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Welcome to issue 349 of the ukrecruiter newsletter. Have you checked out our suppliers directory lately? We've just completed a major update to the site. For example, why not check out our list of Recruitment Software Providers. | 
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CONTENTS
Visit http://www.ukrecruiterjobs.co.uk for the latest recruitment industry jobs. |
Article One: My Favourites http://www.smallbusinessadvice.org.uk/sbas.asp - The Small Business Advice Service provide a free and independent source of information and advice for entrepreneurs, owner managers and the self employed who are starting or running a business with fewer than 10 staff and based in England http://www.acronymfinder.com - With more than 590,000 human-edited definitions, Acronym Finder is the world's largest and most comprehensive dictionary of acronyms, abbreviations, and initialisms. When you speak to a candidate or client that speaks in acronyms this is the place to find out exactly what it is they have just been burbling on about. http://londontravelguide.com - A great new website which is promoting a new London travel guide for ipods, the iphone and mobile phones. Packed full of cool features London Travel Guides are everything you that would expect from an electronic tour guide and what makes them even better is that the service is completely free of charge. Provided by Carl Coombes, Managing Director, STARS: Sales Training And Recruitment Specialists
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Article One: Making First Contact with Passive Candidates by Louise Triance A few weeks ago on the UK Recruiter Blog we gave some tips on conducting cold name id. Obviously there are a number of steps in between sourcing potential candidate names and actually making first contact with the passive candidate, including getting round the gatekeeper (however, there is a good article on this here). This article is going to cover the steps in making first contact. Firstly when you make a call you should assume you will speak to the candidate. On this basis you should have an "approach" written (we plan to cover the approach in a blog article another time). What follows here though is how you act if you can't immediately get hold of the potential candidate. The route you choose to contact the candidate will depend on the information you have available. You may have a switchboard number, direct line number, mobile phone number, work email address and/or personal email address. I guess you also have their office address but writing to potential candidates is not going to fill those vacancies very fast! If I had all the above contact methods available I'd call the mobile. You are then approaching them at a distance from their work environment (even if they are at work). If you have to leave a message you can be fairly confident that it's only them that will pick it up. If you leave a message on a mobile or direct line number give enough detail that they understand the nature of the call. Perhaps use a variation, that you are comfortable with (and which is the truth), on this: I'm a head hunter/executive search consultant, you have been recommended to me and I'd like to talk with you about a senior opportunity I’m working on ..(and maybe give the industry or functional area). Some people may prefer not to say they are a headhunter (in case the message is listened to by a colleague). However, the more information you give the more likely a candidate is to call back. Also if the message is overheard it is possible to interpret it that you are calling them as a source – rather than trying to pitch the job to them. Make sure you leave enough detail to get their interest, but not so much that they can think it's not right for them. Always leave a number they can call you on - ideally your direct line number and your work mobile so they can call either in and out of (their) work hours. If you have to leave a message on a less "secure" line or actually with a PA you should be less direct. Perhaps something like: I work for a recruitment search company and you come highly recommended to me as someone who could offer me some assistance with a role/project I am working on.... If you hear nothing back within two days (or one if you are working on an urgent search) you should follow up with an email. This can state similar information to the phone message and it should reference the fact that you have left a voicemail message for them. The objective here is that they call you rather than engaging them in an email correspondence so don’t forget to give your phone number in the email and request that they call it. I'd suggest that you try to contact candidates who hit the job title/company criteria three of four times before you are entering stalking territory. At this stage I would send a "last ditch" email (or leave a voicemail) along the lines of: I've tried to contact you a few times over the past fortnight. I hope you might have picked up one of my emails or voice messages. The reason I have been trying to speak with you is that .... As we've not been able to speak I wanted to send you one final email to give you my contact details. I guess that this role, or the timing, is not right for you at present. However, if you want to make contact at any point in the future please feel free to do so. Two final tips. 1) Consider sending an SMS messages to make first contact. This can actually be very successful with senior candidates who are not used to be approached by this method. However, ensure you write your SMS in “proper” English rather than slang/abbreviations. 2) If you have another researcher working in your team ask them to try calling. A different tone of voice and/or slightly different tact can sometimes have an immediate effect. Of course it's always a bit annoying when you've left four messages only for your colleague to hit gold after just one attempt!
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Article Two: Discrimination and the Part Time Worker by Claire Reynolds The statutory right to request flexible working has already been extended to carers of adults and is expected to cover parents of older children in the near future. As the demand for part time work increases, a growing number of employers will need to comply with the Part Time Workers (Prevention of Less Favourable Treatment) Regulations (“the Regulations”), which were introduced in 2000 to provide protection to those working less than full time. Over a quarter of the working population are in part time employment but surprisingly there have been relatively few reported cases under the Regulations. One possible reason for this could be the narrow drafting of the Regulations, which make it difficult for part timers to identify a suitable comparator and/or to prove that the reason for the less favourable treatment is on grounds of their part time status. Although the Regulations protect both employees and workers, in order to bring a claim a full time comparator who is engaged on the same type of contract must be identified. In practice this means that both the Claimant and the comparator must fall into one of the following categories: · Employees employed under a contract of employment For example, in Wippel v Peek & Cloppenburg GmbH & Co KG (2005) the European Court of Justice held that a part-time worker engaged on a casual basis, who was paid only for the hours when she was required to work and who could refuse work if she wished, could not compare herself with her full-time colleagues. As the comparators were required to work a fixed number of hours a week for a fixed salary, and did not have the option of refusing work, they were not employed under the same type of contract. Possibly the most notable decision in this area, is the case of the retained fire-fighters in Matthews & others v Kent and Medway Towns Fire Authority & others (2006) which established the principle that it is necessary to consider the similarities between the contracts of full and part-timers, and not simply concentrate on the differences. In this case the similarities in the job description, ranking structure and disciplinary rules meant that the part-time fire fighters could be considered as employed under the same type of contract as the full-time fire fighters. However, as well as being engaged on the same contract, the comparator must also be doing work which is the same or broadly similar. In the above case, although the retained fire-fighters won the right to compare themselves with full time fire–fighters, the House of Lords remitted the case back to the employment tribunal to consider this second point and to hear arguments on whether the retained fire-fighters were treated less favourably in breach of the Regulations. The tribunal met for 3 days in March 2007, reconvened for 5 days in November 2007 and concluded the hearing earlier this month. Thus, the 7 year battle to achieve the same rights as full time fire-fighters to membership of the pension scheme, sick pay and additional responsibility payments may well be over when the decision is announced in the spring. To be successful, the less favourable treatment identified must be “on grounds of” the part time status. Furthermore, it is not sufficient that the part time status is one of a number of factors for the less favourable treatment. It must be the sole reason. In McMenemy v Capita Business Services Ltd (2007) the Company operated a policy of only giving paid time off on a bank holiday if it fell on a day when the employee would normally be working. As McMenemy worked part-time Wednesday to Friday his entitlement to paid bank holidays was less than he would have received had the Company applied the pro rata principle. The tribunal accepted that this amounted to less favourable treatment but went on to find that that the reason for less favourable treatment was not on the ground of his part time status but because he did not work Mondays. An important distinction in this case, was the fact that the employer operated 7 days a week and therefore it was possible to construct a full time comparator who did not work on Mondays, who would also not have been entitled to paid bank holiday under the Company’s policy. This decision was upheld by the EAT and the Court of Session. Even if the less favourable treatment is found to be on the grounds of part time status it will not necessarily be unlawful. It is open for the employer to demonstrate that the treatment is objectively justified as a proportionate means of achieving a legitimate aim. Factors that might establish objective justification include market forces, skills shortages, geographical differences, costs and resources and the nature of the individual’s position. Employers should review their practices to ensure that, wherever possible, pay and benefits are awarded to part timers on a pro-rata basis. Where benefits are not easily pro-rated, for example health insurance, gym membership or company cars, employers will need to decide if it is possible to pay a pro-rota cash amount in lieu of the benefit or establish objective justification for not offering the same terms. A tribunal can order the employer to pay compensation for treating a part-time worker less favourably than a full-time worker. The amount of compensation will be what is considered “just and equitable” in the circumstances. In relation to an injury to feelings award, this is not included where a dismissal was discriminatory. However, it is arguable that it could be awarded in relation to claims for detriment i.e. victimisation falling short of dismissal. Despite this, and the apparent difficulties workers are faced with when presenting a claim, employers should not underestimate the risk. As the majority of part time workers are women, unfavourable treatment may amount to indirect discrimination and a claim under the Sex Discrimination Act. Where there is discriminatory impact on contractual terms and conditions a claim may be brought under the Equal Pay Act, where arrears of pay or damages can be backdated for up to 6 years!
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Online Recruitment Update UKRecruiterJobs:
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Regards
Louise Triance
UK Recruiter http://www.ukrecruiter.co.uk
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