Hiring and Retaining Staff

The international consultancy, Watson Wyatt, found that certain key human resource practices are associated with a
substantial increase in market share. It states that companies who know how to manage their workforce can expect
to boost shareholder value by, on average, 7.2%. Effective recruitment accounts for over 1.5% of this increase.
Allied to this is the increasingly complex array of employment legislation such as the Employment Equality Act,
1998 (see Practical Employment Legislation). Employers now realise that the cost of a ‘wrong’ recruitment decision
is not only the cost of replacement and re-training, but the potential cost of a poor public image and a litigious court
case.
What can you as an employer do to make your company more attractive to prospective employees and avoid getting
into ‘legal hot water’ by complying with recruitment employment law?
Equality Focus:
• Job Requirements
• Age
• Advertising
• Short Listing
• Application Form
• Interviews
• People with Disabilities
• Race; Member of the Travelling Community
Selection Interviewing Techniques
Contract of Employment
Medical and References
Terms of Employment
Induction
Non-Nationals
Staff Retention
Equality Focus
You should examine your recruitment and selection process to ensure that it is equality proof as per the Employment
Equality Act, 1998. Failure to do so could result in a claim of up to twice the annual salary of an agrieved employee
or up to €12,679 if the claimant is not your employee!
Recently, a woman was awarded €5,000 because Aer Lingus discriminated against her due to her age when she
applied for a job as a cabin crew member. The Equality Officer also told the company to re-interview the person
with a different interview board or alternatively, offer her a cabin crew position within twelve weeks from the date
of the decision.
The Act prohibits direct and indirect discrimination on the grounds of gender, marital status, family status, sexual
orientation, religious belief, age, disability, race and membership of the traveller community. Your recruitment and
selection process must also ensure that you do not discriminate on these grounds. New equality legislation will soon
be published to extend the scope of the current provisions to self-employed workers, private households, the
Defence Forces and those beyond the current 18 - 65 age range.
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You as an employer should consider the following issues:
Job Requirements
Examine the job requirements and include only those essential for the job. For example, is travel an essential
element to the job or could other methods be used such as telephone conferencing?
Age
You cannot discriminate against people over eighteen and under sixty-five in your recruitment and selection process.
This does not prevent you from compiling equal opportunities statistics during your recruitment and selection
process. For example, how many women over fifty-five applied for the position.
The Employment Equality Act, 1998 however, allows you to set a maximum age for recruitment which takes
account of the cost of training and the need for there to be a reasonable period of time prior to retirement age during
which the recruit will be effective.
Advertising
You cannot discriminate with regard to an individual having a particular relevant characteristic in relation to any of
the grounds of discrimination outlined in the Act (gender, marital status, family status, sexual orientation, religious
belief, age, disability, race and membership of the traveller community).
Job advertisements should be open to everyone and it is recommended that you include in your advertisements that
you comply with the provisions of the equality legislation. You should avoid job titles, photographs or images that
specify a stereotyped image of the successful candidate. For example, young, able bodied, white male, with no
family ties working late in the office.
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The Employment Equality Act, 1998 however, allows you to restrict applications in the following circumstances:
• Requirements as to educational qualifications that are generally accepted for particular jobs. For example, a
doctor needs a medical qualification.
• Posts where the presence or absence of a particular characteristic related to a discriminatory ground is an
occupational qualification. For example, males modelling men's clothes.
• Discrimination by religious, educational and medical institutions run by the religious bodies, or by bodies
whose objectives include the provision of services in an environment which promotes certain religious
values, where it gives more favourable treatment on the ground of religion in order to maintain the religious
ethos of the institution or it takes action to prevent an employee or prospective employee from undermining
the religious ethos of the institution.
• Employment for the purpose of a private household. For example, farm labour.
Short listing
In short listing, your aim is to invite for interview a manageable number of the applicants that you have to assess as
being suitable to fill the vacant position. Your selection criteria should be scrutinised to ensure that they are
objective and free from discrimination on any of the relevant discriminatory grounds. You must be able to stand
over your decisions and prove that all candidates were treated fairly and equally and that you did not subject them to
any directly or indirectly discriminatory requirements that could not be objectively justified. For example, the setting
of height restrictions. Care must also be exercised in using psychometric testing as a short listing tool as it could
lead to discrimination when used with mixed nationalities.
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Application Form
If you use a standard application form you should consider whether the questions are necessary in order to find the
best person for the position. By asking unnecessary questions you may be exposing yourself to claims of
discrimination. For example, details of a candidate’s children are only relevant for pension purposes after the
applicant has been offered and accepted the job. You should also not ask about an applicant’s age, marital status,
family status or state of health unless it is for the purpose of equal opportunities statistics.
Be careful if you ask the candidate for a photograph as he/she may claim that he/she was not selected because of
his/her physical appearance or race. It is suggested that if you do request a photograph. As an alternative, ask
applicants to bring one along to the interview as an aide memoir for the interviewers.
Staff who are dealing with queries in relation to the application form and the recruitment process should be briefed
on equality issue. For example, they cannot say “we are only looking for men”.
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Interviews
If a claimant can show that he/she was asked a discriminatory question, that is a question only asked of the members
of one of the nine discriminatory categories, the claim of discrimination will succeed regardless of whether or not
the claimant would have ever been considered for the position. (The nine discriminatory categories are gender,
marital status, family status, sexual orientation, religious belief, age, disability, race and membership of the traveller
community).
The remedy for that type of claim tends to be limited to compensation of up to a maximum of two year’s pay (or
€12,697 where the person was not an employee).
Examples of discriminatory questions include:
• I see you are married. How would your spouse feel about the amount of travelling you would have to do if
offered the job?
• Would you have any difficulty in working for a boss younger than you?
• You have a foreign sounding surname. Are you an Irish citizen?
• This job involves some physical activity. How would your disability limit you?
If a claimant can show that the selection process itself was inherently discriminatory, that is the grounds upon which
the appointment was made discriminated either directly or indirectly against an unsuccessful candidate, the entire
process can be struck down. The remedy will attempt to place the unsuccessful candidate in the position they would
have been in had it not been for the discrimination. This could mean sizeable compensation or possibly the claimant
even being appointed to the position in question in spite of you the employer having already filled the position.
Ideally, you and your interviewers should be trained in basic interview techniques, but at a very minimum, you
should produce a guide for anyone who interviews on behalf of your company (see Selection Interview Techniques).

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You should keep the notes from the interviews for at least twelve months. The notes for successful applicants should
be placed on their personnel file. This is because a person has six months within which to bring a claim under the
Employment Equality Act, but the time limit may be extended where a person has ‘reasonable cause’ for the delay.
People with Disabilities
You must do all that is ‘reasonable’ to accommodate the needs of a person with a disability by providing special
treatment or facilities, unless you can show that there is a cost to you other than a nominal cost. Depending on the
size of your business and the number of staff employed, 'reasonable' may include the provision of ramps for access,
disabled toilet facilities, optical scanners for visually impaired staff and minicom for staff who are hard of hearing.
You may find that many of these facilities are subsidised by FÁS.
You should ensure that staff with disabilities have full access to training, that in-house training is encouraged as
much as possible and that their special needs are met..
The Employment Equality Act, 1998 permits a different rate of pay to an employee with a disability who works
fewer hours or who has not got the capacity to do the same amount of work as an employee without a disability.
Race; Member of the Traveling Community
There is no onus on you as an employer to recruit, retain or promote somebody who does not have a sufficient
command of the English language to carry out the duties of the position or who could be at risk from a health and
safety viewpoint. For example, is not able to understand instructions in the event of a fire.
Similarly, if a member of the traveller community is not prepared to carry out certain duties because of their wish to
pursue the travelling culture, there is no legal responsibility on you to recruit, retain or promote such a person.
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Selection Interview Techniques
What type of questions should you ask at an interview? How do you get the information you want, make the
candidate feel at ease and ensure that he/she wants to join your company?
The purpose of selection interviewing is to find the right person for the job. To be an effective interviewer involves
going through a six-stage process - the ‘PEOPLE’ way - prepare, establish rapport, obtain information, provide
information, lead to close and evaluate.
Prepare
You should familiarise yourself with the job advertisement, job description (if applicable), person specification (if
applicable) and the application form/CV. Then you should define the purpose of the interview - is it for shortlisting,
selection, to create a panel, etc.?
You should then devise your questions linking them to the purpose of the interview. Your questions could cover
career history, education, special knowledge for the position applied for, general intelligence/disposition and extra-
curricular activities.
The logistical arrangements for the interview have to be considered. For example, who will interview the applicants,
notification letters (to the candidate, interviewers and your receptionist), room layout, seating arrangements,
catering, etc. You and the interviewers must also decide on the subject areas to concentrate on at the interview.
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Establish Rapport
You should establish rapport at the beginning of the interview. This can be done by meeting the candidate outside of
the room, invite him/her to sit down, introducing all of the interviewers to the candidate, providing water/glass,
talking in a friendly manner and conveying interest when the applicant speaks.
It is also suggested that you start the interview with neutral, non-threatening questions such as ‘how was the traffic?’
The lead interviewer (if applicable) should then explain the purpose of the interview, the sequence of topics to be
covered, how the information obtained during the interview will be used, the duration of the interview and if there
will be an opportunity for questions and answers.
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Obtain Information
This is the ‘body’ of the interview, the part where the interviewee is thoroughly questioned. You will be drawing
from your pre-prepared list of topics and your pre-planned questions. Where there are a number of interviewers,
each interviewer must take his/her turn during this phase, the process being co-ordinated by the lead interviewer.
You obtain the required information from the candidate by asking open and probing questions. Open questions
encourage the interviewee to talk by allowing a broad-brush reply. These type of questions are used to start the
interview, discover the interviewee’s knowledge and experience and ascertain its depth, to let the applicant talk
through his/her opinions without interruption and assess how articulate the interviewee is. Examples of open
questions are:
• Tell me about …
• How do you feel about …
• I’d like to hear about …
Probing questions allow you to concentrate on areas of particular interest by asking what, how and why. They are
useful when the candidate gives you an incomplete response to your initial question. Examples of probing questions
include:
• What did you do then?
• How did you react to that?
• Why did you …?
You can ask clarification questions if you need additional information. For example, ‘what do you mean by …’,
‘who did that …’, ‘when did that happen …? If the applicant fails to respond fully ask him/her a repetition probe,
that is paraphrase the question or repeat it verbatim.
It is suggested that you do not use leading questions (‘you don’t really think that …’), multiple questions (‘what did
you do in your last job, what did you enjoy the most and the least?’), discriminatoryquestions, jargon specific to you
industry, vague or sarcastic questions.
As an interviewer, another way to obtain information is through active listening. To do this you have to keep
concentrating on what the person is saying, right until they are finished. Don’t interrupt! Don’t judge the response! It
is also helpful to reflect back what they have said but using different words. Remember, good listening skills take
practice!
Your body language can also have an effect on the candidate - the tone of your voice, your facial expression, eye
contact, your posture and your gestures. You should use your body language to put the interviewee at ease and
demonstrate that you are interested in what he/she is saying, but still remain businesslike. The interviewee’s body
language can also give you a clue as to how he/she is feeling. For example, arms tightly crossed, hands covering
mouth, etc. It is advisable, however, not to read too much into a candidate’s non-verbal communication as an
interview is an artificial, stressful situation!
Provide Information
After you have obtained the information you want, it is now your opportunity to ‘sell’ your company and the
vacancy on offer. (In the current economic climate it may be appropriate to do this at the beginning of the
interview). Describe the nature of the position, its future possibilities, the positive features of your organisation and
the terms and conditions of employment. You should also allow the applicant to ask questions and respond in an
honest, open manner.
Lead to Close
It is important that you now signpost that the interview is coming to a close, clarify any outstanding issues, provide a
final opportunity for the interviewee to comment and explain what happens next.
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Evaluate
After the interview, the interviewers should assess the match between the candidate’s technical qualifications and
the job requirements, judge his/her personal qualities and make a recommendation.
There are many ways to evaluate a candidate. It is essential, however, that you assess the applicant on criteria
decided before the interview (See Equality Focus). You should determine what are the essential and desirable skills
and competencies for the job, have asked the candidate suitable questions to demonstrate the skills and award marks
from pre-determined weightings. For example, work experience 100, organisational skills 100, education 60,
communication skills 60 and team player 60.
People Matters can assist you with drawing up interviewing competencies for different categories of staff - e-mail us
now.
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Contract of Employment
Definition
Anyone who works for you for a regular wage or salary has automatically a contract of employment whether written
or not.
There are three different types of contracts of employment:
• A written/oral contract providing for on-going employment for an indefinite duration.
• A fixed-term contract for a specified period of time.
• A specified purpose contract to work on a particular project.
Terms
A contract of employment contains express terms negotiated between yourself and your employee. The key clauses
are the employer’s name, job specification, date of commencement, hours of work, remuneration, expenses, sick
pay, holidays, right to search, lay-off/short-time, health and safety, trade union membership, retirement age, pension,
grievance procedures, notice, dismissal/discipline, secrecy, confidentiality and competition.
The contract may be expanded to include terms incorporated into the contract via a collective agreement negotiated
with a union. For example, a disciplinary process. The express terms may be further supplemented by terms which
were agreed but were never explicitly stated. For example, you as an employer allowing your employees access to
their place of work. A further source will be those terms which are as a matter of law incorporated into all contracts
of employmen. For example, minimum leave entitlements.
A contract of employment only comes into being once the contract has been accepted and signed by the employee.
Fixed-Term Contracts
Under the Protection of Employees (Fixed-Term Work) Act, 2003 you cannot discriminate against fixed-term
workers with regard to conditions of employment including pay, pensions and sick pay schemes. (If a fixed-term
employee works less than 20% of the normal hours of the comparable permanent employee the pension provision is
exempt).
Fixed-term contracts entered in before July 2003 mean that upon completion of three years’ continuous service, your
company may only renew the fixed-term once more to a maximum of one year. For fixed-term contracts after July
2003, the maximum length that a fixed-term contract can be entered in to is four years, whether it is on a continuous
basis or in a broken format. After four years the employee will be deemed to be permanent unless you can prove that
there were objective reasons to justify extending the fixed-term contract beyond the four years.
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Medical and References
You should only send out a contract of employment subject to satisfactory medical examination and satisfactory
references.
Generally, you as the employer nominate the medical practitioner and bear the cost of the examination. The doctor
should be fully aware of the nature and requirements of the work concerned. The European Court of Justice has held
that if an applicant, after being properly informed, withholds his/her consent to a particular test that the medical
practitioner considers necessary in order to evaluate his/her suitability for the post, you cannot be obliged to take the
risk of recruiting him/her.
If, following a medical examination, it is discovered that the person has a disability, the job offer cannot be
withdrawn unless there is evidence that he/she could not do the job. For example, a job offer to a diabetic or an
epileptic cannot be withdrawn unless the individual could not do the job for health and safety reasons.
Recently an Equality Officer awarded an employee €6,000 because his employer (Dublin Bus) discriminated against
him on the grounds of disability. The employee was accepted for the position of seasonal bus driver but he failed his
medical examination. The company, however had not produced any objective studies or data in relation to the
impact of his medical condition (heart) on his ability to perform the role of school bus driver.
There is no legal obligation on you as an employer to provide an employee, a former employee, a prospective
employer or an employer with a written or oral reference. If, however, you do supply a reference it must be accurate.
Under the Data Protection (Amendment) Act, 2002 existing employees are able to access references your company
has received from their previous employers, while former employees will be able to access any reference that their
previous employer gives to your company.
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Terms of Employment
The Terms of Employment (Information) Act, 1994 requires you to provide your employees with a written
statement of the particulars of their terms of employment.
You must provide the written statement of particulars within two months of the date of commencement of your
employee’s employment.
The written statement must make reference to:
• Name and address of the employer.
• Place of work.
• Title of job or nature of work.
• Date of commencement of employment.
• Nature of the contract, if applicable e.g. temporary or fixed term.
• Method of payment and frequency of payment.
• Hours of work (including overtime).
• Paid leave (other than paid sick leave).
• Incapacity for work due to sickness or injury.
• Pensions and pension scheme(s).
• Period of notice.
• Reference to collective agreements.
This written statement is not a contract of employment. You can use the written statement to refer your employee to
other documentation containing the above particulars provided that the documentation is reasonably accessible to
your employees.
You are required to notify your employees of any changes to the details contained in the written statement within
one month after the change takes effect.
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Personnel Records
Personal data on your employees (both manual and computerised information) is covered by the Data Protection
(Amendment) Act, 2002.
The Act gives a right to your employees to have access to their personal data and to have inaccurate information
amended or deleted. You, as an employer, must ensure that the data is up-to-date and accurate and that sufficient
measures are taken so that the information is not disclosed.
The Act gives your staff the right to access personal information, including their interview records, performance
reviews and notes of disciplinary investigations. They should also be able to view notes at meetings at which their
performance, promotion, redundancy or dismissal may have been discussed.
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Induction
Induction is a way of ensuring that your new staff member is adequately introduced to his/her job and your
company. New employees are prone to leaving during the early months with any organisation. To minimise this
potential early departure it is suggested that you introduce a formal induction process to:
• Assist your employee to feel as comfortable as possible in the new situation.
• Obtain the full benefit of specific job training.
• Impart accurate and useful information about your company and its policies.
• Facilitate the process of socialisation in to your firm.
Induction commences from the time the potential candidate answers a recruitment advertisement and continues until
your employee has integrated in to the organisation. It is recommended that you should adopt a four-stage format:
• Pre-employment induction.
• First day at work.
• Formal induction programme.
• Follow-up induction.
Pre-Employment Induction
You can prepare for the new recruit’s arrival even prior to the official start date.
• At the interview give the candidate an opportunity to ask questions.
• Provide the new employee with information before he/she commences employment with you. For example,
company brochure, job description, conditions of employment, starting instructions such as date, location
and who to meet.
• Inform all other staff that a new person is starting on x date in y department.
• Ensure that the person has the appropriate equipment to start his/her job. For example, stationary, PC,
printer, workstation, machinery, uniform, etc.
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First Day at Work
The following is a menu of options that you can pick and choose from to make your new employee's first day as
pleasant and productive as possible.
1. Checklist of arrangements for the initial reception:
• Ensure that the person with whom the employee will first meet knows of his/her impending arrival and
what to do next.
• Set an arrival time so that the new person arrives after the other staff have started their working day.
• Inform the new staff member of any form filling that has to be carried out and arrange a time and place to
do this.
2. Planned introduction to the workplace:
• Show the new staff member his/her work area.
• Ask the appropriate supervisor to introduce the new recruit to his/her immediate work colleagues and the
relevant senior manager.
• Ask the supervisor to conduct an office/factory tour, introduce the employee to all staff and point out the
facilities. For example, toilets, staff room, photocopier, fax, stationery, etc.
• Meet the appropriate person to discuss payroll details.
3. Break:
• The appropriate supervisor should ensure that there is somebody to take the new staff member for a
morning break.
4. Formal induction programme:
 • The appropriate supervisor/human resource representative should bring the new employee into a room and
explain what the company does, what goods/services it provides, the organisation structure and the key
personnel.
• It is very helpful if some of the key personnel can make a short presentation to the new staff member.
• The appropriate supervisor should outline what is expected from the new employee in terms of work
performance and behaviour and supply any supporting documentation. For example, staff handbook, terms
and conditions of employment, job description, etc.
5. Work area:
• The appropriate supervisor should bring the employee back to his/her work area to organise himself/herself.
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6. Lunch:
• The appropriate supervisor should ensure that there is somebody to take the new staff member to lunch
(preferably the supervisor should perform this role).
7. Work area:
• The appropriate supervisor ensures that there is adequate stationery, materials, etc. available.
• An appropriate staff member should show the new person how to use the computer, printer, e-mail,
voicemail, machinery, etc.
8. Break
• The appropriate supervisor should ensure that there is somebody to take the new staff member for an
afternoon break.
9. Work area:
• The appropriate supervisor should ask the employee to do a simple work related task using clear
instructions, explaining the resources available, what is expected and the timeframe within which to
complete the job.
• The task should be sufficiently challenging that the new recruit can continue with it the following day.
Follow-Up
It can take up to three months for a new staff member to become acclimatised to his/her new job and work
environment. (The length of time is a function of the individual’s ability, his/her induction/training and the
complexity of the tasks involved).
This means that the appropriate supervisor should make regular checks on the progress of the new employee, both
informally (for example, chats) and formally (for example, documented meetings). It is also recommended that
within a month of joining a follow-up one hour session is organised to review quality standards and procedures
outlined during the formal induction programme.
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Non-Nationals
You do not need a work permit for the following categories of people:
• EU nationals.
• From May 2004 nationals of the ten new EU member states (Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Latvia,
Lithuania, Hungary, Malta, Poland, Slovenia and Slovakia).
• Citizens of a member state of the European Economic Area (EU states plus Iceland, Norway and
Liechtenstein).
• Persons granted ‘refugee status’ by the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform.
• Post-graduate students whose work is an integral part of the course of study being undertaken (including
post-graduate doctors and dentists with temporary registration).
• Persons with permission to remain as a spouse of an Irish national, as the parent of an Irish citizen or who
has been given temporary leave to remain in the State on humanitarian grounds having been in the asylum
process.
• Persons who are posted on intra-corporate transfers/secondments for a maximum period of four months to
an establishment or undertaking in Ireland that is owned by a company which has an operation in more than
one state.
• Persons coming to Ireland from an overseas company for a maximum period of three years for training
purposes at an Irish-based company.
If you want to employ a person from outside of these categories you must apply for a work permit under the Aliens
Act 1935, the Aliens Order 1946 to 1999 and the European Communities (Aliens) Regulations. A fee of between
€65 (for a one month period) up to €500 (for one year) must accompany the work permit application.
The Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment will not accept applications for new work permits unless they
are accompanied by a letter from FÁS confirming that all reasonable efforts have been made by you as the employer
to find an Irish or other EEA national to fill the vacancy on offer (this does not apply to work permits for
professional medical personnel).
Apply to the Employment Regulations Section of the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment (Tel: + 353
- 1 - 6313076) for a work permit. You must have the work permit before your prospective employee can take up the
offer of employment. Failure to comply with the work permit rules may result in penalties from €3,000 or twelve
months in prison (or both) for a summary conviction or up to €250,000 and ten years in prison (or both) for
conviction on indictment.
A person from outside of the European Economic Area who intends to remain for longer than 90 days must register
with their local Garda Registration Office within a few days of entering the State. If he/she fails to register, he/she
will be liable for a fine of up to €127 or six months imprisonment. In the case of persons posted on intra-company
transfers or for training, they should make applications for permission to remain, together with evidence from you as
an employer of their status.
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Staff Retention
You have your new employee in. You’ve spent a lot of time, money and energy getting the right person, now how
do you keep him/her?
You can minimise the possibility of your staff leaving by developing a staff retention policy to create an emotional
link between your employee and your company. By providing additional benefits your employees will be more
likely to be loyal to you and less likely to be poached by your competitors.
You may want to consider the following menu and choose the combination of options that suits your company’s
circumstances.
People Matters can advise on the introduction of a staff retention policy in your organisation - e-mail us now.
Financial Incentives:
Pay scales, sign-on bonuses, health and pension schemes, relocation assistance, year-end bonuses, gain sharing,
share option schemes, performance related schemes, etc.
Terms and Conditions:
Generous annual leave and sick leave entitlements, paid maternity leave, facility to avail of ‘broken’ parental leave,
paternity leave, flexible working hours, etc.
Policies and Procedures:
Disciplinary and grievance procedures, equal opportunities policies, harassment/sexual harassment policies,
absenteeism policies, workplace bullying, stress management, etc.
Training and Development:
Study leave and fees paid, work specific skills training, developmental skills training, defined career path, etc.
Facilities:
Opportunity to telework, car parking, staff canteen, lunch vouchers, showers, lockers, crèches, Christmas parties,
etc.