1. Introduction

 

The intention of the Recruitment & Selection Policy is to ensure that the Council can attract and retain high calibre employees into relevant job vacancies. It aims to attract the widest possible response to any employment vacancy.

 

The Council will take positive steps to advise all potential applicants of its Equalities Policy. The Council recognises the advantages of recruiting individuals with specialist knowledge and experience of local needs.

 

The selection process is of crucial importance in this policy and must, therefore, be carried out according to objective, job-related criteria. The Council will ensure that, through appropriate training, people making selection decisions will not discriminate, whether consciously or unconsciously, in making selection decisions.

 

2. Core Principles of the Recruitment and Selection Policy

 

The Clerk is responsible for employee recruitment in conjunction with councillors.  If the post is for recruitment of the Clerk, the Parish Council will appoint a selection panel specifically for that purpose.

 

All stages of the selection process will focus on the needs of the job as defined in the job description and person specification together with the skills needed to perform effectively. The Clerk and Elected Members sitting on a selection panel will ensure that questions they ask of job applicants are not discriminatory or unnecessarily intrusive.

 

All candidates with a disability that meet the minimum selection criteria will be invited to an interview and all reasonable adjustments will be made to accommodate this. It is the Council’s practice to agree with the successful candidate to seek two written references and to ask for documentary proof of qualifications.

 

Recruitment and Selection Process

 

Before embarking upon the selection process, the Clerk should have the relevant authority from the Council, an updated job description and an accurate person specification. Advertisements will be placed appropriately to allow maximum exposure to all sectors of the community.

 

Candidates invited to interview will be given where possible at least one week’s notice. All letters sent to unsuccessful candidates will be issued as soon as practicably possible after the decision has been made. Reserve candidates may be kept ‘on hold’ for a period of time and should be notified of the delay in finalising the outcome of the process.

 

Job Descriptions

 

Each job will have an up to date job description that accurately reflects the job requirements.

 

Job descriptions should be written in a clear and concise manner in the agreed Council format.

All job descriptions will be reviewed by the Council prior to the commencement of the recruitment action.

 

Person Specification

 

A person specification will be prepared for every job description reflecting the skills and qualities required to undertake the job.

 

Person specifications will be reviewed by the Council prior to the recruitment action and will be produced in the standard format.

 

Criteria contained in the specification should be strictly relevant to the requirements of the job. The criteria should not be unnecessarily restrictive to exclude any qualified individuals from applying.

 

All stated requirements must be clearly justifiable in terms of the principal function of the job (e.g. literacy, numeracy, qualifications, and any educational level required).

 

Attracting a Field of Applicants

 

Publicity material must reflect the Equalities Policy.

 

Advertisements should be approved by the Council prior to being published.

 

All job vacancies must be widely circulated in areas and in media which is relevant to the post.

 

Advertisements must be clear and unambiguous, so that applicants will be able to determine their own suitability.

 

Short listing

 

Short listing must only be based on the information contained in the application form and any covering letter using the person specification and the job description as assessment criteria.

 

The criteria for short listing must be consistently applied to all applicants.

 

The application form should not be used as a test of literacy unless a high standard of literacy is required as a genuine requirement of the job.

 

If academic qualifications are one of the criteria for initial selection, they should not be unnecessarily high for the job.

 

There should be no unnecessary or unreasonable restrictions on the numbers to be short listed.

 

Any disabled applicant that meets the minimum requirements for the job should be short listed.

 

Reasons for not meeting the short list criteria must be recorded for incorporation within the monitoring process.

 

Original copies of educational/academic/qualification certificates or documents should be brought to interview.

 

Selection Interview

 

The Council will seek to ensure that at least two people sit on an interview panel.

Interviewers must keep adequate notes of the interview to be able to make a fair comparison between candidates. This will be recorded on an interview report form.

 

In determining whether a candidate is to be progressed to the next stage, interviewers may only consider factors relevant to the job requirements. Reasons for unsuccessful candidates should be recorded for incorporation into the recruitment monitoring process.

 

All application forms and interview notes should be kept for six months after the end of recruitment action. Monitoring forms should be kept indefinitely.

 

If any member of an interview panel feels that discrimination has occurred in the selection process, the matter must be reported immediately to the Chair of the Panel/Council. No selection decision should be made until the issue is resolved.

 

Candidates from BAME backgrounds should not be asked questions that could be seen as directly or indirectly discriminatory, e.g. questions which test their understanding of ‘U.K. Customs’. Neither should their fluency in the English language be used as a selection criterion unless it is a bona fide requirement of the job.

 

Informal interviews must not take place unless they are clearly part of the approved or agreed selection process for all short-listed candidates.

 

9. Letters of Appointment

 

The appointment letter should also be accompanied by a second copy, which the applicant is required to sign and return to indicate acceptance of the job offered, which will be retained in the Council’s personnel records. This should include the following statement: “I have read and understood the Council’s Equalities Policy, and acknowledge that the offer of employment is made subject to my agreement to actively pursue that policy during the course of my employment and to undergo any training associated with this”.

 

Unsuccessful candidate letters should indicate to candidates the name and telephone number of the person to contact if further information or feedback is required. Reasons for non-selection should be given to candidates if requested. The reasons will be those stated on the recruitment monitoring form.

 

All appointments will be subject to receiving two satisfactory references, one of which should be from the most recent employer or educational institution. If satisfactory references are not received, the Council may withdraw from the employment offer or terminate the employment relationship.

 

When providing references for departing staff the Council will adopt the following criteria:-

 

• The Council will only respond to references requested in writing and will only respond following confirmation with the employee concerned. All references will be treated with confidentiality.
• The Council will comply with all its statutory obligations under current Data Protection requirements and all other relevant legislation concerned with the storage, processing, and distribution of personal data. Personal data will only be released following receipt of written confirmation from an employee that they are happy and willing to provide personal data to third parties.
• The Council will not supply open references for departing employees or provide references solely by telephone.
• The Council is under no statutory, or other form, of obligation to provide a reference to any current or ex-employee of the Council.
• If a reference is provided, it is the Council’s duty to ensure that it provides an honest, true, and factual employment reference given in an objective, impartial and un-biased manner.
• Whilst every effort will be made to ensure that a reference is provided in an objective, factual and accurate manner, the Council does not accept liability for any perceived omissions, faults or inaccuracies which an employee may feel are contained within a reference provided by the Council.

 

Records

 

All records of job applicants and interview notes should be kept for a minimum of 12 months. These must be held in accordance with current Data Protection requirements.

 

Contact Details and Website

 

Website: lewlparishcouncil.gov.uk

 

Clerks email: parishclerk@lewlparishcouncil.gov.uk