Effective management of risks in the recruitment process

Authored and updated by the LexisNexis Legal team.

This guidance note sets out information to be considered during the recruitment process and provides links to resources within the module, including precedents, tools, guidance notes and checklists.

See also under the heading, Hiring staff in the Employment Frequent Tasks Tool.

Responsibility for recruitment

If the employer does not have a dedicated personnel or HR team:

• Who will be responsible for overseeing the recruitment process, and who will be involved at the different stages?
• Are they aware of the principles of good practice in recruitment, in particular relating to anti-discrimination laws (see Overview — Discrimination and harassment and Guidance Notes: An introduction to the general protections and What legislation exists to protect from discrimination during the recruitment process?)
• Do they require training?

Ensure that HR personnel, line managers and supervisors involved in the recruitment process are available and that provisional dates eg, for shortlisting and interviews are diarised.

If using a recruitment agent, ensure that representations made are accurate and not misleading. Also, carefully review the agreement with the recruiter. See eg, Guidance Note: Pre-employment representations and Precedent: Recruitment services agreement.

Job description and personal specification

• How has the vacancy arisen — is it due to the current jobholder leaving, growth of the business or department or because the employer has identified a gap?