A first-of-its-kind Better Hiring Toolkit has been launched, providing an essential guide for care sector employers to make informed, safer recruitment decisions.
The best practice toolkit - which can be accessed for free here - provides simplified guidance to support employers with both obtaining and providing effective references and conduct information.
It has been compiled as a collaboration between safeguarding experts at the Better Hiring Institute, the Disclosure and Barring Service, Reed Screening, Skills for Care, Dominic Headley & Associates and VBA Consulting.
With social care staff and volunteers providing support for some of the most vulnerable people in society, the toolkit is focused upon the safety of the people employers are entrusted to care for and the staff who carry out their roles.
Among the key ambitions of the Better Hiring Toolkit are:
- a desire to raise standards in the care sector
- providing a one-stop shop for industry best practice
- encouraging an increase in sharing information - including Barring referrals
A robust and safer approach to sharing effective references and conduct information is the earliest opportunity that organisations have to prevent those who may be unsuitable for work with vulnerable people from securing a role.
Whilst sharing effective references and conduct information for staff working in social care settings has always been an essential part of safe and fair recruitment, many employers experience challenges in obtaining and providing them. Some employers refuse to complete references, others provide insufficient information and sometimes, appropriate 'evidence of conduct' is not provided - a legal requirement made by the Care Quality Commission.
Download and share the BHI Toolkit
Those responsible for recruitment within care sector organisations are being urged to download and share the toolkit within the hiring community.
BHI free virtual launch event
A virtual online session is being held to launch the Better Hiring Toolkit with expert speakers discussing how the social care sector can implement best practice recruitment. This takes place on Thursday 19 January, from 1pm to 2pm.
