HUMAN RESOURCES RECRUITMENT POLICY User-group: All Staff Review Date: August 2018 Approved By: Executive Author: Helen Taylor Contact Person: HR Services Team, Ext 3193 Person Responsible: Head of Human Resources. 1 Introduction and Policy Statement 2 Scope 3 Principles 4 Process 5 Monitoring and Review 6 Further Information 1. Introduction and Policy Statement 1.1. Bradford College recognises its staff as being fundamental to its success. A strategic and professional approach to the recruitment process helps enable the College to attract and appoint staff with the necessary skills and attributes to fulfil its strategic aims, and support the College s values. 1.2. The College is committed to ensuring that the recruitment and selection of staff is conducted in a manner that is systematic, efficient and effective and promotes equality of opportunity. 1.3. Recruitment must be treated as a key public relations exercise as the way it is managed affects the College s image and consequently its ability to attract and appoint high calibre staff. 1.4. This policy has been designed to provide a flexible framework which promotes good practice, adopts a proactive approach to equality and diversity issues and supports fully the College s core business. 1.5. The guidelines have been designed to ensure that the College complies with all relevant legislation and any variation in practice must be discussed with your HR Business Partner or Head of Human Resources to minimise risk to the College. 1
2. Scope 2.1. This policy applies to the recruitment and selection of all staff to the College excluding senior post holders. 2.2. All College employees involved at any stage in the recruitment and selection of staff must adhere to the contents of this policy. In addition, any external consultants, recruitment agencies or external experts who assist in the recruitment and selection process must act in accordance with this policy. 3. Principles 3.1. The Chair of each panel must have attended the College s recruitment and selection training course. 3.2. The Chair of each panel is responsible for ensuring that all panel members act in accordance with this policy. 3.3. All employees involved in the recruitment process must be aware of their responsibilities under the relevant discrimination legislation. 3.4. If a member of staff involved in the recruitment process has a close personal or family relationship with an applicant they must declare this as soon as they are aware of the individual s application. In this event it would normally be necessary for the member of staff to avoid any involvement in the recruitment and selection process. 3.5. The College adheres to the DWP disability symbol where if an applicant who has a recognised disability applies for a vacancy and meets the essential criteria they will be short listed for an interview. 3.6. Documents relating to applicants will be treated with the utmost confidentiality and in accordance with the Data Protection Act. Applicants will have the right to feedback and to access any documentation held on them in accordance with the Data Protection Act. 4. Process 4.1. When a vacancy arises it is the responsibility of the manager in conjunction with their HR Business Partner to review the vacancy and to assess whether recruitment is the appropriate solution. This review should include consideration of alternative methods of covering the duties and responsibilities and should be in line with the area s strategic plan and budget. 4.2. If a decision is made to recruit, the manager must review the post and amend/update any duties, responsibilities and reporting channels as required, revising or preparing the job description and person specification as appropriate. Care must be taken to avoid including criteria which may have the effect of indirectly discriminating against groups of applicants. Guidance and templates are available from the Human Resources Team. 4.3. All vacancies, with the exception of part-time hourly paid lecturing vacancies, must be submitted to the SCCG for approval before any further action is 2
taken. This applies to all new and replacement posts. Managers must complete a Business Case and submit online. 4.4. All vacant positions will be advertised internally and if necessary externally. Where the College has a duty to seek suitable alternative employment for an existing member of staff, for example in a redundancy situation, the vacancy will normally be ring fenced for an agreed period and will not be advertised in the first instance. Where at risk employees have not expressed an interest in the role, the vacancy will then be circulated to the Shared Vacancy Pool partners for a period of 5 days. If there are no expressions of interest from the Shared Vacancy Pool, the position will then be advertised externally using the College website and any other appropriate media. Advertisements will normally be published a minimum of 7 days prior to the closing date. 4.5. Positions will be advertised using the most appropriate and cost effective medium to maximise the number of suitably qualified candidates. Internet job sites are the preferred advertising medium. Press advertising may be used with the authorisation of the Head of Human Resources. A local, national or specialist publications will be sought. Normally no more than one publication will be used. 4.6. Advertisements must adhere to the College s visual identity guidelines and will indicate the College s commitment to equal opportunities and safeguarding. 4.7. All advertisements will be placed and monitored by the Human Resources Team. 4.8. All applicants will be treated fairly, with respect and courtesy, aiming to ensure that the candidate s experience is positive, irrespective of the outcome. All applicants will be provided with sufficient information to make informed decisions regarding their suitability for the role. To this end, relevant background information may be helpful and must be included in the job details for the post. 4.9. All applicants must complete the College s standard application form, CVs will not be accepted, and supporting information will only be accepted if submitted along with a completed form. 4.10. The selection process will be: transparent, timely and cost effective equitable free from conflict of interest 4.11. All recruitment will be based on agreed job descriptions and person specifications. Recruitment and selection must be conducted as an evidencebased process and candidates will be assessed against agreed selection criteria, based on relevant knowledge, skills, competencies, experience and qualifications to perform the role as outlined in the person specification. All decisions must be recorded. 4.12. Short listing will be undertaken by at least two individuals who are involved in the interviewing process. In accordance with best practice applicants at short 3
listing stage will be identified by an applicant ID number only. The panel will then be provided with the applicant s full names before interviews take place. These will normally be conducted by two people and the same people must conduct all interviews for the post. In composing short listing and interview panels the College will make every effort to comply with its commitment to the Equality and Diversity policy. 4.13. Any skills test (e.g. presentations, in-tray exercises, testing, etc.) must be directly related to the role and measured against objective criteria. The same people must assess any test for one post. Candidates will be given reasonable notice of the details of any skills test and this will usually happen when they are invited for interview. 4.14. Should a short listed candidate request an alternative interview date and/or time to the one allocated, the Chair of the interview will make a reasonable effort to accommodate this request. 4.15. Interview questions must relate to the job requirements as exemplified in the person specification and the candidate s suitability for the position. The person specification will be used as the basis for determining the interview questions. 4.16. During the interview panel members must investigate with the candidate any gaps in employment as detailed on the application form and assess the candidate s understanding of Equal Opportunities through questioning. In accordance with Safeguarding regulations all interviewees must be asked compulsory safeguarding questions which are provided on the interview template sent to the Chair of the Panel prior to the interview. 4.17. Under provisions in the Equality Act 2010, the panel must not ask any general questions relating to candidates health or previous attendance at work before a job offer is made. If the panel wishes to ask questions regarding health/attendance (for example if an intrinsic part of the job requires a significant amount of manual handling) they must seek guidance from their HR Business Partner in advance. Once a job offer has been made the panel may wish to ensure that someone s health or disability would not prevent them from doing the job or whether reasonable adjustments would enable the candidate to do the job, again the panel must discuss this with their HR Business Partner. 4.18. Notes regarding all decisions will be made by a minimum of one panel member at all stages of the selection process and will be returned to the Human Resources Team in the recruitment file. 4.19. In the event that a candidate requests feedback on their performance via the Human Resources Team, this request will be passed to the Chair of the interview panel. The Chair will arrange to provide feedback, although he/she may delegate this duty to another panel member where appropriate. All feedback will be given verbally. Internal candidates who are unsuccessful at the short listing stage will be sent a letter offering a feedback service. 4.20. The choice of appointee will be determined by the majority view of the interview panel based on the procedures above. 4
4.21. At the end of the recruitment process all records will be completed and handed to the Human Resources Team who will retain them for at least six months in case of requests for feedback or the threat of litigation. 4.22. The Human Resources Team will make all verbal and written offers of employment. All offers are conditional upon receipt of satisfactory references, medical assessment, qualification checks, evidence of the employee s right to work in the UK, List 99 check and any other appropriate pre-employment checks, including Disclosure and Barring Service checks. 4.23. In accordance with employment legislation, appointments will only be offered on a fixed term basis where objective grounds exist for not making the appointment permanent. 4.24. The Human Resources Team will keep line managers informed of the progress of pre-employment checks in order to determine a suitable start date and for the line manager to make the necessary arrangements for the induction of the new starter. 4.25. In the event that the successful candidate for the job leaves the role within 3 months or does not start, a reserve candidate (if applicable) can be offered the job subject to satisfactory pre-employment checks. 5. Monitoring and Review 5.1. In order to monitor compliance with and the effectiveness of the College s Recruitment and Selection and Equal Opportunities Policies a member of the Human Resources Team may be invited to or elect to be present at any stage of the recruitment process. 5.2. Reports on trends and statistics relating to recruitment and appointments will be provided to the Equality and Diversity Operations committee and Corporation. 6. Further Information For further advice and information on this policy please contact the Human Resources Team. RELATED POLICIES: APPENDICES: Equality & Diversity Policy Data Protection Policy Induction Policy Recruitment of Overseas Workers Policy Criminal Records Bureau Policy None 5