Recruitment policy

It’s important that managers have guidelines when it comes to recruitment, so that they know the relevant procedure to be followed. Our recruitment policy also serves as a useful reminder to managers of their equal opportunities obligations during the recruitment process.

Recruitment procedure

Our Recruitment Policy sets out the procedure that managers should follow in recruiting a new employee, covering completion of a recruitment authorisation form, involving the Human Resources department, selecting candidates for interview, interviewing, keeping a record of interview and making offers of employment. The policy can also usefully be included as part of your Staff Handbook because it provides a commitment to staff to advertise vacancies internally as well as externally and it emphasises that the aim is always to recruit the best person for the job.

We’ve also included useful provisions on seeking references, verifying the information provided by a candidate in their CV or application form, carrying out background checks, competition law and the payment of travel expenses for attendance at interview.

Equality for all

All job applicants, both internal and external, are protected against discrimination on grounds of race, sex, sexual orientation, gender reassignment, pregnancy or maternity, married or civil partnership status, religion or belief, age and disability throughout every stage of the recruitment process. Managers should always ensure that no candidate is treated in a discriminatory way. Our policy emphasises that managers must follow the guidelines in the equality, diversity and inclusion policy statement at all stages of recruitment and selection. You’re also under a duty to make reasonable adjustments for disabled job applicants during the recruitment and selection process to ensure they’re not placed at a substantial disadvantage in comparison with non-disabled applicants. This might include, for example, making adjustments to interview arrangements and to any selection testing methods.

Data protection

Under the UK GDPR, a job applicant (whether successful or unsuccessful) may submit a data subject access request to you to obtain a copy of any personal data that you hold about them, for example, the selection or interview notes. Therefore, ensure that all interview notes are typed up as soon as possible afterwards, with any unnecessary scribbles removed. The manuscript notes can then be securely destroyed.