Will anonymous CVs get rid of discrimination in recruitment?

January 16th, 2012

Some of the UK’s largest employers have signed up for a new government initiative that aims to remove the danger of discrimination occurring during the application stage of the recruitment process.

Under the Business Compact, companies such as Barclays, Coca-Cola and Tesco have agreed to use application forms that will allow the candidates to omit their name or school details to ensure requirement is done “fairly and without discrimination.”

The agreement is part of Nick Clegg’s social mobility strategy to create a recruitment culture of “what you know, not who you know”.

The Deputy Prime Minster said the agreement marks the beginning of a shift in the recruitment culture among major UK employers. By signing up, they are agreeing to put drive and ability before privilege and connections and this should lead to a fairer and more open society.

More than 100 UK firms have already signed up and Clegg intends to write to another 50 of the largest firms asking them to agree to the Compact.

An employment law editor from XpertHR believes the Compact is a step in the right direction. Anonymous CVs will remove the risk that a candidate is passed over for interview simply because of his or her national/ethnic origins. However, it will not remove the conscious and unconscious discrimination that could take place when candidate and interviewer come face to face.

It sounds like a good idea in theory but will it work in practice? Is discrimination rife among recruitment professionals, and if it is, what should we be doing to combat it?

 

 

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Cameron pledges to reform the health and safety monster

January 6th, 2012

The news that David Cameron intends to streamline health and safety regulations will no doubt come as a welcome relief to a lot of UK employers.

The PM admitted that the health and safety ‘monster’ was hampering business growth, and in a bid to do away with a lot of needless bureaucracy he has appointed Lord Young of Graffham as his adviser. Lord Young, you will remember, was the author of the 2010 report Common Sense, Common Safety in which he said businesses should be freed from unnecessary red tape and the fear of paying out huge compensation awards and legal fees.

The government has already said that the self-employed will be exempt from a lot of health and safety regulations, but it now intends to go further and cut back on the number of rules and make sure that the remaining ones are more reasonable.

However, Richard Jones, the head of policy and public affairs at the Institution of occupational Safety and Health decried the PM’s statements saying he was appalled that workplace health and safety was labelled as a monster. The current system is in place to prevent illness, injury and health in the workplace, he added.

There has to be a happy medium on this subject. A lot of people complain that they need health and safety training for even the most basic of tasks in the workplace. This costs businesses both time and money that could be better spent helping the British economy grow.

Which health and safety regulations would you like to see the back of? How can the government remove the bureaucracy whilst still ensuring we all have a safe working environment?

 

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How are recruiters and their clients coping with AWR?

January 4th, 2012

Recruiters have raised concerns that some clients have been uncooperative with regards to the Agency Workers Regulations.

AWR came into being on October 1st last year and the first 12-week qualifying period was Christmas Eve.

Lewina Farrell, a solicitor and head of professional services at the REC, said the confederation intends to monitor the situation carefully in the coming weeks and make sure recruiters know how to handle queries from workers.

Hardly surprisingly, the REC’s emergency legal help-line did not receive many calls over Christmas but member feedback suggests that some clients do not want to share equal treatment information with their recruiter.

She went on to explain that clients who do not cooperate with their agencies would be deemed liable by a tribunal for any breach of AWR resulting for their lack of cooperation. It is therefore in everybody’s best interests to open up an effective channel of communication between recruiter and client and for clients to keep their recruitment partner full updated with relevant information.

Have you had any problems with AWR now that the first qualifying period has passed and temporary workers with at least 12 weeks continuous service are entitled to the same rights as their permanent counterparts? If so, how have you handled them?

 

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Will employment tribunal fees really increase hiring?

December 20th, 2011

The government’s plan to charge employees to take their claim to an employment tribunal will increase small businesses confidence to take on new staff, according to a government minister.

Under the proposal, employees will need to pay between £150 and £1,750 if they want to take their boss to a tribunal. Jonathan Djanogly, the justice minister, says the charges will discourage people from making unmerited and unnecessary claims. Last year, tribunals cost the taxpayer £84 million, and although people on low incomes may still get a fee waiver, the new rules should reduce that expenditure quite dramatically.

Djanogly hopes that once the fees are introduced businesses and employees will turn to mediation or conciliation when they have problems to sort out. He also believes small businesses will feel more confident about creating new positions in the knowledge that they are unlikely to face unnecessary tribunal action.

However, Geoffrey Mead from law firm Eversheds, said although a lot of employers welcome the proposals, they feel they could have unintended consequences. For example, unemployed claimants could delay looking for new jobs so that they can get a fee remission. Furthermore, the proposals suggest that trade unions should be liable for fees if they are representing claimants in a multiple set of claims. This could influence union funding given the substantial sums involved.

Is charging employees a fee to bring their claim to a tribunal going to be enough to encourage small businesses to start hiring? Is there a better way to stop unnecessary claims reaching the tribunal stage?

 

 

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There is no seasonal cheer in the latest unemployment figures

December 15th, 2011

The latest unemployment statistics, released by the ONS on Wednesday, provided more doom and gloom for the already depressed jobs market.

UK employment has reached its highest level for 17 years and we still have more 1 million young people without a job.

In the third quarter of this year, the public sector made 67,000 redundancies, while the private sector only managed to create 5,000 new jobs. The government had hoped that the private sector would be able to pick up the slack, and if you just look at the figures for Q3 that has definitely not happened.

However, when you look at 2011 as a whole, the public sector has shed 276,000 jobs and employment in the private sector rose by 262,000 to leave a negative difference of just 14,000. Considering the economic pressures the private sector has been under, it has performed reasonably well.

There are now 2.64 million people out of work in the UK, giving us an unemployment rate of 8.3%, the highest since 1996. Female unemployment is at its highest level for more than twenty years and is expected to rise further as the retail industry and the public sector, which are both female dominated, impose further job cuts.

Women could have further cause for concern after a new report from Working Links said it had seen a significant rise in vacancies for people with hands on skills such as such as welders and construction workers but a decrease in opportunities for those who work in customer services and administrative roles.

Is there a light at the end of the tunnel? I’m sure the unemployed would like to celebrate the festive season knowing that things are going to improve; but are they? What industries do you think will be hiring new year and which will be firing?

 

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How do you spot dishonest CVs?

December 12th, 2011

Fans of the BBC1 programme, Have I got News for You will no doubt be familiar with the name Benedict Le Gauche.

Mr Le Gauche is actually the alias for a 28 year old guy from Manchester who wrote what some people claim to be the world’s worst CV.

He explains his previous positions as boring, drudgerous and disheartening and claims his philosophy degree is pointless. According to his CV, the duties he performed in earlier jobs included stealing ginger biscuits, pretending to be on the phone and hiding.

Humour aside, at least he’s being honest, which is more than can be said for a lot of people when they compile the all too important CV.

Recent research suggests that as many as 75% of candidates think it is acceptable to tell little white lies or exaggerate on their CV. And this can cause real problems for recruiters who have to plough through dozens of CVs every day.  The most common lies they are faced with are bogus or exaggerated qualifications, false employment dates to hide career gaps and overstating the pay received in a previous position

Social media tools such as LinkedIn can be useful for highlighting anomalies in CVs, but there’s no way of knowing whether a candidate has posted a trail of false profiles all over the Internet.

How much time do you spend reading one person’s CV? Do you try to validate a candidate’s claims or do you take them at face value? Have you any special CV blunders you’d like to share with our readers?

 

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Positive 2012 for recruiters?

December 8th, 2011

The continuing confusion surrounding the Eurozone is guaranteed to have some sort of adverse effect on the UK economy, but this does not seem to have  deterred employers when it comes to hiring intentions.

The latest Jobs Outlook survey from the REC suggests that more than 50% of employers intend to increase the size of their workforce next year. 54% said they would grow their permanent staff within the next three months and 59% intend to increase their headcount before the end of 2012. Only 6% of employers said they intend to reduce their permanent workforce next year.

Recruitment agencies concerned that the implementation of AWR would hit the temporary market will be relieved to learn that 28% of the employers surveyed intend to increase their usage of temps in the coming three months and 52% intend to use the same amount as they do now.

While the majority of public sector organisations expect the government’s spending cuts to impact on hiring, confidence in the private sector is improving.

The full impact of AWR will not be felt until the first batch of temps complete their 12 week qualifying period. For many, this will fall during the festive break. However, early indications suggest that temporary and contract workers will continue to be a key resource for employers.

Have you noticed any change in employers hiring intentions since AWR came into being? Are you confident that business next year will not suffer due to their implementation?

 

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Did the Autumn Statement fill recruiters with confidence?

November 30th, 2011


George Osborne’s Autumn Statement contained a lot of doom and gloom, especially for public sector workers. The OBR has forecast an unemployment rate of 8.7% next year and said 710,000 jobs will go in the public sector over the next five years.

So did his statement contain any good news for the recruitment industry? The REC welcomed the statement, saying it included several initiatives to boost growth, create jobs and help young people secure employment.

While I would welcome the package of measures to support employers to hire young people, the most obvious answer for me would be to a return to apprenticeships.  The Government’s obsession with getting young people to university is pointless if half the graduates we are turning out have no employable skills. We have a shortage of engineers, plumbers, electricians and mechanics – and a complete oversupply of graduates with non-vocational degrees – it isn’t rocket science.  The Government wants to compete with China in terms of producing graduate educated young people.  The problem is that China is turning out young  people with degrees in engineering and technology – not sociology and media studies!

While the CIPD seems to think that employment deregulation is a bad thing, for SMEs it has to be a step forward.  A broad brush approach to employment regulation whether you have five employees or five thousand has never been a fair state of affairs and while employee engagement is important, it is also important for small businesses to be able to manage their human resource effectively and practically. The notion that introducing compensated no fault dismissal for the very smallest firms will risk economic recovery is ludicrous.

The Government has also delayed pensions auto-enrolment for smaller companies. Firms with fewer than 50 employees now have until May 2015 to prepare for the new regulations. However, we still need to  see more done to help recruiters implement auto-enrolment.

Did the Chancellor’s Statement fill you with confidence for the future? Will the Government’s plans stimulate growth and create jobs? What measures do you think he should have taken?

 

 

 

 

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Which employment laws are weighing recruiters down?

November 28th, 2011

Earlier this week, Vince Cable announced that the Government is going to shake-up recruitment agencies. It turns out that by shake-up, he actually means streamline the current regulatory regime, which should come as a welcome relief to the majority of recruiters.

The Government is planning a radical reform of employment law and will be holding a consultation next spring over the best way to simplify the recruitment sector and help people into work. Dr Cable acknowledged that the recruitment sector is vital to the UK’s flexible labour market, helping employers respond to peaks in demand and giving individuals an entry route into work.

About two million people use recruitment agencies to find work, but these agencies have to comply with hugely complex rules, said Cable. The Government will be asking recruiters which of these rules should be scrapped as part of its consultation.

Stuart Davis, the chairman of the Freelancer and Contractor Services Association, said the FCSA welcomes the plan to reduce bureaucracy if it will help the UK’s flexible workforce flourish, but warns that the government should also take steps to ensure vulnerable temporary workers are protected. He pointed out that adopting a ‘one size fits all’ solution could damage the flexible workforce.

It seems quite apt that the Government has decided to ‘do something’ about employment law. We’ve just had AWR thrust upon us, and next year agencies will have to cope with the new Pensions Act.

As a recruiter, which employment related laws are weighing you down? Which would you like to see the back of and which could you live with if they were made more comprehensible?

 

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What measures should the Autumn Statement contain?

November 24th, 2011

Next Tuesday, George Osborne will present his Autumn Statement and speculation is rife on what he will say

Everyone agrees that the government should focus on stimulating economic growth to ensure the UK does not fall back into recession, and measures are urgently needed given the current crisis in the Eurozone.

The Federation of Small Businesses is calling on the Chancellor to target regulation and youth unemployment. The organisation would like to see onerous employment regulations removed and a simplification of the tax system governing micro-businesses.
FSB chairman, John Walker, points out that conditions in the Eurozone are still unstable, but the UK can still raise business confidence and remove some of the barriers to job creation. The Chancellor has to address the issues that are holding businesses back and small firms need clear evidence that government policies are working.

The Forum of Private Business has a list of areas it would like Osborne to address, including bank lending, education and training, export, finance and tax.The FPB points out that employers want to employ people who are work ready and schools could go a long way towards satisfying this requirement by providing students with employability skills. A lot of employers would also like to see their National Insurance bill reduced if they take on an apprentice.

What measures would you like to see the Chancellor introduce to get the economy back on track and people back into work?

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