will recruit candidates who are most suited to the position in question and comply with its Equality, Diversity and Inclusion and Safeguarding Policies at all times.
This Policy defines the principles that SEAH considers important in the recruitment process and aims to ensure that consistency and good practice is applied across the organisation.
This Policy incorporates and adheres to The Equality Act 2010, The Immigration Act 2016, The Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974, The Code of Practice for Disclosure and Barring Service Department of Health 2015 and The General Data Protection Regulation Act 2018.
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Equality, Diversity and Inclusion
It is against SEAH’s Equality, Diversity and Inclusion 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 or needs.
All employees are required to comply with the requirements of the Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Policy at every stage of the recruitment process including production of job descriptions, advertising material, shortlisting of applications, interviewing, selection decisions and offers of employment.
SEAH will treat all job applicants in the same way at each stage of the recruitment process and no judgement or decision will be made based on assumption.
Any employee who is found to be discriminating in any way during the recruitment process will be subject to the disciplinary procedure and may be liable to dismissal.
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Recruitment Authorisation
Before any jobs are advertised, the Managing Director or Operations Manager must first authorise the position that is required and specify the requirements of the post that needing filling.
Those involved in the recruitment process must ensure that correct authorisation has been given before starting the recruitment process.
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Job Descriptions
Once authorisation has been obtained, a job description must be produced for the vacancy which provides a fair and accurate representation of the role.
The job description will describe the duties, responsibilities and management expectations of the position.
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Recruitment Interviews
The interview will focus on the needs of the job and skills needed to perform it effectively.
Any manager conducting recruitment interviews will ensure that the questions that they ask applicants are not in any way discriminatory or unnecessarily intrusive and follow SEAH’s interview question template.
After the interview, the candidate will be advised of how and when they will be informed of the outcome of the interview.
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Offer of Employment
Any applicant needs to be approved by the Managing Director or Operations Manager and is subject to successful references, employment checks and an Enhanced DBS being obtained in respect of the candidate.
An offer should be made in writing to the candidate and the following details completed by the candidate and provided to SEAH- using the New Starter Enrolment Form.
To enable an Enhanced DBS to be completed the necessary documents need to be provided to verify a DBS submission, as in the below link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/disclosure-and-barring-service.
The candidate is asked for their approval within the New Starter Enrolment Form- to cover the cost of the DBS check within their first month(s) wages.
If a candidate holds a Portable DBS – this needs to be checked against the DBS database and proof to be taken.
A copy of all qualifications need to be taken and the candidate enrolled on the mandatory training required by the Administration team. Commencement of employment will not begin until all mandatory courses are completed.
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References
All employment offers are conditional upon receipt of 2 employment references which are satisfactory. Should the applicant be unable to provide two employment references, then 3 references should be sought to include character references.
A five year checkable employment history must be given, unless the applicant has not been in employment for this period.
Details of referees are listed on the application form and referees will not be approached without the applicant’s permission.
References are collected by means of SEAH’s Enhanced Reference Request form online or through email.
References must be collated from an appropriate verified email source. If this is from an organisation or email address which is not verified or recognised, this must be followed with a telephone call verifying the referee.
References must include questions regarding the candidates conduct and ask specifically about any safeguarding concerns in respect of the candidate’s previous employment.
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Qualification Certificates
All applicants are required to provide evidence of qualifications in the form of original certificates, which will be copied and then returned.
If an applicant falsifies certificates or evidence of qualifications and this subsequently comes to the SEAH’s attention at any stage during employment, then the individual will be subject to disciplinary action and may be liable to dismissal.
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Work Permits and Illegal Working
It is against the law to employ a person who does not have permission to live and work in the UK. SEAH 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 successful candidate providing the required original documents showing evidence of their right to work in the UK- the Manager will check the necessary documents during the recruitment process.
All successful candidates will be required to provide evidence of one original piece of documentation from the list below once an offer of employment is 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 during an employee's employment that they do not have the right to work in the UK, SEAH 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.
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Personnel Records
Personnel records are held by the Office Administrators at Head Office. These records are kept securely behind SSL encrypted servers and all sensitive information is password protected and limited to the Managing Director, Operations Manager and Administrators only.
The following records are held:
These electronic records are held which enables information gathering and quick access to employee records. Employees will be asked annually to confirm the information we hold on them is correct.
At the point of start date, the formal employment contract will be issued, which outlines the employees Terms and Conditions.
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Complaints Procedure
Any applicants who consider that they have been unfairly treated or discriminated against during the recruitment process should write to the Managing Director stating the grounds of the complaint- they may also choose to use SEAH’s Compliments and Complaints Form which is accessible through many ways, such as email and online.
Any employee who wishes to complain about their experience of the recruitment process should do so by means of the Grievance Procedure.
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Interview Questions Template
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Interview Questions Template
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