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Appointment Procedure
1. In the
light of the level and sustainability of income available to
Rights and Equality West Midlands, the Forum and Board will
decide whether to create and fill full-time posts. The
Forum and Board will want to see evidence that there is
planned budgetary provision to support a post for a
reasonable time period, before such a decision is reached.
In the absence of such evidence, preference will be given to
completing work with the help of consultants or on a
part-time basis.
2. Full-time
posts will normally be publicly advertised in the national
or local press, by mail shot to neighbouring voluntary
organisations or at the local job centre. Much will depend
on the funding available for public advertisement and the
likelihood of attracting suitable candidates by means of the
method chosen. Funding permitting, advertisements may be
placed with the ethnic minority press.
3. Unless
there are exceptional circumstances, posts will always be
publicly advertised. Internal advertisement or
advertisement in West Midland race equality circles only
will be avoided. Primary aims must be to attract the most
able candidates and to promote equal opportunity.
4. Advertisements will normally contain the following
information: post title, grade and salary; whether
permanent, fixed term or temporary; brief supplementary
information on the nature of the organisation, the work
involved and the skills needed to do it; an equal
opportunity statement; information on where to obtain the
application form and further particulars; and a closing
date
5. Internal
applicants will be able to apply along side external ones,
all to be treated on an equal footing during the process of
selection.
6. A job
description and person specification for each post will be
prepared and sent with any further particulars and an
application form in response to enquiries resulting from
advertisement.
7. Applications will be gathered and kept in a secure way,
until a Rights and Equality West Midlands shortlisting panel
can be convened to draw up a shortlist against the criteria
set out in the person specification.
8. The
composition of the shortlisting panel and the interview
panel will be determined by the Board or Forum, but will
normally consist of Honorary Officers and/or other
Board/Forum members on the Personnel Sub-committee, bearing
in mind the desirability of achieving gender and racial
mix. Ideally, shortlisting and interviewing panels will
consist of the same persons.
9. The chair
of any panel may wish to draw on professional advice, and
with the agreement of a majority of the panel, may invite
professionally qualified and/or experienced experts to
advise in the selection process, who may also be asked to
ask questions of candidates and to review their strengths,
but not to vote in the process of selection.
10. Various
pre-interview exercises may be required of candidates (eg.
presentations, word-processing tests) to help panel members
in the selection process.
11. Shortlisting and interviewing will be undertaken in
accordance with the guidance and by using assessment sheets
contained in the Rights and Equality West Midlands panel
members’ folder.
12. Applications, shortlists and appointments will be monitored
to ensure that no job application or employee receives less
favourable treatment on the grounds of colour, race,
nationality or ethnic or national origins, sex, marital
status or disability. Monitoring of belief, sexual
orientation or age does not as yet occur, but will be
considered if and when introduced more generally or by law.
13. No question
will be asked at interview about an individual’s religion,
politics, membership of a political party or secret society,
or other overt or covert affiliation, except where such
membership could have a bearing on that person’s ability to
satisfy the person specification or to subscribe to the
aims, objects and policies of Rights and Equality West
Midlands (for example, in the case of an applicant from an
extreme right-wing racist party).
14. References will be taken up on shortlisted candidates, both
internal and external, preferably prior to interview. Job
offers will be made subject to reference and medical
clearance. References must be received in writing and may
be faxed at short notice, but should not be accepted by
telephone
15. Shortlisted candidates will receive at least seven days
notice of the interview date. Interviews, interview dates
and interview decisions will not normally be changed or
delayed because an individual candidate is unable to attend
at the date or time in question, but an effort will be made
to accommodate candidates who experience genuine and
unexpected difficulties such as a delayed or cancelled
train.
16. Candidates attending for interview will be entitled to claim
reimbursement for reasonable travel and subsistence expenses
(standard class rail fares).
17. Panel
decisions will entail considered examination and assessment
of the respective candidates’ merits. In the case of a
shortlist of one candidate, the decision will be as to
whether to appoint or not. Following deliberation, the
chair will endeavour to achieve a consensus on which
candidates by the panel against criteria set out in the
person specification. If the panel fail to agree, and wish
to proceed to appointment, then a decision shall be reached
by a majority vote. In the case of a tied vote, the chair
may choose to use an additional casting vote to decide
matters.
18. Unsuccessful applications will be sent a letter informing
them when the post has been filled.
19. Successful applicants may be made an offer by telephone but
will be sent a written confirmation as soon as possible
thereafter. They will be expected to confirm their
acceptance in writing and their start date within a week of
the offer being made. If an acceptance is not forthcoming,
the panel reserves the right to withdraw its offer.
20. On written
acceptance, an appointee will be sent a letter of
appointment and statement of written particulars (terms and
conditions).
Fractional appointments, job share and regarding
21. Applicants will be considered for fractional appointments to
a full-time post providing Rights and Equality West Midlands
is able to see its way to filling the remaining fraction of
the post and that the particular post can properly be
undertaken in the time fraction proposed.
22. While Rights
and Equality West Midlands may look kindly on a request from
a fractional appointee for a full-time appointment, the
appointee will have no automatic right to the remaining
fraction of a post whether the post is, or at a later stage,
becomes vacant.
23. Rights and
Equality West Midlands will endeavour to accommodate the
request of any full-time employee to go part-time or to work
to a fraction of her/his full-time post providing she/he has
worked satisfactorily on a full-time basis for a minimum of
one year (calculated as including any leave entitlement)
prior to the request.
24. Promotions or regarded posts will always be advertised
internally, unless there is clearly only one obvious and/or
suitably qualified internal candidate. Job descriptions
will be reviewed/amended for all promoted or regarded posts.
25. This
document was approved by Rights and Equality West Midlands
Forum on 7 February 2002, amended October 2007 and reviewed
on an annual basis by the Chief Executive with the next date
of review scheduled for January 2009.
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