Sarah West Recruitment Blog

Celina and I were talking today about the film ‘Apollo 13’ which was shown on the television last night. For those of you that are not familiar with this true story, it’s about 3 astronauts that get stuck in space and despite all the odds safely make it back to earth. There is a technical problem that needs resolving to ensure the crew have enough air in order to survive and ultimately land the space craft. The earth based team pull together to find the solution. They don’t give up, believe it’s possible and of course just in the nick of time they find the answer…and everyone lives happily ever after.

The film inspired a conversation about positivity and how, against popular belief / all the odds, when people with the right attitude join forces they can make good things happen.

On a daily basis the Sarah West Recruitment team get drawn into conversations with local businesses, work seekers and journalists about the state of the economy in the local area and the impact, therefore, on the local employment market. We spend a huge amount of time each day putting people straight – Exeter is a buoyant city, with a low level of unemployment. There are lots of permanent job opportunities for people in this area. Many companies are growing and new businesses moving to the area. We are incredibly busy recruiting; in fact we have been consistently busy for the last few years.

I’m not suggesting we ignore the downturn in the economy, nor am I overlooking the casualties of the recession. I’m choosing to see my glass as ‘half full’ as opposed to ‘half empty’ and wanted to focus on the good news in the area and share some of it with you. Exeter is a great place to live and work and here is some evidence….

1. Exeter has a lower rate of unemployment at 5.5% than a large proportion of the UK. The average for the country is 7.6%.
2. A number of new call centres, such as EMCAS and Rothwell & Towler, have moved into the area and are creating upwards of 80 new call centre/customer service and sales jobs. New retail outlets such as M&S down on Exe Bridges and Republic, 99p store and Fizzy Wizzy Woo are springing up in our High Street creating over 100 new jobs and of course the new John Lewis store will be opening and therefore creating 130 jobs very soon.
3. Businesses in the South West are among the most productive in the UK, making this the most productive region outside London and the Greater South East.
4. The South West has the best business survival rate of anywhere in Britain
5. The South West experienced the largest annual growth nationwide
6. The region has a good infrastructure in place as well as some of the UK’s most rapidly expanding airports making the rest of the UK and Europe accessible.
7. South West England has a proven pedigree as the place for international businesses to succeed.  Over 1,500 international businesses have chosen to locate here.
8. As one of the UK’s top business schools, Exeter is a highly sought after destination for business students, and businesses, wanting to get ahead as the teaching is regarded as world-class.
9. The development of the world class Exeter Science Park, due to open in 2013, will be a significant boom for the University and the regional economy. It will attract knowledge intensive firms to Exeter and will also enable the development of new businesses. It will link strongly with the University of Exeter Innovation Centre, which provides start-up units for new knowledge-intensive businesses.
10. Exeter is in proximity to a beautiful coastline and countryside. Our city, local towns and villages provide an enviable mix of culture, heritage and landscape making Exeter a logical location for a good work/life balance and are why the South West of England is ranked top of the nine English regions as a place to live and work. This helps local businesses provides a competitive advantage for recruiting and retaining the best people.

We all know that attitude is contagious, right?

So let’s join forces and get some good feeling and positive vibes going through the business community here in Exeter, starting with us?

Sources:

Recruiter Magazine, South West RDA, Exeter University, Financial Times, Office of National Statistics – Regional GVA, Office of National Statistics.

Useful links:

www.rothwellandtowler.com

These regulations came into effect on October 1st and apply to all temporary workers provided to a Company via an Agency.

On day 1 the workers have the right to the same facilities as the other permanent employees within the Company, for example canteens, childcare and transport arrangements. The temporary worker also has the right to be information about any job vacancies that arise, so that they can apply in the same way as all other employees.

After 12 weeks a temporary worker must be given the same basic employment terms and conditions as staff who are hired directly/employed by the Company.

This covers:

• Pay – including overtime and shift allowances

• Bonuses based on an individual’s work performance

• Holidays and holiday pay

• Working hours including length of night work, rest periods and breaks

• All the same protection for pregnant workers including paid time off for ante natal appointments. All employers should carry out a pregnancy risk assessment for pregnant workers. However a pregnant worker would not have the right to return to the job after maternity leave.

There are some exclusions:-

• Bonuses that are based on Company performance

• Expenses

• Company pension schemes

• Health or Life Insurance

• Share Options schemes

• Company enhanced occupational Maternity/Paternity/Adoption pay

• Redundancy pay both statutory and contractual

• Notice pay

The 12 week rule

To qualify for basic employee rights, the temporary worker must work in the same role for 12 continuous weeks. It does not make any difference if this is worked on a full or part time basis.

A break between assignments of at least 6 calendar weeks or if the worker takes up a totally different role will allow the Company to start the clock again. As always there are some exceptions to the rule which in effect pause the clock until the worker returns to work:

• A break for any reason that lasts less than 6 weeks

• Annual Leave

• Shut down periods (Christmas shutdown etc.)

• Sickness absence of up to 28 weeks

• Jury service up to 28 weeks

• A break caused by strikes or industrial action

When the clock keeps ticking:-

During pregnancy and all maternity/paternity/ adoption related absence instead of the clock pausing it will continue throughout the period of absence and include those weeks as part of the qualifying period to the 12 weeks.

Exclusions

Genuinely self employed contractors are excluded from the regulations as are fixed term and permanent employees. Those who are employed by an umbrella company may be covered by the so called Swedish Derogation. This is a concession achieved by Sweden where the workers are employed by an umbrella company and are paid between assignments when no other suitable work is found for them. There are a number of additional restrictions such as the amount they have to be paid and the amount of time workers have to have had work before the contract can be terminated.

Top tips:

• Check the agency – are they an umbrella company for your workers and if so, be clear on the terms and conditions

• Check all agency workers can access all your facilities

• Put in place a system for notifying all agency workers of vacancies and how to apply

• Put in a system to record the 12 weeks accurately.

If in doubt or you have any further queries please ring

Source: The HR Dept / www.hrdept.co.uk / 0845 863 0653

Using a recruitment consultant is a quick, cost effective and efficient way to source new staff.

Quick on the basis that a recruitment consultant will have a database/pool of applicants currently looking for work in the area that they are in regular contact with. They should, therefore, be able to respond quickly to your requirements.

Cost effective on the basis that there are no upfront costs to using an agency to source permanent staff, you only pay on a successful result.

Efficient on the basis that within a short space of time your recruitment consultant will have sourced applicants to your brief and sent a selection of well matched CV’s for you to consider and short list for interview. They will support you and the applicants through the recruitment process until such time as you make a decision, an offer is accepted and the applicant has started their new role.

The basic process.

You provide us with an outline of the vacancy and person specification. You can do this by sending us a role profile or other documentation, or you can brief us in person or on the telephone. We will question you around this to ensure we have a full understanding of your requirements.

We will visit your premises in order to understand your environment so that we can consider team/cultural fit as part of our recommendations to you.

We will send you our Terms of Business and agree both rates and response times, talking you through our service level agreement.

We will source suitable candidates for your consideration by searching our database, advertising both on and offline, searching CV’s databases, using social media and/or other mediums as necessary.

The applicants submitted to you will have been interviewed by a recruitment consultant, completed the necessary registration paperwork and had their right to work in the UK checked. They will be a match to your requirements and we will send a detailed profile outlining our reasons for putting them forward to you, their availability and anything else you need to know about them.

We will be available to talk through the CV’s with you and will answer any questions you might have. At this stage we will want to work with you to short list those that you wish to interview, making arrangements for the interviews to take place.

We will ensure that both you and the candidates are fully briefed and have any relevant documentation/confirmation you might require for the interview itself, including the results of any skills test results.

We will speak to the applicants after the interview so that we can feedback to you their thoughts on the company, role and their level of interview so that you can make an informed decision as to whom you might like to invite back to second interview – or make an offer to.

We will co-ordinate the initial offer of employment gaining the applicants verbal acceptance. We will then provide the personal details of the applicant so that you can write to them in an official capacity with a formal offer.

We will stay in touch with both you and your new hire up until the day the candidate starts their new job. Our agreed invoice will follow shortly afterwards we have spoken to your on their first day of employment.

What we do:-

We adapt our service to suit each individual client and will talk to you in detail about your requirements and explain and agree the process we think is most appropriate.

We will be honest in all our dealing with you. If there is something you need to know about an applicant or information comes to light during the course of the recruitment process that might affect your decision, we will tell you.

We will give you advice on market conditions, salary information in the area, interview process, the testing available to you and anything else you need any help with!

We will portray an honest and positive image of your business in all our dealings with other parties.

We will skills test for essential technical skills, as required, and provide test results.

We will keep you informed of our progress at each stage of the recruitment process.

What we don’t do:-

Discriminate.

Knowingly waste our time, yours, or our candidates.

Misrepresent you or any candidates.

Work with clients that have a bad reputation, we only want to talk to our applicants about the best jobs in the area.

Things to consider before you instruct us:-

Have you advertised the role internally and considered other employees that might be a good fit to your vacancy first?

Do you have the necessary authority in place for the extra headcount?

Have you thought about the timeframe involved? You need to allow 8 weeks to shortlist, hold 1^st/2^nd interviews, offer and assume the applicant needs to give 4 weeks notice.

Have you written a role profile and considered what’s essential/desirable in terms of the person specification?

Have you considered your interview style?

Are the necessary people and facilities are available within your company for interview?

How will you be making a decision between the applicants?

Recruiting permanent staff can be made so much easier with the support of a reputable and experienced recruiter! As always, the Sarah West Recruitment team are here to answer any queries you might have about recruiting permanent staff.  Give us a call on 01392 873813!