Recruitment & Employment

Recruitment

A Recruitment and Selection Policy should ensure that you operate safe recruitment procedures and that individuals are selected solely on the basis of their ability to do the job, the contribution they can make to the centre’s effectiveness and their potential for development. The policy should take into account:

  • The National Care Standards
  • The Scottish Social Services Council Code of Practice for Employers
  • The Protection of Children (Scotland) Act 2003
  • The Equality Act 2010
  • The Protecting Vulnerable Groups (Scotland) Act 2007

The CALA Gateway Recruitment and Selection Policy will take you through the steps necessary for recruiting and employing staff. The policy is accessible in our Membership Area.

As an alternative, you may wish to use the Child and Adult Protection Guidance for Community Groups in Highland, March 2012.

Further information can also be found under the ‘Employing People’ section of the gov.uk website

Check if someone can work in the UK

To find out if a potential employee has the right to work in the UK and what documents employers should check follow this link https://www.gov.uk/legal-right-work-uk

You can also use this tool to find out which documents you need to produce to prove you’re eligible to work in the UK.

Employment (UK Applicants)

Rehabilitation of Offenders
The Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 sets out to improve the rehabilitation prospects of people who have been convicted of a criminal offence and served their sentence. The Act provides that anyone who has been convicted of a criminal offence, and sentenced to less that two and a half years in prison, can be regarded as rehabilitated after a specific period with no further convictions. After this period the original conviction is considered to be spent. The general rule is that, once a conviction is spent, the convicted person does not have to reveal it and cannot be prejudiced by it. This means that if they are asked on a job application or at a job interview whether they have a criminal record, they do not have to reveal it or admit its existence.

In addition, an employer cannot refuse to employ someone or dismiss someone because of a spent conviction. There are however, some categories of employment to which the Act does not apply and for the purposes of which spent convictions are still to be disclosed, these include paid or voluntary work in child care positions and care services.

Protecting Vulnerable Groups (PVG)
The Protecting Vulnerable Groups (Scotland) Act 2007 (also known as the PVG Scheme) provides the legislative framework for a new vetting and barring scheme aimed at those working with children and protected adults. People who work or volunteer to work with children and/or protected adults should apply for scheme membership just once. Their scheme records will then be kept up to date which means that they no longer undergo a time consuming Disclosure procedure each time they change posts.

There are two very separate registers within the scheme:-

  1. Regulated work with Children (A child is defined as a person under 18)
  2. Regulated work with Adults (A protected adult is defined as a person aged 16 or over who is in receipt of either, care services, health services, community care or welfare services)

If someone you are about to employ is already a member of the PVG Scheme but is currently ‘working with adults’, you will need to ensure they join again under the ‘working with children’ category.

If they are already a member of the PVG Scheme under the ‘working with children’ category – you will need to obtain a ‘Scheme Record Update’.

Downloads & Links