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Recruitment agency audits - are your suppliers regulated?

19 June 2017

When choosing new suppliers, or even managing trusted suppliers, it's essential that you stay in control. It can often be difficult to evaluate the stability and quality of new suppliers, as without practical use it may be hard to make a judgement call. On the other hand, whilst your current recruitment agencies may be providing you with the highest quality workers, it may be that they're not fully compliant or there is a periodical inconsistency of quality delivery. 

To ensure that you receive a consistently good quality of service and to get the best from your suppliers, they must be regularly monitored and audited.

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Why should you carry out recruitment agency audits?

We believe that everyone should have complete confidence that their workers have been recruited with full compliance to current legislations and recruitment best practice – and that recruitment agencies should have the necessary tools and knowledge available to them to maintain these standards.

Datum RPO's audit checks for our clients cover 100% of supplied workers and are carried out every six months, ensuring the highest levels of quality service. By reviewing the processes, systems and records in place for each recruitment partner, you can verify ongoing compliance and ensure that your agencies have everything they need to meet the standards you deserve.

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Benefits of recruitment agency audits:

Protect your reputation

Audit checks protect your brand and its reputation by ensuring all legal and best practice checks are frequently taking place.

 

A consistent brand image

Ensure your brand is presented correctly by your agencies so you can attract the best talent and promote a consistent brand image.

 

Eliminate legal risks

Rule out any legal risks such as illegal workers, employees without contracts and false selfemployment and payments made via umbrella companies.

 

Prevent operational delays

From registration to certification and completing relevant checks prior to employment, ensuring the right processes are in place means no surprise hold ups.

 

Significant cost savings

By reviewing and cross-referencing workers’ pay slips, you can identify any overpayments and credit them back so you’re not out of pocket.

 

Stand out in the market

Demonstrating credibility and improving working standards can help to boost your reputation and give you a competitive edge.

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How do you carry out recruitment agency audits?

Supplier audits can take place at any time, however we recommend that agencies are given a minimum of 48 hours notice so they can be fully prepared. On the day of the audit, suppliers must ensure that all the necessary paperwork is available for review, including pay slips, insurance documents, any memberships and accreditations and ISO quality standards. Additional questions will also be asked to confirm agency Worker Regulations, holiday payment processes, how visa expiry dates are managed and whether or not there is an equal opportunities policy in place.

The audit itself will then be used to verify that the agency in question has retained copies of essential compliance paperwork, as well as other best practice checks. To complete the audit, the agency should provide application packs containing all of the necessary information, and will have the option to present and explain the files in person or leave the auditor to review the paperwork alone.

The auditor will then review each candidate file individually, recording the evidence presented on the audit report. Any actions will be logged within the report and discussed at the end of the audit, when any missing documentation will also be highlighted, to provide the agency with an opportunity to complete any gaps.

A pass or fail is confirmed on the day, with the audit report sent on to the supplier within 24 hours. Any audit failures will then be followed up within seven days, with a view to addressing the actions highlighted and providing the agency with a chance to present any missing files to increase the overall standard and achieve a pass. Ultimately, the failure to meet the expected standards could result in termination of the contract.

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What issues might arise if agencies aren't audited?

To pass an audit, a score of 0-49 is a needed. It’s unusual for agencies to pass their first audit check with 100% compliance, and even some of the best agencies can miss some of the necessary checks. This is why Datum RPO allow a seven-day period after the audit has taken place to resolve any issues and bring the standards up to an acceptable level.

(In our common issues that arise if agencies aren't audited, for more information, click here.)

These issues can include:

• Missing or unsigned criminal conviction declarations

• No retained copies of qualifications, certificates or licenses

• Missing application form

• No evidence of reference checks (unless there is evidence of reference requests)

• Missing or unsigned 48 hour opt out agreement

• No health and safety or risk assessment in place

• No insurance or insurance that is not in line with contract

• Lower pay slip pay rate than listed on the online portal record

• Pay type mismatch (for example listing as PAYE but paying limited)

• No record of a face-to-face interview

• Absence of a medical questionnaire

• Missing pay slips

 

There are some issues that result in an immediate fail, such as missing candidate ID's/Right to Work, start dates which precede registration dates, missing or unsigned candidate contracts, payments being made to contract workers via non-approved Umbrella providers and direct payments being made to self-employed workers. In this case, agencies will be given a list of things to improve and then be re-audited. If the agency in question continues to fail, they will be removed from the supplier list. 

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Datum RPO offer a free audit to businesses that are unsure on the regulation of their suppliers. For more information on requesting a free audit, click the button below.

Request Free Audit 

 

About Datum RPO

Datum RPO are experts in recruitment process outsourcing and handle the entire recruitment process for some of the UK’s biggest companies.

As experts in procuring and managing temporary and contract agency labour, we provide a complete RPO service that helps our customers become more efficient, whilst delivering savings of up to 12% on existing spend.

Find out more about the Datum RPO difference at www.datumrpo.com

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