Fair Recruitment and Selection Procedure

FAIR RECRUITMENT AND SELECTION PROCEDURE

INTRODUCTION

The Fair Recruitment and Selection Procedure is a fundamental part of the City Council’s commitment to equal opportunities in employment. It sets out what should happen throughout the end to end recruitment process. The procedure exists to ensure that the best person for the job is appointed and that our processes comply with employment legislation therefore resulting in the elimination of any potentially discriminatory practices. All recruitment actions and decisions should be taken in accordance with this procedure.

Anyone who is involved in any stage of the recruitment process must demonstrate a clear understanding of this procedure. In addition to this procedure, a Recruitment & Selection training programme exists and at least one member of the selection panel must have attended this programme who will lead on the recruitment (normally the recruiting manager). Should a panel not contain an accredited member, please visit the Learning and Development I-Learn Intranet site where future course dates and registration instructions can be found. If the recruitment of a new staff member cannot wait until a panel member is accredited, then an alternative manager who has attended the training will need to be sourced to oversee the recruitment process.

For each recruitment case, a Resourcing case manager from the Human Resource and Payroll Service (HR&P) will be assigned to co-ordinate each stage of the recruitment process and offer advice and guidance throughout.

Equality Act 2010

The Equality Act 2010 brings together lots of different legislation to make equality law simpler and easier to understand and covers the following:

·  age

·  disability

·  gender reassignment

·  marriage and civil partnership

·  pregnancy and maternity

·  race

·  religion or belief

·  sex

·  sexual orientation

These are known as ‘protected characteristics’ and will be referred to throughout this document. For further guidance on the Equality Act and its implications throughout the recruitment process, please see the HR & Payroll Intranet site.

WHEN A VACANCY ARISES

A vacancy may arise for the following reasons:

·  An employee leaves

·  A requirement to create a new position due to increased workload / service review

An Employee Leaves the Organisation

An employee may leave the organisation for a variety of reasons. For example, they may retire or leave to take up other employment. It is important to hold an exit interview to discover if there are any underlying reasons for leaving the City Council. Not only does this help to maintain goodwill (and retain the City Council’s reputation) but it also helps to highlight any internal issues (such as pay levels, working conditions or recruitment shortages) which may be able to be resolved before recruitment to replace the individual commences, thus aiding retention in the future.

The line manager should conduct the exit interview (unless the employee specifically requests that other arrangements be made). In such circumstances, a manager at the same or the next level should conduct the interview. The information gathered should be analysed and action taken if appropriate. For further guidance, please visit the Exit Interviews page on the HR & Payroll Intranet site.

Creation of a new position within the team

If following a service review an additional position is required within a particular service, steps need to be taken to ensure that this position is created within the establishment (within Oracle).

·  A Delegated Powers Report should be completed and forwarded to the relevant Assistant Director (AD) or above for approval.

·  Following approval, an ER Advisor Request Form should be submitted to request the assistance of an ER Advisor to guide managers through the position creation process.

For new posts, only when a position has been created within the establishment can the recruitment process commence.

JOB ANALYSIS

Prior to committing to filling a vacancy a manager should:

·  Determine whether the vacancy should be filled at all i.e.:

o  Consider how long that the post has been vacant – has workload decreased? Have the team been able to maintain standards without being overworked?

o  If so, consult Employee Relations using the ER Advisor Request Form to discuss commencement of a service review.

·  Consider whether the duties of the position have changed and review and update the Job Description and Person Specification (if applicable). Please have consideration for current employment legislation i.e. age regulations where reference to a specific number of years experience is no longer permitted. For further guidance on writing effective job descriptions and person specifications contact HR&P.

·  Determine when a vacancy should be filled (i.e. immediately, 3 months, 6 months). A post should not go to advert if any delays are envisaged in filling a vacancy as approvals are only valid for a 3 month period.

·  Confirm the grade (based on any changes to duties and/or feedback obtained from exit interview). If changes to grade are required, please consult Employee Relations using the ER Advisor Request Form who will co-ordinate the re-grading process (if applicable).

·  Ensure that the position to be advertised matches exactly the vacant position that appears within the Oracle system. If the post differs, this will delay the recruitment process unless the relevant structure amendments are made beforehand with the Employee Relations Team.

·  Determine whether the post is subject to Disclosure (and if so, record this on the job description, person specification and advert). For further information regarding CRB Disclosures, please visit the CRB pages on the HR & Payroll Intranet site.

·  Consider whether the position could be attached to an Apprenticeship Framework and offered as an Apprenticeship. Further guidance on Apprenticeship Frameworks and Apprentice posts is available from the Workforce Strategy (Employment Initiatives) Team.

APPROVAL TO FILL A VACANCY

Please note that this process applies to all secondments, permanent and fixed term appointments (including any externally funded posts).

From time to time, approval requirements will be altered therefore please see the ‘Filling a Vacancy’ pages of the HR & Payroll Intranet site before submitting vacancy documentation for details of current approval requirements.

The minimum approval required to fill vacancies is completion of all standard documentation and confirmation of approval from the relevant Assistant Director (AD) which should be sent to the Fill a Vacancy mailbox. Standard documentation includes:

·  Advert template (Microsoft Word and e-form versions)

·  Job Description and Person Specification

·  Request to Fill

·  Delegated Powers Report (if a new post). Please note that new posts must also be submitted to the Job Evaluation Team in the first instance.

All forms required during the recruitment process are available on the ‘Forms’ page of the HR & Payroll Intranet site. All forms must be fully completed as incomplete submissions will delay the process.

Once the relevant AD approval to fill has been sought, on receipt of all documentation, the vacancy will be allocated to a Resourcing case manager to co-ordinate the process from start to finish.

Please see the ‘Filling a Vacancy’ pages of the HR & Payroll Intranet site for vacancy submission deadlines.

ADVERTISING A VACANCY

The City Council’s approach is that all jobs will be advertised internally

and/or externally subject to the redeployment process being completed. Cost and effectiveness will influence choice of placing adverts but the application of the City Council’s equal opportunities policy is an important factor to ensure that the widest and most appropriate audience is reached. At a minimum, external advertisements will appear on the Liverpool City Council corporate website, Intranet site and Jobcentre Plus. Jobcentre Plus is used to ensure that sufficiently targeted advertising has taken place to attract applicants from the EU (known as a Resident Labour Market Test). Only once this test has been applied can migrant workers be employed. For further details in relation to employing migrant workers, please see the Migrant Workers page of the HR&P Intranet site.

Consideration should also be given to the following advertising mediums:

·  Websites / job-boards – research shows that the majority of job-seekers today are using websites and job-boards to search for vacancies. Although consideration needs to be given to those who may for whatever reason, not have internet access.

·  Local and / or national newspapers – these are still popular despite the increase in web-based job searches. They ensure that those without the internet still have the opportunity to access City Council vacancies and depending on the type of vacancy, could be more successful than web-based adverts.

·  Professional journals – are particularly useful for specialised roles i.e. Social Workers, Finance professionals amongst others.

·  Periodicals that serve minority groups – ensure minority groups have equal access to vacancies.

The use of employment agencies to fill vacancies will only be permitted under exceptional circumstances.

The text in adverts should be clear and unambiguous. On all occasions advertisements should not be discriminatory, offensive or in anyway off-putting to any person or group. Managers should pay particular attention to the quality and presentation of the advertisement to avoid unnecessary delays in publication.

For further advice on writing or placing adverts, visit the ‘Advertising a Vacancy’ page on the HR&P Intranet site or contact the relevant Resourcing case manager.

Genuine Occupational Qualifications

For some roles, a specific requirement may be necessary; whereas to request it under ordinary circumstances would be in breach of employment legislation. These requirements are known as ‘protected characteristics.’

The Equality Act recognises that to have a protected characteristic may in some limited circumstances be a real asset for some jobs. If managers decide to use Genuine Occupational Qualifications (GOQ) they must show that the job holder concerned will be providing intensive one to one support to people with the same protected characteristic e.g. requirement to have a female hostel worker in a female only hostel.

If a post is covered by a GOQ this must be stated in the advert to make it clear that only applicants with the specific protected characteristic in question to be considered. The genuine occupational qualification requirement cannot be invoked once applications can be received.

INFORMATION TO CANDIDATES

As standard, the following information will be made available to candidates applying for a City Council vacancy regardless of their method of application:

·  Application Form (including Equal Opportunities Monitoring Form)

·  Guidance Notes for completing the application form

·  Job Description

·  Person Specification

·  Terms and Conditions of Employment (including brief details of the Job Evaluation process and the possibility of a change to the salary indicated)

·  Vision, Aims, Values and Principles of Liverpool City Council

·  Recruitment of Ex-Offenders Statement

Any variation to this pack should be agreed by prior arrangement with the Human Resource & Payroll Service. As a general rule this will only be considered for PO6 appointments and above. In such circumstances, sufficient copies of any additional information must be provided before the advert is placed. Cost implications of providing any additional information should be considered from the outset.

If an applicant requires further information or discussion about the post, they will be referred to a nominated Contact Officer. This may not be a member of the recruitment panel but another team member who is impartial to the selection process with sufficient knowledge of the role being advertised.

Receipt of Completed Application Forms

For consistency, only the City Council’s application form should be used for all posts (except in exceptional circumstances such as ‘expressions of interest’ for internal secondments and must be agreed in advance with HR&P).

On receipt of a completed application form to HR&P, date of receipt and candidate details, (including monitoring information) will be logged.

The line manager will be notified of any late applications received in HR&P. The decision to accept late applications should be taken on a case by case basis and consistency must be maintained. However, these should only be accepted up until the short list has been finalised.

Equality monitoring is at the heart of the City Council’s equal opportunities policy and has to succeed in making the issues of equality a reality. All monitoring information in relation to job applicants will be to assist the City Council in equality monitoring.

THE SELECTION PANEL

The selection panel should consist of no less than two City Council representatives (wherever possible one being the line manager / supervisor) and no more than three.

All panel members must be familiar with the City Council’s fair recruitment and selection procedure and have read the relevant recruitment guidance notes on the City Council’s intranet.

At least one member of the panel must have completed the City Council’s Recruitment and Selection training programme and be accredited to participate in recruitment and selection process. If a request is submitted without this requirement being confirmed, the vacancy will be rejected until an accredited panel member is identified.

SHORT-LISTING

Following receipt of applications for a vacancy, the Resourcing case manager will collate all applications and distribute as follows:

Electronic applications: will be uploaded to Sharepoint and secure access granted in the form of a web link via e-mail to the recruiting manager.

Hard copy applications: the Resourcing case manager will alert the recruiting manager and these will need to be collected from HR&P.

Every applicant must be assessed consistently against the essential criteria identified on the person specification. The selection panel must look for relevant objective evidence on which to make a decision. Panel members must not use prior knowledge of an applicant (particularly internal applicants) when making their decision. Short-listing notes could be called upon in the future both for feedback purposes and/or to defend any claims made by unsuccessful candidates therefore must not contain subjective opinions.

Please note that under the Equality Act it is now illegal to use sickness as criteria when short-listing.

Where there is a Genuine Occupational Qualification (GOQ), the line manager must check all application forms for compliance with that aspect of the person specification.

If a panel member is aware that someone they are related to or know personally has applied for the job, he or she must declare it. Panel members must withdraw from the short-listing and interview process if they feel their knowledge of a candidate could prevent them from being objective.