Recruitment and Selection Policy

Recruitment and selection policy and procedure

Purpose

The purpose of this policy is to ensure that the company employs and promotes the most appropriate employees in a fair and consistent manner free from discrimination and with commitment to Diversity, Equality and Inclusion.

Scope

This policy covers all current employees and applicants for employment with the company.

Policy

The company is committed to ensuring that there is no discrimination on the grounds of age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage/civil partnership, pregnancy, maternity, race, religion or belief, sex or sexual orientation at any stage of the recruitment process or in the terms and conditions offered to new employees or promoted employees.

The company will monitor the composition of its workforce, in order to identify areas that may need positive action measures to promote equal opportunity and diversity.

Advertising

Advertising of all positions will be carried out both internally and externally. All employees (including fixed-term employees) will be notified of any positions that arise during their employment by way of email.

Ecovision will advertise the role on various places and job sites in accordance with the role specialism.  At times, Ecovision will also use Recruitment Agencies to support us.

Advertisements will make clear, in both wording and illustration, that the positions are open to all suitably qualified candidates, regardless of age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage/civil partnership, pregnancy, maternity, race, religion or belief, sex or sexual orientation. Details of positions will be fully circulated to ensure access to all applicants. This includes forwarding internal advertisements to employees on long-term leave.

The role will have the same closing date on all advertisements to ensure consistency and fairness.  Once this closing date has passed, CVs or application forms won’t be accepted without prior agreement from the HR Manager or Recruiting Manager.

Application forms

If using application forms, they will contain only includes relevant questions needed for selection. Any questions necessary for payment or pension, will be asked after appointment.

Screening and shortlisting

Screening will be carried out by matching details of applicants to the requirements of the job and shortlisting against the required competencies. The screening criteria will be applied consistently to all applicants. Records of the screening process will be retained for a period of one year by the HR Department.

Ecovision will endeavour to reply to all candidates regarding their application, however if candidates have not heard from us within one month, it should be assumed that they have not been shortlisted.

Reasonable adjustments

Ecovision are committed to ensuring Diversity, Equality and Inclusion and the Equality Act 2010 within our Recruitment and Selection process.  Candidates are encouraged to share if they require any reasonable adjustments and Ecovision will do our best to support and make the necessary reasonable adjustments.

We strive to be a successful, caring and welcoming place for all our team members and our customers.  We are committed to our equal opportunities policy and a culture of respect and understanding.  We want to ensure that everyone feels included, welcome and able to be themselves and bring their authentic abilities.  We are very willing to provide accessibility accommodations for applicants where required.  Please contact HR for further support or information.

Testing

If it is necessary to use selection tests for a job, they will only relate to non-biased, genuine objective requirements of the role. Records of any testing undertaken will be retained for a period of one year.

Interviewing

The interviewing process will be carried out in the following way:

• no assumptions will be made on the grounds of age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage/civil partnership, pregnancy, maternity, race, religion or belief, sex or sexual orientation
• questions will relate to the requirements of the job as established in the job description and the person specification
• interviews will be carried out by more than one person
• applicants answers to questions will be assessed and scored at the end of interviewing against pre-defined competency based criteria
• records of the interview process will be retained for a period of one year, including questions asked, answers given, shortlisting scoring and interview notes for all candidates.

Promotion

All employees will be aware of the promotional and career opportunities available to them from details circulated via email. Training and job experience needed for promotional opportunities will be open to all employees. Promotion will be determined by merit and performance against objective criteria.

Unsuccessful internal candidates will be given feedback to facilitate improvement. Training in giving feedback will be provided to managers charged with this task.

No employee will be overlooked in relation to a promotion or an experience-broadening opportunity because of their reluctance to apply or accept on a previous occasion. The process surrounding promotion will be free from discrimination.

Training

All relevant staff, including those on fixed-term/part-time contracts, will have equal access to training opportunities, whether training is relevant to their current job, or to enhance promotional opportunities.

Further details

For successful candidates who secure employment with Ecovision, we will issue a contract of employment detailing our GDPR and Data Protection clauses which employees are required to comply with as part of the Employment contract.  Ecovision will also need to obtain further details to pay the employee, emergency contact details and pension information.

References

All external candidates will be required to provide two satisfactory references prior to appointment. HR will collate references from the candidates and will apply for references using the standard reference template. Referees will not be contacted without the permission of the candidate to whom they relate. Should a candidate not be in a position to provide two references, the issue will be dealt with by the HR Manager and the Company on a case-by-case basis.

Right to Work check

The company will only employ workers who are legally entitled to work in the United Kingdom. All employees will be required to undertake an appropriate right to work check, regardless of their nationality, by reviewing appropriate immigration documents or by accessing an online right to work check.

Unsuccessful applicants or Speculative applicants

If candidates would like Ecovision to hold their details on file, we can do so by applicants contacting our HR Manager.  Applications would be held with our HR Department with the applicants consent for one year unless they asked for the time their details are held to be removed or extended.

Records

The company will retain, for at least one year, all records arising through the recruitment process in compliance with the lawful bases of Article 6 (1) (b) of the UK GDPR, which relates to the ‘contract’ or processing necessary to perform a contract or take steps to enter a contract.

There may also be factors above which fall within processing information for ‘consent’ (Article 6 (1) (a) of the UK GDPR) and/or ‘legitimate interests’ (Article 6 (1) (f) of the UK GDPR).

If an applicant requests reasonable adjustments under the Equality Act 2010 within this process, this processing could fall within the two lawful bases above as well as Article 6 (1) (c) of the UK GDPR which relates to ‘legal obligation’ to comply with our legal obligations under the Equality Act 2010.

GDPR

Information will only be used for the purpose it has been provided for.  Ecovision will not share information with anyone outside of the Company unless consent is given i.e. Recruitment agencies, Payroll/Pension Providers.

Information will only be shared with those involved in the Recruitment and Selection process.

Information will be kept confidential within our secure network.  Whilst we will use various methods to advertise vacancies, we require all applications to be sent to us directly to our HR Manager or Recruiting Manager.

 Retention periods

Most retention periods are clearly stated above.

For applicants who gain employment with Ecovision, their data and recruitment details will be held for six years after their employment leave date (from the end of the related tax year).  This is in line with Employment retention requirements.

Contact

Any questions relating to this policy should be directed to Beth Baker, HR Manager on beth.baker@ecovision.co.uk