Esland Online School

Introduction to safer recruitment
This policy provides guidance for all Managers in all agencies involved in the recruitment of staff and/or volunteers to work with children and/or vulnerable adults to ensure they meet their obligations under safeguarding and attain a safer, more robust recruitment process.
Safeguarding seeks to ensure that the most exposed groups; children, young people and vulnerable adults are protected. The aim of safeguarding is to ensure people live free from harm, abuse and neglect and in doing so this protects their health, wellbeing and human rights.
It is therefore vital that Managers understand there is a risk that abuse could happen in their organisation and there is a need for a culture of openness, transparency and vigilance to be created. Additionally, those who raise concerns should be left in no doubt that support in raising concerns will be offered and the commitment to take action is assured everyone has a responsibility to be aware of safeguarding issues and this policy aims to proactively safeguard and promote the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults so that the need for action to protect children from harm is reduced.
Purpose
Everyone has a responsibility to be aware of safeguarding issues and this policy aims to proactively safeguard and promote the welfare of children and young so that the need for action to protect children from harm is reduced.
Safeguarding is defined as:
Agencies working with children, young people and vulnerable adults taking all reasonable measures to ensure that the risks of harm to the individual’s welfare are minimised; and where concerns arise all agencies take all of the appropriate actions to address those concerns by working to agreed local policies and procedures and working in partnership with other local agencies.
Statutory guidance on inter-agency working to safeguard and promote the welfare of children: Working Together to Safeguard Children
This policy and procedures seeks to embed safer recruitment practices throughout the borough’s organisations and ensure managers, employees and candidates for employment are aware of the minimum standards used for recruiting and selecting staff
This will create a robust safeguarding culture by reinforcing the issues of safeguarding children, young people and vulnerable groups and:
Increasing the awareness of safeguarding issues;
Highlighting the policies and procedures in place to safeguard;
Taking concerns seriously and providing a method of reporting concerns;
Where to get information from;
Act as a deterrent to offenders.
This policy provides the expected standards organisations must adopt for posts that involve working with children and young people. Throughout this policy there are links designed to make it easier for you to find the detailed guidance you require.

Guidance for managers who recruit to safeguarding roles
This document provides the expected standards for recruitment that managers must adopt to ensure that candidates for both paid and unpaid (i.e., volunteer) employment are the right people, and that they are suitably checked to ensure the risks for employing them to work with children and young people is limited.
This policy also provides standard templates, guidance, step by step guides and clear procedures for reporting allegations to make it easy and consistent to use.
Managers must not allow staff to commence working unsupervised in a safeguarding role until the necessary background checks are completed.
If Managers are unsure of how to use this policy, or if further advice and guidance is required on the recruitment and selection of staff, they should contact the HR department.
A summary and recruitment checklist are set out within Esland’s Summary and Checklist document.
Throughout this policy there are links designed to make it easier for you to find the detailed guidance you require.

Scope
This policy applies to all successful candidates for employment and employees of Esland, specifically those who work with children, young people and /or vulnerable adults. This policy seeks to promote the rigorous processes and procedures the organisation uses to recruit and select employees and actively discourage anyone who considers Esland to be vulnerable.
‘Children’ are defined as those under the age of 18, and ‘vulnerable adults’ are broadly defined as ” as people over the age of 18 years with a mental or physical disability who are unable to take action themselves to safeguard their own well-being, rights and other interests, and are at risk of significant harm or exploitation.
Procedures which form part of the safer recruitment policy are:
Recruitment and selection
Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) checks
Allegations made against and volunteers
Probationary review
Staff code of conduct
Whistleblowing
Procedure
Applicants are shortlisted using a fixed set of criteria dependent on the role applied for. The applicant will then be screened via a short telephone interview and if successful at this stage, will be invited to attend a formal face to face or video call interview. Applicants will receive an email with any preparation required and a list of documents to bring to the interview to be verified or copied. A full application form should be sent across to the hiring manager ahead of the scheduled interview.
At the time of the interview, you should only go ahead and interview the applicant if you are in receipt of their fully completed and signed application form. Unless prior authorisation has been given to proceed without.
Full education and employment history should be checked at interview, and all gaps in employment will be fully explored as part of the recruitment process. Nor formal offer will be made without checking these details.
Successful applicants will be subject to an enhanced DBS check and will not commence work within our homes until a satisfactory check has been completed.
If an applicant has worked abroad for longer than one month or has lived abroad for longer than 3 months’ within the last 10 years then an overseas check must be completed. Please contact the Recruitment Team for further guidance on overseas checks.
Allegations & Disclosures
If the applicant discloses any allegations or disciplinary warnings made against them, this must be highlighted to the hiring manager. More information should be requested either prior to or at interview. The Regional Manager will then have to confirm they are happy to proceed with their employment and a DBS risk assessment should be put into place by the Hiring Manager and the Regional.
All applicants will be screened via a short telephone interview. Following this, successful applicants will be invited to attend a face-to-face interview (either in person or virtually depending on restrictive or challenging circumstances.) The face-to-face interview will be undertaken by two people. Both interviewers will make notes of the answers given at the interview and if the applicant is successful this will be kept on their personnel file.
During the interview, the application form will be checked to ensure the full employment history is completed to include all gaps in employment and contact details, all education history is present, and all sections are completed.
For some senior leadership, central function, education or clinical roles, there may be a requirement for a presentation or an assessment centre alongside scenario-based interview questions.
When appropriate, we may ask the children in our care to get involved with our recruitment process. Applicants who pass the initial interview stage (particularly in frontline care roles) may be asked to progress with an unpaid 4-hour observation shift in the home where children give their manager feedback on how they feel this went and what skills and values the applicant can bring into their home.
Following the successful completion of an observation shift (where appropriate), a verbal offer will be made to the candidate, followed by an offer email giving clarification on the terms of the offer and further instructions regarding pre-employment checks.
Mandatory interview documentation
It is essential that there are two sets of interview notes on file and the most up to date interview questions should be used. Please ensure you contact the recruitment team for the most up to date interview questions. Both sets of notes should be signed by the interviewer and fully completed.
During the interview, the applicant must be asked a series of interview questions in line with Safer Recruitment guidelines.
Pre-employment checks & references
Esland will request a minimum two employment references from previous employment, one of which must be the current or most recent employer. If a candidate has previously worked in a role with children or vulnerable adults, we will request references from such previous employers.These references are then verified via the Onboarding Team and / or the external background checking provider.
If we cannot obtain references after 3 points of contact, and encouraging the candidate to support with this, we will undertake a reference risk assessment and place on file where appropriate.
A full understanding of all gaps in employment greater than 28 days will be sought, gaps which have occurred in the most recent 5 years will be verified for accuracy.
A DVLA check will be undertaken (where applicable) for those that will be driving on company business to confirm the licence status and any current convictions. A risk assessment should be completed for any licences with current convictions. DVLA checks will be performed annually following the initial check.
Candidates will be required to provide evidence of any relevant qualifications pertaining to their job role. Original certificates should be provided to the onboarding Team when attending our induction course for verification.
DBS checks
We will accept a DBS with another employer providing it matches employment history, is on the update service and we can view the original certificate. We will then carry out the necessary checks using the update service portal. Otherwise, we will undertake a full enhanced DBS check in advance of employment. If an applicant has a disclosure recorded on their DBS, the applicant cannot under any circumstances start work, undertake a shadow shift, or commence training until a full risk assessment has been conducted and signed off by the Operations Director for the relevant region or HR. Any DBS on the update service with disclosures will require a new application via Esland. This may, on occasion, be escalated appropriately to the Chief Operating Officer and/or the Safeguarding Board. This also applies to disclosures recorded and overseas checks.
If candidates have any cautions or convictions on their DBS check, we will risk assess each conviction before confirming whether Esland will proceed with employment. Decisions about continuing with their recruitment process with cautions or convictions on their DBS certificate will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis.
All DBS certificate details must be kept on file for 3 years, at which point a new check must be done. If there are any issues disclosed on the DBS, the HR team must be notified along with the Regional Manager for a decision to be made on continuing with employment.
Identification and right to work
We require two forms of ID and a proof of address to submit a DBS. The DBS certificate once completed will be sent directly to the candidate. This also applies to overseas checks.
DBS certificates that are on the update service are not accepted.
Right to work information is required upon interview including settled status and the right to remain for overseas candidates.
Previous Ofsted Reports
Where candidates have held Registered Manager positions previously, the candidate must share their URN numbers for previous Ofsted Registrations to ensure previous Ofsted Reports are deemed satisfactory.
The candidates offer of employment will be conditional upon this
Agency and temp to perm workers
If a new starter comes via an agency, they will be permitted to work straight away IF the agency can provide Esland with:
A copy of the current DBS enhanced certificate
2 x professional references
Any required qualifications for the role i.e., QCF, physical intervention, safeguarding
A DVLA check if the worker will be driving on Company business
The documents must be stored on their personnel file before they can commence work.
For temp to perm workers, the recruitment team will commence our normal Safer Recruitment procedures to ensure the worker is fully complaint at the end of their temporary assignment.
The registered manager must ensure the temporary /agency worker induction checklist is completed.
Completed checks
Once the file is complete, a checklist must be completed to confirm all aspects of the Safer Recruitment process has been followed. The file should then be sent for peer checking by another member of the Onboarding team.
The pack will then be sent to the Hiring Manager, copying in the relevant Onboarding Team Members and the Regional Manager. The pack should them be signed off by the Regional Manager to say the person is safe to start. This should be confirmed within 24 hours of the pack being completed, in the quickest format possible.
The signed pack should then be sent back to the recruitment team within 24 hours unless there are any concerns that may need addressing.
A start date can then be confirmed by the Manager with the candidate.
Lone working
Newly recruited employees will be subject to a six-month probationary period. During supervision and the probationary review, the Home Manager will assess the individual’s suitability to lone work. No individual should be lone working until this has been authorised by the Home Manager.
Failure to adhere to any aspects of this policy may result in disciplinary action.