Safe recruitment - Inclusion with checks

Who should attend

HR professionals with responsibility for policy, recruitment and workforce planning. It will also be relevant to in-house employment lawyers.

Synopsis

When line managers compete for talent in a tightening labour market, they will try to speed up the hiring process. They are also selecting from a global and more diverse talent pool.

Experienced HR professionals know the cost and damage of hiring, or promoting, an unsuitable candidate This briefing brings you up to date with the various background checks you must, can and cannot undertake plus record-keeping.

We cover the right to work, criminal histories plus reference, credit health checks and GDPR considerations. How far back should you go, can you rely on your employment agencies and how may you use social media profiles? We also consider the need for checks on leaders as they are promoted, or join, through M&A.

Programme

09.00 registration and coffee, 09.30 start

Background checks: a proportionate approach to risk

— verification or vetting?
— avoiding discrimination: same checks for all?
— use of social media profiles
— new data protection obligations

Immigration checks

— employers’ responsibility to prevent illegal working: higher expectations
— validating and recording documentation
— penalties: fines and imprisonment
— public sector workers: English language competency
— TUPE transferred employees

Criminal histories

— spent and unspent convictions
— acquittals, allegations and ‘other relevant information’
— rehabilitation periods, DBS checks and unlawful checks
— encouraging self-declaration

Pre-employment health checks

— prohibited questions
— asking about disability and reasonable adjustments
— use (and misuse) of health data

Employment history and references

— reference providers and recipients: obligations
— risks of relying on “off the record” information
— professional registration and qualification checks

Policies, processes and inclusion

— which checks and why?
— record collection and retention
— making your policy clear to candidates
— Government policy on inclusion

13.00 close, followed by lunch

Download the full Safe recruitment - Inclusion with checks training programme.

Speakers

Geoffrey Mead - Partner

Geoffrey helps employers with situations where staff are accused of wrongful conduct, sometimes involving behaviour which places young persons at risk. He has recently dealt with a case where allegations against an employee of criminal conduct were made on an anonymous basis, raising difficult issues as to how the complaint should be handled.

Chris Proctor - Legal Officer

Chris is a non-practising solicitor with a criminal law background. He delivers advice, guidance and training on safe recruitment practices to a variety of organisations across all sectors. He also works closely with Government to shape and develop policy and guidance.