Staff Matters

The main tribunal claims connected with recruitment are the various forms of discrimination: age, disability, race, religion or belief, sex and sexual orientation. Before drafting the wording of any advertisement, an employer needs to compose a job description and person specification, taking care to prevent any discriminatory elements. It can take time to draft the paperwork, but it is worth it.

The interviewer should prepare questions and topics for discussion in advance and aim to cover similar areas of questioning for all candidates. Common acronyms used in recruitment are the WASP and EARS approaches.

The WASP technique is to:

• welcome the applicant, and put him or her at ease;

• acquire relevant information – use this information to decide between candidates;

• supply information about the job, the team and the organisation; and

• part, explain what the next stage of the process will be at the end of the interview.

Sticking to this structure can assist the interviewer to remain in control of the interview.

The EARS technique can help the interviewer to acquire the relevant information:

• explore – ask the candidate open questions, and then probe for specific examples;

• active listening – the candidate may open up other topics for you to explore without prompting;

• reflect – repeat the information you are being given to ensure you have fully understood what the candidate is trying to tell you.

• summarise – to ensure the candidate does not want to add anything else, and you agree on what has been said.

Once you have found the best applicant for the job, you will need to make your job offer, which will have to be made subject to references, the checking of examination certificates, if appropriate, and documentation to show that the person has the right to work in the UK (such as a UK passport).

It is good practice to include two copies of the contract of employment with the job offer letter so that the applicant knows the terms and conditions of the employment right at the start, although  – in fact –  the minimum requirement of a written statement of employment particulars only needs to be provided within two months of the start of the employment. By providing two copies, you can ask the applicant to sign both, keep one for their own records and return the other to you.

Probationary periods

Before sending out the offer letter and the contract of employment, you may consider whether to include a probationary period. Although they have been used for many years, they offer the employer little legal protection today, because of the way employment law has developed. The probationary period will indicate to the employee that they are to be monitored and there may also be an expectation of extra training and supervision to learn the job. A probationary period can also be used to offer reduced terms and conditions, such as limited benefits and a shorter notice period during the trial.

A probationary period may not, however, enable an employer to dismiss more easily because the statutory protection, such as discrimination and unfair dismissal, still applies. Of course, in many situations, unfair dismissal cannot be claimed by an employee with less than a year’s service, but there are still plenty of instances where unfair dismissal can be claimed without that length of service. Common claims are for asserting the employee’s statutory rights under the Employment Rights Act 1996 or the Working Time Regulations. On the other hand, it may be slightly easier to deal with the dismissal of an employee either during or at the end of the probationary period than at other times, because the employee knows that they are “on trial”.

As a final point, if you do dismiss an employee in connection with the probationary period, you still need to follow the three statutory dismissal procedures, and should take advice on the steps to be taken if you are unsure.