The law relating to recruitment (part two)

Employment legal expert Lindsay Connolly continues her look at the law in relation to recruitment. Interviewing applicants It’s important to maintain the same objective perspective when interviewing the shortlisted applicants. Ideally, interviewers should be trained to conduct interviews with equality in mind – they should avoid being influenced by stereotypical assumptions relating to an applicant. Making assumptions about an applicant’s ‘protected characteristic’ could be discriminatory. When arranging the interview, you should ask applicants in advance whether they have any special requirements, for example to assist them with any physical impairments. Once notified of any disabilities, you will be under a duty to make reasonable adjustments to assist the applicant so that they are not put at a disadvantage when interviewed. Where possible, interview questions should be structured and based on the application form, job description and person specification. Any questions which do not relate to the employee’s ability to perform the role should be avoided. For example, asking an applicant questions about their plans for children would not be relevant to their ability to do the job and could be perceived as you not wanting to employ a mother and which would be discriminatory. Making an offer of employment Having found the right person through interviews, it is time to make a formal job offer. This should be communicated through an offer letter which includes the key features of the role such as job title, and salary. If the application and interview process raised any points of negotiation, these points should also be clarified in the letter, together with any conditions to which the offer is subject. Because you could be found guilty of a criminal offence if you employ someone who does not have the right to work in the UK, you should always make it a condition of any job that the successful applicant, having been offered the job, can prove they have the right to work (passport or biometric residence permit). Other conditions commonly applied are the job being accepting by a date, satisfactory references from former employers and, if appropriate, a criminal records check. The core elements of the agreement between you and the successful applicant – the contractual terms of employment – can also be set out in the offer letter. However, it is better to set these out in a separate employment contract to which the offer letter refers. Any non-contractual perks of the role, such as employee discounts, are best kept separate from the employment contract. Employment contracts, whether set out in an offer letter or in a separate contract of employment, must include some compulsory terms which are prescribed by the Employment Rights Act. These include normal workings hours, normal place of work, holiday entitlement and sick pay arrangements. Lastly, successful applicants should be given a probationary period so that you can assess their performance and suitability for the role over a defined period of time. To enhance the success rate of this period, the new employee should be given objectives to which their performance can be monitored against with feedback provided. It is wise to reserve the option of extending a probationary period, should this be necessary. Lindsay Connolly is an associate in employment law at law firm Eversheds LLP.