European Doctors
& Nurses Ltd
Code
of Practice on Recruitment and Selection
Purpose
This code of practice is to
encourage best practice in recruitment and selection and to advise those members
responsible for recruitment of their obligations under:-
- The Company's Policy on Equal Opportunities in Employment.
- The various Acts of Parliament and codes of practice which govern
activity in this area.
Background
In producing this code of practice account has been taken of:
- The Company's Policy on Equal Opportunities in Employment.
- Codes of practice for the elimination of racial discrimination
(Commission for Racial Equality) and sex discrimination (Equal Opportunities
Commission) and for the elimination of discrimination under the Disability
Discrimination Act 1995.
- The Chartered
Institute
of
Personnel
and Development (CIPD) Code on Recruitment.
Scope
This code applies to all aspects of recruitment for all staff
groups including part time and short term appointments.
Principles
High standards of professional recruitment practice are
essential for the Company to achieve Best Practice.
All employees and potential employees should be treated
fairly in accordance with the provisions of the Company's Equal Opportunities in
Employment Policy regardless of gender, marital status, family responsibilities,
disability, marital status, race, colour, creed, nationality, ethnic or national
origins, age, being lesbian, gay or bisexual, or on any other grounds not
relevant to good employment and learning practice.
Positive action is permissible under the relevant legislation
and the opportunity exists for those responsible for recruitment to take steps
to redress imbalances in the profile of the
working population. This might include methods for encouraging more
applicants from those groups or by providing training specifically for those
groups in order to make them more competitive in the selection process.
Effective application of the code requires that those responsible for its
application will be supported through advice, training and development provided
under the Company's Staff
Development Policy and Personnel Services.
The Code
General
Recruiters must take account of current legislation covering
equality of opportunity i.e: Sex Discrimination Act 1975, Race Relations Act
1976, Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974, Disability Discrimination Act 1995.
Specifying the vacancy
Each vacancy should be supported by a written description of
the purpose and responsibilities of the post. This will usually be in the form
of a job description. Such specifications should be written to ensure that they
are free from irrelevant discrimination. Care is needed in their preparation to
ensure that all aspects are justified and are not likely to exclude potential
applicants from under-represented or disadvantaged groups. Consideration should
be given to the design of the job to ensure, for example, that the needs of any
potential disabled candidate can be accommodated. Under the Disability
Discrimination Act employers are under an obligation to make reasonable
adjustments to the work-place in order to accommodate disabilities.
Each job description should be accompanied by a detailed
person specification which will form the basis of any selection decision. Many
potential applicants may have the necessary qualities for the effective
performance of the job but lack experience or qualifications through not having
had suitable opportunities. Care should be taken, therefore, in the
specification of requirements to ensure that statements of length and type of
experience and educational and training requirements are justified. Criteria
covering personal qualities and circumstances should be directly related to the
job and applied equally to all groups consistent with the Equal Opportunities in
Employment Policy.
The terms and conditions under which the post holder is to be
employed must be consistent with the current personnel policies of the Company.
Advertising the job
In principle, to ensure the Company moves towards addressing
imbalances in the work-force profile, all posts should be open for any candidate
to apply who meets the basic requirements of the job. This means that all posts,
where it is reasonable to do so, should be advertised in the public domain and
consideration should be given to advertising in specialist journals/ locations
where they will come to the attention of members of under-represented groups.
The requirement to advertise to the general public does not apply where the
Company is seeking to reduce staff numbers overall and there are staff in other
parts of the organisation who might be re-deployed to that post.
The job advertisement, which should be closely based on the
person specification, may, where appropriate, contain specific encouragement for
members of under-represented groups to apply. It should be remembered that use
of appropriate visual images can help to achieve and reinforce
non-discriminatory practice.
Applications
A format for applications should be specified, which would
usually be in the form of a standard application form designed to elicit
information relevant to the job. Whether CV's are permitted or not should be
stated. It should be made clear to candidates that their application should
address the requirements specified in the person specification.
Where the job might be particularly suitable for a person who
has a specific disability and for whom English is not their first language,
consideration should be given to finding alternative methods for communicating
job information and the format for job applications. Applicants should be
invited to take part in equal opportunities monitoring, the responses to which
will be handled separately from the application and short-listing process.
All applicants must comply with the application procedure.
Selection Panel
The selection decision should ultimately be made by more than
one person who has a detailed knowledge of the work required for the post. A
Selection Panel is, therefore, required which should include at least one person
who has been trained in selection techniques and equal opportunities and
understands the Company's selection procedure.
Short-listing
All members of the selection panel should be involved in the
short-listing process. The person specification will form the basis of the
selection decision. Records should be kept on the extent to which each candidate
meets the requirements of each aspect of the person specification. These records
should be held for a minimum of six months after the appointment has been made.
Consideration should be given in the process to those who
meet the basic requirements of the post and belong to under-represented groups.
Candidates should be given sufficient notice of proposed
selection activities, their content and details of those staff to be involved in
the selection decision.
Selection
Since objectivity is difficult to achieve through interview
alone, a range of selection methods should be established, closely based on the
person specification for the post, which might include work-related tests or psychometric
assessments. Care should be taken when selecting or designing tests and
analysing their results to ensure that they are free from bias.
Interview questions should be chosen with care and designed
to elicit the information covered in the person specification. Particular care
should be taken to avoid using questions which might convey an intention to take
into account irrelevant material, such as arrangements for child care. Interview
structure and content should be applied consistently to all candidates
interviewed.
Records should be held for each of the candidates which
demonstrate the extent to which the requirements of the person specification
were met. These records should be kept for a minimum of six months following the
appointment.
Candidates may wish to receive feedback about their
performance in the selection process. Such feedback should only be provided by a
competent person directly involved in the selection decision.
Use of references
Information sought from referees should be structured around
the requirements of the job through the job description and person
specification. That information should be kept confidential and should be used
only to verify information collected during the selection process.
IMPLEMENTATION
The Company will organise a rolling programme of in-service
training and development.
Personnel Officers will provide advice and guidance in the operation of this
code assisting with the preparation of the specification of the post through to
forming the contract of employment.
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