safe recruitment best practice guidance · employment checks 13-14 9. confirmation of offer 15 10....

Safe Recruitment Best

Practice Guidance

For Ofsted registered early years,

childcare and playwork settings

Safe Recruitment - April 2013 of 32

Contents Page:

Background Information and Introduction 4-5

Safe employment – the beginning to end process:

1. Job description and person specification 6 2. Planning the interview and assessment in advance 6 3. Advertising 7

4. Short listing 8

5. The interview and assessment process 9-10

6. Decision making 10-11

7. References 11-12

8. Employment Checks 13-14

9. Confirmation of offer 15

10. Induction 15

11. Training 15

12. Safe Working Culture 16

13. Whistle blowing and complaints 16

14. Policies and procedures 16

15. Monitoring systems 16-17


Appendices:

Appendix A

Child Safeguarding Competences for Staff who work with

Children 18

Appendix B

Red Flag Behaviours: Child Safeguarding Competences for

Staff who Work with Children 19

Appendix C: Short-listing Record Sheet 20-21

Appendix D: Example Letter Requesting Reference 22

Appendix E: Employer Reference Request Form 23-24

Appendix F: Interview Checklist 25-26

Appendix G: Self-Evaluation Checklist and Action Plan 27-31

Contacts 32


Background information: Legal Framework- A new definition of regulated activity

• The Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006 sets out the activities and work which are

‘regulated activity’, which a person who has been barred by the ISA must not do. It

makes it a statutory obligation before taking on staff or volunteers to work with children

to make the appropriate checks first

• The Government is scaling back regulated activity to focus on work which involves close

and unsupervised contact with vulnerable groups including children

• The current definition of regulated activity would, over time, cover over 9 million people;

in the new definition it will be closer to 5 million. The activities and work which are

being taken out of regulated activity will still be eligible for enhanced CRB checks (but

they will no longer be eligible for barred list checks)

• A national Independent Safeguarding Authority (ISA) was set up between 2008 and

2009. Its role is to gather information on individuals and make decisions on whether they

should be prevented from working with vulnerable people

• A Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS), to combine the services of the Independent

Safeguarding Authority (ISA) and the Criminal Records Bureau (CRB), became

operational from 1st December 2012 (See www.gov.uk/dbs )

• The Equality Act (2010) replaces the existing anti-discrimination laws with a single Act.

It simplifies the law, removing inconsistencies and making it easier for people to

understand and comply with it. It also strengthens the law in important ways to help

tackle discrimination and inequality

• This guide is to help you keep children safe and free from all forms of abuse or

mistreatment when they are attending your setting.


Introduction

• As an organisation that employs people to work with children you must do

everything you can to make sure you don’t employ anyone who may abuse

children

• Those responsible for recruitment must show an understanding of safe

recruitment practices and be able to prove this for their Ofsted inspection.

• You must also follow safe recruitment practice when taking on volunteers and

other staff, for example cooks, caretakers, administrators and committee

members

• You must clearly state a commitment to safeguarding at every stage of the

recruitment process, from job advert, through selection to appointment

• Having safe recruitment and selection practices will help to dissuade some

unsuitable people from applying for or accepting a post and will help you to

identify some unsuitable candidates. However, you will never completely

eliminate the risk of appointing an abuser who is determined to gain employment

and access to children

• Therefore, you must have an open culture committed to safeguarding and

promoting the welfare of children. This means making sure all staff understand

their duty of care (which includes discussing concerns about children and or staff

with their manager), and also know what they can and cannot do when looking

after children.

Example safeguarding behaviour competencies can be found at Appendix A and ‘Red flag’ behaviours can be found at Appendix B.

• At the end of this guide there is a self-evaluation check list to help you decide

what you are already doing and what more you need to do

• If you fill in the check list and the accompanying action plan it will help you

with your safe recruitment practice. See Appendix G for example.

The information contained in this document has been based on ‘Good Practice Guidance’ Selecting and Recruiting Staff and Volunteers within Registered Settings in Sheffield, March 2006, Sheffield City Council, ‘ Changes to disclosure and barring: What you need to know’ – (HM Government 2012), Warner Interview Questions (Warner Report 1992) and Statutory Framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage (DofE 2012).


Safe employment – the beginning

to end process

1. Job description and person specification

Before the job is advertised decide what behaviours and competencies are needed to carry out

the job:

• What are you looking for in terms of professional standards and qualifications?

(Information on relevant qualifications can be accessed at

www.education.gov.uk)

• What are the behaviours and personal qualities someone with a responsible

attitude towards safeguarding children would hold?

Example safeguarding behaviour competencies can be found at Appendix A

• The job description should also refer to the responsibility for safeguarding and

promoting the welfare of children.

2. Planning the interview and assessment in advance

• You need to hold a face-to-face interview that explores the candidate’s suitability

to work with children as well as their suitability for the post

• Your interview panel must include at least two interviewers, one of whom must

have attended safeguarding training and, ideally, safe recruitment training

• The more information you get about an applicant, the more reliable your

selection decision is likely to be

• For this reason, you should consider other assessments as well as an interview

• This could include the candidate giving a presentation to the interview panel or

watching the candidate leading a music activity, playing a game or reading a

story with the children.

Note if the candidate is doing an activity with the children they must be observed at all times and under no circumstances be left unsupervised with the children.


3. Advertising

• Your adverts, leaflets and policies must make clear you are committed to

keeping children safe

• People who want to do harm are more likely to go to places where it is made

easy for them

• Using a safeguarding statement in your job advertisements will prevent some

unsuitable people from applying in the first place.

The Suffolk County Council Early Years and Childcare Service is able to offer you online job

vacancy advertising with Suffolk Jobs Direct. This service is available for all private,

voluntary and independent early years and childcare, playwork providers who are registered

with Ofsted.

To find out more go to: www.suffolkjobsdirect.org.uk

Or phone (01473) 265442


4. Short listing

• Use the personal qualities and behavioural criteria as well as qualifications and

work experience to decide who to shortlist

• On the candidate’s application form, check that dates of employment line up and

there are no unexplained gaps. If there are, telephone or write in advance and ask

for reasons, or, if this is not possible, ask at interview

• Rate each candidate to decide if they should be shortlisted. For example:

o D No evidence provided

o C Some evidence, but falls short of standards set

o B Evidence meets the standards set

o A Evidence exceeds the standards set

• This will allow you to compare candidates fairly and not let one area dominate

all others

• You can put greater emphasis on one or more important skills or competencies

for the job

• You should have very good reasons for short listing any candidates who do not

meet your essential requirements (for example, candidates are awarded C or D

ratings)

• Make sure you send your child protection or safeguarding policy to each

shortlisted candidate.

See Appendix C for example of Short listing record sheet


5. The interview and assessment process

• You must make a note of each candidate’s responses. The interview must

explore issues relating to the safeguarding of children, for example:

o Investigate any apparent sizeable gaps in employment to check for

credible reasons

o Explore concerns or discrepancies arising from the information provided

by the candidate or referee

o Ask the candidate if they wish to declare anything in light of the need for

a CRB check.

o At least one safeguarding question must be asked - this could be about

your safeguarding policy or previous professional experience of child

protection and safeguarding issues.

Some tips for interviewing �

• Ask open questions which promote a longer response such as the Warner

Interview questions’ (The Warner Report, 1992). �

The four key areas are:

o Motivation to work with children and young people

o Ability to form and maintain appropriate relationships and personal

boundaries with children and young people

o Emotional resilience working with challenging behaviours

o Attitudes towards the use of authority and maintaining discipline.

You need to select approximately four Warner questions for the first part of the

interview, before moving onto competency based questions, such as:

o Tell me about...

o Give an example of…

o How do you go about...?

o Ask follow up questions to check the candidate has done what they say

they have done and continue to probe until you get what you need

o Remember past performance is the best predictor of future performance


o Avoid hypothetical questions and make sure you focus on what

applicants have actually done rather than what they say in theory.

Areas to watch out for when interviewing

• Selection decisions tend to be made early (in the first four minutes) and

interviewers tend to be attracted to people like themselves. Be careful to avoid

this. It is neither good practice nor accurate

• Do not believe what people say without examining the evidence of what they

have done

• Be aware of over-familiarisation, for example, if you know the candidate

personally, do not make assumptions about what you think they can do.

6. Decision making

• You should use your notes about each candidate to compare them and keep

decision-making objective

• Score each candidate against an agreed rating system (see example below) to decide

on the best candidate for the job

• Look at the ratings against individual criteria as well as overall scores.


7. References

• ‘Open’ references addressed ‘to whom it may concern’ are not acceptable, neither are

testimonials brought by the candidate on the day of the interview

• You must always get permission from candidates before taking up references from

current or most recent employers

• Always follow up at least two referees and, where possible, references should cover the

last five years’ work history

• References need to include factual information

• Ideally, references should be requested before the interview so that any concerns can be

explored at the interview

• To make sure that you follow safe recruitment practice you should ask for the following

information:

o The referee’s perception of the individual’s suitability to work with children


o Whether they have any concerns about the candidate working with children

o Whether they have any knowledge of the individual being personally

investigated regarding safeguarding issues – even if the investigation came to

nothing

o You should also remind the referee that the reference they provide must be

accurate and not misleading. Any disciplinary issues should be included in the

references. However, information such as the successful candidate’s medical

records or details of spent convictions wouldn’t normally be included unless they

formed part of a disciplinary action.

See Appendix D for an example letter requesting a reference and Appendix E for an example reference request form

Interpretation of references

• When you get the references back, you should check all the questions have been

answered satisfactorily

• You should phone the referee to confirm their identity and, at the same time, check any

details of which you are unsure

• You should check that what is being said in the reference matches information on the

application form

• You should discuss any discrepancies (differences) between the references and the

application form with the candidate

• If there has been past disciplinary action or allegations against the applicant, check this

out very carefully, particularly the views and levels of concern expressed by any

professionals handling the case.


8. Employment Checks �

• You must carry out an enhanced CRB check for each person you appoint working in

regulated activity

• You must also carry out CRB checks on staff handling sensitive information, even if they

don’t have direct access to children (this would include committee staff)

• Staff who have not yet had a CRB disclosure returned must never be allowed to work

unsupervised with children

• The CRB form must be completed and sent prior to the applicant starting work

• If you don’t get a response from a CRB check, you must follow this up straight away

(they shouldn’t be employed if you haven’t had checks back!)

• You must get a document from the candidate proving their identification. This could be

an original copy of a birth certificate, passport, driving licence or naturalisation

certificate. No other documents are acceptable

• For asylum seekers and immigrants you must check whether they have legal work

permits

• Make sure you see original documents proving professional qualifications. Make a note

that these have been checked.


Questions that can be asked when applying for jobs

When employers are recruiting staff, there are limits on the health or disability-related enquiries

they can make during the recruitment process. These limits apply up to the point where you offer

the job.

Before you offer the job or place people in a pool of successful candidates, you can only ask

about their health or disability:

• To help the employer to find out whether they can take part in any assessment

• To help the employer decide whether they need to make reasonable adjustments for the candidate to take part in a selection process, such as an interview or test

• To help the employer decide whether the candidate can carry out a task that is an essential part of the work

• To help the employer to monitor diversity among people applying for their jobs

• If the employer wants to know if the candidate is themselves disabled because they

want to increase the number of disabled people they employ

• If the employer wants to know if the candidate is disabled because it is a requirement of

the job that you have a disability

• For the purposes of national security checks.

You can find an interview checklist to help you record this information at Appendix F


9. Confirmation of offer

After an interview, an employer can make a conditional offer. Once you have received

appropriate references and CRB disclosures, the conditional offer can then be confirmed in the

terms and conditions of a contract.

10. Induction

• Once you have offered someone the job and agreed a start date, you can prepare for

their induction. Having an induction and probationary period for your new employee should make sure they understand the safeguarding policies, ethos and culture

• The induction should include information about policies and procedures including those

relating to safeguarding

• You should put time aside to discuss safeguarding and answer any questions or address any concerns

• You should also make sure staff know that they can expect complete support from their

line managers if they raise a concern about a colleague’s conduct, especially in relation

to children. You must point out that if concerns are not reported then children may

continue to be harmed while an adult is unwittingly being protected

• Staff should not think ‘What if I am wrong?’; instead they should think ‘What if I am right and I do nothing?’

• You should continue the induction process during all supervision and appraisal sessions, and you should discuss safeguarding issues each time

• During the probationary period, which should be at least six months, the employee should regularly work under the supervision of a more experienced member of staff.

11. Training

• Safeguarding training must be updated regularly and all staff should be aware of their duty to protect children

• Those who recruit staff should have specific training on safe recruitment, which should

be regularly updated

• Staff should be able to prove they have had the relevant training

• Details about courses are available at: www.suffolkcpd.co.uk

In addition the Workforce Development- Early Years team can be contacted at 01473

260464 or email: [email protected]


12. Safe Working Culture

• The first priority of all staff should be safeguarding the children in their care (paramouncy principle - Children Act 1989)

• The most important thing is that children are listened to and any concerns dealt with

• All staff must be monitored by their line managers, both in the probationary period and beyond, to make sure they are safeguarding the children in their care

• Monitoring should be evidenced through staff appraisals and training.

13. Whistle blowing and complaints

• A rigorous whistle blowing procedure must be in place to make sure all concerns about staff conduct are reported and dealt with quickly and fairly

• There should also be a published complaints procedure for all users (parents, carers, organisations) of the setting to raise concerns

• You must show that whistle blowing and complaints are fully investigated and recorded

accurately.

14. Policies and procedures

• You should have a safe recruitment procedure and policy and make sure this is

followed during the recruitment selection and induction of staff

• All staff must know about and follow the codes of conduct and safe working

practice guidelines. If they don’t they should be disciplined.

15. Monitoring systems

o You should check staff are following policies by, for example:

o Watching them at work

o Staff appraisal and supervision

o Supporting staff visits from, for example, a training mentor, quality assurance

verifier, or Outreach Officer/Consultant visits from the Local Authority

o Self-assessment form and Early Years Foundation Stage Statutory Framework

o Managers must also monitor the day-to-day work environment


o There must be clear, appropriate and rigorously enforced policies and procedures when

taking children away from the setting

o You must make sure that any bus or coach companies that you use carry out CRB checks

on their drivers

o Guidance on safe working practices must be provided for all staff and include

information on:

o Non-routine events such as excursions

o Child injury or illness

o Internet use

o Taking and using photographs of children

o Mobile phone use and social networking.

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