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Recruitment

I plan to recruit two young apprentices who, once they finish school, will work for me full time. This is the first time I have employed apprentices. What are my obligations?

An apprentice is always an employee; the question is whose? In this case, you would be the employer. You don't make it clear whether you are consider a traditional indentured apprenticeship or a modern apprenticeship agreement (MA).  This third type of arrangement is where the employer identifies an individual with potential for whom he will provide special training to improve his or her qualification. The end result is a fully qualified individual in a particular trade. 

Whichever agreement you enter into, it is vital that it is clearly documented so that all parties understand the rules and their obligations. It is important that the contract between you and the individuals concerned indicates very clearly what happens in the event of misconduct, incapability and redundancy. The apprentices have to undergo the training, so their contracts should make it clear that if they do not attend the training, such as college, you normal disciplinary procedures will apply so that unjustified absence could result in them being dismissed. Capability is a more difficult matter. As long as the apprentice is undergoing the training and trying hard, you would have to accept that he or she is a slow learner, for example.

You have contracted to provide the training and he or she is complying with it. Only in the most definite case of failure – perhaps where someone has failed exams on a number of occasions – would you be able to terminate the arrangement on the grounds of capability.   Dismissal for redundancy is almost impossible.  You should talk to any training provider or to Scottish Enterprise or your local industry training board to find out more about apprentice schemes in your area.


Does an employer have the right to insist on medical checks for all new employees?

Although there is (with a small number of exceptions) no legal requirement for employers to require prospective employees to undergo medical examinations, if the employer has made the job offer conditional upon a satisfactory medical examination, then it is within its rights to withdraw the offer if the job applicant refuses to take a medical examination.

The thing to remember is that the medical examination should be designed to ensure that the prospective employee is suitable to perform his or her job. If this is the case then it will be justified. If it is not deemed to be linked to the job then it will not be justified under the Human Rights Act 1998.


I have a vacancy and have held interviews for the position. One candidate has impressed me and has all the necessary skills for the job. But he has an “unspent” conviction. Should this play a part in my recruitment decision?

Employers are usually interested in a potential employee’s history including, perhaps, any criminal convictions.  After a certain time, some offences could be erased from a person’s record. Legislation sets these periods after which a criminal is deemed to be rehabilitated and the offence “spent”. After this time, the conviction must play no part in the selection process.  For fines, community service orders and detention in the armed forces, an offence is spent after fie years. For offences resulting in sentences of up to six months’ imprisonment or discharge from the forces the period is seven years. The offences of those who have been sentenced to six to 30 months or have been discharged with ignominy from the forces are erased after 10 years. But a sentence over 30 months is never spent. There is a reduced time after which offences are erased if they are committed before the age of 18.              There are types of work for which convictions can never be spent. Here employers can ask questions on application forms or at interviews about convictions that would otherwise be spent. These fields include the legal and medical professions, a wide variety of services for persons under 18 and work involving the provision of health and social services to the elderly, sick or disabled.  It is worth considering what offence has been committed by the candidate and any relevance this may have to the job.  Given that this person has the right skills for the role, you may wish to give him or her a second chance.   


We have recently undertaken a recruitment campaign and our successful candidate has provided a copy of their working visa as evidence of eligibility to work in the UK but it is only valid until 1 december 2009 and stipulates that they cannot be employed as a doctor in training. What does the stipulation mean and how can we mitigate any risk to our business by offering employment with the expiry date of the visa?

The term "no employment as a doctor in training" means that the individual can undertake any full time role apart from that of a training doctor providing that their visa is within date.

In order to prevent any risk to your business, you can state in the contract of  employment that end date will be 30 November 2009 and continuation of employment will be reviewed in line with successful obtainment of extended visa application.  The successful candidate cannot apply for an extension until three months before the expiry date and normal time for processing is one month.


I plan to recruit two employees but need them to be flexible about hours. We run a cafe/restaurant with busy periods followed by quieter interludes. Some weeks I will need them to work 37 hours and some weeks it could only be 12 hours. Can I bring them in on a full time contract bit give them a week's notice informing them how many hours I need them to work?

This is more complicated than you may think so it is important to get the procedure correct.  You can negotiate contract terms that meet your needs but your employees will only agree to terms that meet their needs as well.  The greater the security your employees have in terms of hours and income, the more likely they are to agree.  As your work is seasonal you may want to consider having a contract that defines high season and low season.  In this way you can guarantee a minimum of 12 hours a week but specify times of year when you will require staff to work more hours.  This would give your employees the option of taking other work at low season.  There are further complications regarding holiday entitlement especially as you are likely to want to specify that holiday cannot be taken during peak times.

The most effective solution may be to offer part time work with the option for full time work, or increased hours, in the high season.  You could then recruit extra temporary staff during the busy season so that you maintain your flexibility whilst giving your employees some financial stability.


With extended hours of business looming for the festive period, we are looking to recruit youngsters specifically for seasonal work. As an employer what regulations should I be aware of? We are looking to offer opportunities to youngsters still in education.

Employers have to be aware of the hours that youngsters are permitted to working depending on their age. It is unlawful to employ anyone under the age of 13, unless you are employing them for short hours in a theatre production. There are different rules for employees aged younger than 18 but over the minimum school leaving age, and those between 13 and minimum school leaving age. ‘School-age’ workers may not work:

Thirteen and 14-year-olds may not work:

For 15 and 16-years-olds, the relevant restrictions are eight hours on a Saturday and 35 hours total per week.

Workers above ‘school age’ but below 18 may not work:


We are a start up business and although we are growing in these tough economic times, we are looking to recruit a new employee, but wondered if there was any way we could avoid paying Tax or NI contributions?

Yes, there is a way around this. Basically, you can offer the employee a role as normal (either on a permanent or fixed term contract) but ensure the salary offered is lower than the NI Lower Earnings Limit (LEL) set by the Government. The current LEL is £95.00 per week, or £412.00 per month.


We received a resignation letter from one of our employees and have invested a great deal of time and money in his personal development. The employee has now approached us asking to retract his resignation. The employee said it was a “hot headed” decision and one he shouldn’t have made,do you think a request to withdraw a resignation should be accepted? I question his commitment to the company; will he leave again if something better comes along?

You are under no obligation to agree to retract the employee’s resignation but you
may wish to consider the following facts:


We are a manufacturing business and want to open up our recruitment strategy to include candidates with lower levels of education but are worried about how to implement positive discrimination correctly. How can we do this without opening the business up to discrimination claims?

The general aim of the recruitment process should be to attract the best person for the job, regardless of sex, race, religion, age, sexual orientation or disability. The easiest way to do so is to set out what key skills and attributes the particular job requires and to assess the candidates on the basis of their ability to meet those requirements.

Your intention to open up recruitment to include candidates with lower levels of education does not constitute positive discrimination. If you do not consider that the job requirements include higher levels of education, you can simply state what the minimum education levels are, or that the position does not require any minimum qualifications. Or you may wish to take steps to remove any barriers, such as simplifying application forms.

The term ‘positive discrimination’ is generally used in reference to the practice by an employer of favouring candidates of a particular group based on a discriminatory ground. This is an unlawful practice except in relation to disability.

But in certain circumstances, ‘positive action’, which helps or encourages a candidate from a particular group to apply, is allowed. It would first have to be established that either the particular group in question is under-represented in the workplace or that the group would be particularly disadvantaged in taking up or doing the type of work in question.