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Getting recruitment right

LEGAL MATTERS

RECRUITMENT has never been more challenging than it is now across the whole of the employment sphere let alone within the local government sector and, in particular, so far as local councils are concerned, employing a competent clerk. Without a competent clerk in post, it is difficult, if not impossible, for a council to reach its potential. Added to this, once a council gains a reputation for a high turnover of clerks, it inevitably makes the job of recruitment even more challenging and can lead to poor performance for several years.

Develop an attractive package and recruitment process
It is important therefore that before advertising a position an attractive package is agreed via the legally delegated methodology, usually either full council, staffing committee or a delegated officer. Key areas to consider include pension, work environment, flexibility, job title and, of course, salary. The Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) is a significant advantage over many comparable private sector pensions so should be marketed strongly. A mistake often made is to reduce the clerk’s salary as a cost saving measure when replacing a departing clerk. Arguably one of the most important assets at a council is the clerk; you should therefore ensure the post is correctly evaluated in accordance with the SLCC and NALC 2003 national agreement. You may even have to reflect market forces in your area and pay above the evaluated salary range to secure the right candidate. It is worth checking with contemporaries in your area who have recently recruited as to what sort of response they received to their recruitment. Councils regularly make the mistake of advertising with too low a salary resulting in the post having to be re-advertised at a higher salary. This not only increases recruitment costs but also means the council is either operating with a locum clerk for longer or has a longer period of stagnation operating without a clerk.
Marketing the position is an area that councils very often get badly wrong, believing that they will have many candidates knocking at their door. That may have been the case once but rarely now. Making sure the recruitment “brochure” is high-quality and contains all the relevant information about the post and the council is a basic start point, as is ensuring you have an application form that enables you to easily compare the skillsets of all applicants against the essential criteria for the post.
You should also carefully consider the job title; most potential applicants will come from outside the sector so, for example, will have no idea what an RFO is, so may be put off even though they have all the necessary skills for the position. Consider calling the position something different that will appeal to all potential applicants such as Finance Manager, with RFO being part of the job description. It is also at this stage that many misleading statements in the advertisement are made such as “holding CILCA would be advantageous”; this is only a desirable requirement so why mention it when you do not mention essential requirements which will encourage applications.
You should also have a clear path laid out from the outset as to the dates for interviews and the system for appointment - has this been delegated to a committee or officer? Ideally there should be a streamlined system in place to make the appointment as quickly as possible after the interviews are complete.

  • Preparing a job description and person specification provides a useful basis for designing the advertisement to advertise recruitment.
  • Advertisements should contain enough information about the job and the council to help applicants decide if they are suited to the job.
  • Councils must not publish advertisements that indicate, or could reasonably indicate, an intention to discriminate.
  • Advertisements must not target applicants with a particular protected characteristic, unless this is an occupational requirement or lawful positive action.
  • Positive action may be used to encourage applications from under-represented groups.
  • All forms of job advertisement are covered by the Equality Act 2010.
  • Relying upon 'word of mouth' recruitment has the potential to indirectly discriminate.

Recruitment advertising overview
It is vital that you market the position as widely as possible, considering where potential applicants will come from. Profession specific providers are a great place to start, such as the Society of Local Council Clerks website, as well as via your local County Association. You may also find your local principal authorities willing to advertise the post via their internal and external jobs boards. However, do not rely solely on sector specific advertising; you have two other avenues to utilise. Your local connections in the town/parish and local area such as the council’s notice boards, social media, and via any mailing lists or partner organisations. Lastly, you should look to general recruitment opportunities, such as internet recruitment sites and local publications, such as local papers whether digital or print.

  • Ensure the advertisement is clear and sells the post, as well as outlining essential requirements, not desirable ones.
  • Have a clear strategy on where to advertise the post before you place the advertisement.
  • Make sure you advertise within and without the sector.
  • Make sure you advertise via all mediums.

Application forms overview
Accepting CVs as opposed to correctly designed application forms is fraught as the council does not decide what information it will receive and in what order to enable easy comparisons. CV’s will only include the information an applicant wants to tell you as opposed to what you need to know. Specific details will be missing, for example, reasons for leaving a position which may well be due to a disciplinary. This will be clear from an application form or, if the truth is not told on the form, will be adequate to take appropriate disciplinary action if the applicant is appointed and has been found to have made a fraudulent application.
Allowing CV’s to be accepted will also attract speculative applications or applications that are subsequently withdrawn, possibly after being shortlisted, which wastes a lot of time.

  • A standardised application process helps the recruitment panel to assess objectively an applicant’s ability to do the job.
  • Online-only processes can disadvantage some disabled candidates (as can a requirement to submit handwritten forms or use only forms) and employers should be prepared to modify their standard processes.
  • Reasonable adjustments may be required in the application process to ensure fairness and equality.
  • Application forms have several advantages over CVs.
  • Councils may reduce the risk of discrimination if they treat personal information separately from the rest of the application and restrict access to that information.
  • It will usually be unlawful to ask health-related questions about an applicant at the application stage.
  • Shortlisting processes and decisions must be based on objective criteria that are related to the job.
  • Monitoring equality in the recruitment process can help to address issues of inequality.

Interviewing and selection
Who is to be on the interview panel? Ideally this should consist of councillors/officers trained in HR who are briefed about how to conduct the interview and, in particular, what not to do, such as asking questions that can lead to claims of discrimination. An actual example being: “do you have any plans to have any more children?” of a prospective female employee.
In such circumstances, the council is open to a claim via an employment tribunal even though the person is not an employee. Ideally you should have pre-agreed identical questions for all applicants at interview; these should be designed to find out if they meet the essential criteria and thus their suitability for the post. You can use scoring for each question for all the panel members which can act as a guide to the preferred candidate, but do not have to be the sole factor.

  • Planning a consistent approach to interviewing and selection can help the interview panel to focus on relevant job-related information and reduce discrimination or bias.
  • Selection criteria should be identified in advance.
  • Selection criteria and scoring methods should be based on objective criteria which tests skills that are relevant and necessary for the job.
  • All staff involved in interviewing and selection should receive equality training and training on interview and selection techniques.
  • Councils must not discriminate at interview or in the arrangements relating to interviews.
  • Clear records of the interview and selection processes should be kept as evidence to help reduce the risk of a discrimination claim.

Making an offer
It is always useful to have some discretion available over the starting point of the salary within the pay scale depending on who is the preferred candidate. The winning candidate may, for example, request to start above the bottom of the scale, especially if they already earn that amount or thereabouts. You must make any offer subject to securing satisfactory references. One council’s employee indemnity insurance was determined to be null and void where they had not taken up references and the employee subsequently stole funds from the council. Do be careful to ensure that the employer reference is from a person authorised to do so on behalf of the employer, as opposed to a friend who works for the employer. Whilst referees do not have to respond to specific questions it is useful nevertheless to set these out on a reference form to try and secure, for example, why they believe the applicant will be a suitable appointment relative to the attached job description?
You can make a conditional offer subject to satisfactory references, this would include a basic reference from an employer who may choose to only provide start date, salary, and a job description of their existing post.
Once start dates are agreed it is important that you put in place an impressive on-boarding experience - first impressions last! This should include some induction training, which can now be provided via online recorded sessions, on basics such as health and safety and customer care. In addition, the employee should be taken through the staff handbook, introduced to all colleagues, and shown their workplace. This should include one-to-one meetings with their line manager and the head of paid service and, for some employees who will work with councillors, meetings with some individual councillors. For a clerk it is suggested that one-to-one meetings are arranged with all councillors.
The employee should then receive regular one-to-ones, especially during their probation period, so both parties understand one another’s expectations, followed by annual appraisals as part of the councils performance management systems.

  • Job offers should be made in writing to help avoid any misunderstandings about the terms and conditions offered.
  • Care must be taken when discussing the role with the candidate not to indicate terms which are inconsistent or differ from the written offer (verbal terms can be binding and equate to contractual promises).
  • Conditional offers should be made where the council needs to verify information about the employee before confirming employment.
  • Any checks to verify information must be transparent and made with the consent of the employee.
  • Where a clear conditional offer is made and the condition is not met, the council will generally be entitled to withdraw the offer.
  • Councils must not discriminate in the terms offered to employees.

Contract of employment
If the council follows the NJC green book terms and conditions, make sure the contract is compliant with this and consistent with existing employees to avoid discrimination claims. You may want to ensure all your contracts of employment are compliant via professional external expertise. Once you have a contract ready you should ensure this is provided by the first day of employment; it is good practice to supply it before then together with staff handbook and relevant HR policies, such as disciplinary and grievance policies. By law you are required to provide part one of the “written statement of employment particulars” on day one of employment and the rest of the particulars within two months of employment beginning. It is easier to ensure all this information is included in one document which is supplied as the contract of employment before starting work, however.
For any support with recruitment to ensure you get it right you can contact Council HR & Governance support and ask about our bronze, silver, and gold packages.

James Corrigan is a Director of Council HR and Governance Support. The ethos of the company is to provide local councils with expert support via individuals who have done the day job themselves. The overall objective is to support clients to be more effective and efficient but at the same time to take care of the welfare of all who work for them and to ensure that relationships prosper for the benefit of the local community. It is dedicated to ensuring best practice and continuous improvement in the local council sector by working collaboratively with councils to help them to achieve their full potential and ambitions.
For more information see: www.councilhrandgovernancesupport.co.uk

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Written by James Corrigan, CHRGS
As appeared in Clerks & Councils Direct, November 2023
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