Blanchard Bailey’s Breakfast Meeting presentation on the pitfalls of recruitment.
Following the presentation by Blanchards Bailey at our recent event please see below for a summary of the key points covered and profiles of the speakers:
Summary of presentation
It is critical to take care when recruiting and selecting staff in order to ensure financial and human costs are minimised, the employer brand is constantly developed, and that employment protection and equal opportunities legislation is adhered to.
The Equality Act 2010 protects the following characteristics from direct, indirect, associative and perceptive discrimination:
Age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex, and sexual orientation:
Discrimination can occur in:
- Arrangements for deciding to whom to offer employment
- The terms on which employment is offered
- Not offering employment
To help avoid these potential pitfalls employers should ensure they follow best practice in recruitment and selection processes and practices and train all those involved in implementing them.
To improve diversity and opportunities for all protected groups there is the option of taking Positive Action. This needs to be managed with care in order to avoid positive discrimination which is unlawful. Advice should be sought if necessary. Blanchards Bailey’s employment services can provide this if required.
Jane Eldridge is Head of Human Resources at Blanchards Bailey. In this role she is responsible for developing policies and processes, in line with best practice, and for ensuring the appropriate staff are recruited, managed effectively and retained in order to help the Firm achieve its business goals. Jane also runs an external HR consultancy service for a wide range of clients, assisting them with all their staffing and training needs. Jane has worked and taught in HR for over 30 years in a number of different industries. She is a Chartered Fellow of the CIPD and has an MA in HRM.
Her contact details are jane.eldridge@blanchardsbailey.co.uk, tel no 01258 488220
Ben Jones is a Senior Associate in Blanchards Bailey’s Litigation and Disputes team, specialising in all aspects of property and company commercial disputes. He started legal practice in 2008 and joined Blanchards Bailey in 2017. He prides himself on offering his clients a mindful, logical and down-to-earth approach, aiming to understand his client’s objectives at the outset and then, working alongside other members of the team, strike the balance between a firm and conciliatory approach depending on the specific circumstances of a case. Ben is a believer in early resolution and settlement (where appropriate) to avoid the cost and stress of litigation. It is also his view that “prevention is better than cure” with it being beneficial to obtain legal advice when a dispute is looming, rather than after it has started.
His contact details are ben.jones@blanchardsbailey.co.uk, tel no 01258 483601
