What you need to know about: Recruiting

Who should read this?

Employers recruiting and hiring new employees, whether they are full-time, part-time, permanent, casual or fixed-term employees.

Why is it important?

To help employers find the right person for their business and provide a base for building a good employment relationship.

What you need to do

There are four main stages involved in hiring new employees:

describing and advertising the job
receiving applications through to interviewing
selecting and appointing an applicant
getting the new employee started

This brochure provides checklists of the key tasks involved with each step. More detailed information is available in the How to Hire – A Guide for Employers booklet.

The hiring process

1. Describing and advertising the job checklist

If you answer no to any of the questions you may need further information.

Planning for the process	Yes	No	n/a
Have you planned how you are going to find and select applicants and the timeframes involved?
Are you familiar with your legal obligations, including under the Employment Relations Act 2000, the Human Rights Act 1993 and the Privacy Act 1993? These include acting in good faith, ensuring the privacy and confidentiality of applicants and ensuring that the advertising, selection and hiring decisions are made fairly, and not on unlawful discriminatory grounds. Information about unlawful discrimination can be found on the Department of Labour’s, Human Rights Commission’s and EEO Trust’s websites. Prohibited grounds of discrimination include people’s age, sex and ethnicity.

Defining the job needs and developing a job description	Yes	No	n/a
Have you written a job description? It could include information on: your business and its priorities the core tasks and responsibilities of the job who the person is responsible to and (if appropriate) who reports to them what qualifications are needed to do the job, including any minimum legal or educational requirements the ideal personal skills and attributes, and the performance measures for the job
Do you have a clear idea about the employment arrangements for the job? Is the job for a permanent, casual or fixed-term employee? Are you clear on the definition of what is a genuine fixed-term agreement? Is the job on a full-time or part-time basis? (There is no legal definition of what part-time is.) Do you know what the difference is between a casual employee, a fixed-term employee and a part-time employee? What are the hours of work? (e.g. set hours, rosters, during business hours, night work.)
Do you have a clear idea about the place the employee will work?
Do you have a process to change the employee’s work arrangements later on through agreement with the employee, if necessary?
Have you considered what training you are able to provide for the successful applicant? (This could include on- and off-the-job training.)
Does the job description reflect your workplace’s character or culture?

Seeking suitable job applicants	Yes	No	n/a
Have you considered how you are going to attract the best applicants for the job? Options include: advertising the role internally engaging a recruitment agency using Work and Income’s free service advertising in industry journals, magazines and websites advertising in daily or community newspapers and other media contacting your relevant Industry Training Organisation or training establishment using notice boards at local community groups, meeting places or secondary schools asking people you know (word of mouth).
Do you know that you are responsible for what is said in any advertisements and need to make sure that what is said is accurate and not discriminatory based on a prohibited ground?
Do you know where to go to get information about visas and permits if you are considering advertising overseas?
Have you checked whether you have any hiring obligations set out in a relevant collective agreement or by law (for instance, if you are a public sector employer)?

2. Checklist from receiving applications through to interviewing

If you answer no to any of the questions you may need further information.

Receiving applications	Yes	No	n/a
Have you considered asking applicants to complete an application form?
Have you checked what your legal requirements are for handling material provided by applicants?
Have you made arrangements to protect the security and privacy of applicants?
Have you sent a letter marked ‘confidential’ to applicants confirming receipt of their application and advising the next steps in the process?

Short listing and preparing for interviews	Yes	No	n/a
Have you considered how many interviews you will undertake, how long they will take and when the interviews will be held?
Have you decided on the interview method you will use? Examples include: a one-on-one discussion an interview panel a written project or examination a workshop environment skills and/or attribute testing on-the-job assessment task a mix of the above
Have you decided the questions you are going to ask the interviewees? (Check the questions are relevant to the job description and the characteristics you are looking for. Some examples of questions you could ask are on the Human Rights Commission’s and Career Service’s websites.)
Have you decided which applicants will be short listed for an interview?
Have you set up times and places for interviewing applicants?
Have you let the interviewees know: about the interview process, including any assessment tasks they may need to do whether they need to bring anything with them, e.g. proof of experience or qualifications and any preparatory work that they can bring a support person to the interview, if they wish to where the interview is taking place and who will be at the interview?
Have you thought about what questions the applicants might ask you at the interview and considered your response?
Have you considered the employment agreement you will be willing to offer the applicant? (This can help you answer some of the questions the applicants may have about the job. Checklist three has more information about the terms that should be in individual employment agreements.)

Interviewing	Yes	No	n/a
Have you noted down the answers given by each applicant, so you can compare their responses later?
Have you noted down any special requirements or commitments that you have made during the interview (e.g. car parking arrangements, flexible work arrangements)?
If the applicant had a question that you were going to follow up on, have you got back to them with the answer?

Checking references	Yes	No	n/a
Have you decided when you are going to contact referees? (This could be when you are finalising a short list for interviewing, after the interview, or when you have selected a preferred applicant, but before any offer is made.)
Have you thought about what type of information is important and relevant to ask their referees?
Have the applicants given you consent, preferably in writing, to contact their referees?
Have the applicants given you permission to collect other relevant information that you need, such as checking their qualifications or registration, or checking for previous convictions, if this is appropriate?
Have you considered whether any pre-employment health screening is relevant to the proper and safe performance of the job and, if so, ensured that health information will be collected in a way that would not be unlawful? (You may wish to get further information about pre-employment health screening from an employers’ organisation or a lawyer to ensure that it is lawful.)

3. Selecting and appointing checklist

If you answer no to any of the questions you may need further information.

Making the selection decision	Yes	No	n/a
Have you considered the applicants against the needs of the job and personal attributes you originally identified? (If you are using a ranking system, ensure that it is fair and free from unlawful discrimination.)
Have you documented the reasons for your decisions, in case an unsuccessful applicant challenges your decision later? Remember, that you do not have to make an appointment if the applicants are not of a suitable standard or if circumstances change during the recruitment process.

Making a written job offer	Yes	No	n/a
Have you made a written offer to the preferred applicant? (You can also make an initial phone call to indicate that you are about to make an offer. On its website, the Department of Labour has draft letters you can use when making a written offer.)
Do you know that there are different agreements depending on whether there is: a collective agreement that covers the work to be performed and the applicant is a member of the union concerned a collective agreement that covers the work to be performed and the applicant is not a member of the union concerned no relevant collective agreement in place?
IF THERE IS NO COLLECTIVE AGREEMENT: Do you know that you must enter into an individual employment agreement if there is no relevant collective agreement?
Do you know that all individual employment agreements must be in writing?
Do you know that the Department of Labour has an online tool that can help you draft an individual employment agreement? (There is more information about the terms that should be in individual employment agreements below.)
Have you given the applicant a copy of the proposed individual employment agreement?
Have you advised the applicant that they are entitled to seek independent advice about the agreement and its terms and invited them to respond to the proposed agreement?
Have you given the applicant a reasonable opportunity to seek that advice?
Have you considered any changes they wish to negotiate and responded to their suggestions?
IF THERE IS A COLLECTIVE AGREEMENT AND THE APPLICANT IS A UNION MEMBER: Have you given the applicant a copy of the relevant collective agreement?
If you and the applicant have agreed to any other terms that are additional to, and not inconsistent with the collective, have you provided these to the applicant in writing?
Have you advised the applicant that they are entitled to seek independent advice about the agreement and its terms?
IF THERE IS A COLLECTIVE AGREEMENT AND THE APPLICANT IS NOT A UNION MEMBER: Have you advised the applicant that: there is a collective agreement covering their work they have a right to join the union and given them the union’s contact details if they join the union, they will be covered by the collective agreement if they don’t join the union, for the first 30 days of employment their terms and conditions are those in the collective agreement along with any agreed terms that are additional to or better than the collective?
Have you given the applicant a copy of the relevant collective agreement?
If you and the applicant have agreed to any other terms that are additional to, and not inconsistent with the collective, have you provided these to the applicant in writing?
Have you advised the applicant that they are entitled to seek independent advice about the agreement and its terms?
If the employee agrees, have you told the union that the employee is starting work?
Do you know that if the employee does not join the union, that the terms and conditions in the collective will continue to apply after 30 days, unless you both agree to change them at this time?
Do you know that if there is more than one collective agreement that covers the work to be done by the applicant, then you have to tell the applicant about the other agreement(s)? (If this situation does apply, you should get advice on your obligations.)

Conditions in individual employment agreements	Yes	No	n/a
Do you know what terms must be in all individual employment agreements? These are: the names of the employee and the employer a description of the work to be performed the place and hours of work the wages or salary payable the right of the employee to receive at least time and a half if they work on a public holiday a plain-language clause explaining the services available for resolving employment relationship problems (for most employees), a clause covering the rights of the employee on the sale or transfer of the business, or if work is contracted out?
Do you know that employees undertaking certain types of work such as cleaning, caretaking and food catering (among others) have special rights in some types of restructuring situations?
Have you made sure that all of the terms you have agreed to with the employee are in the written employment agreement?

Offers and employment agreements for part-time, casual and fixed-term employees	Yes	No	n/a
Do you know that the process of offering a job and the employment agreement for full-time employees is the same for part-time, casual and fixed-term employees?
Do you know that employees who are on fixed-term agreements for less than 12 months or who have irregular hours and changing work patterns can be offered holiday pay on a “pay as you go” basis? (This must be agreed and recorded in the employment agreement, paid as a separate, identifiable component of the employee’s pay and paid at a rate not less than 8% of the employee’s gross earnings.)
Do you know that fixed-term appointments must be for genuine reasons based on reasonable grounds? (A clause outlining the reasons for and the period of the fixed-term agreement must be in the written employment agreement.)
Do you know that failing to comply with the requirements relating to fixed-term agreements could affect your ability to end the employment at the expiry of the fixed-term?

Trial and probation periods	Yes	No	n/a
Do you know the difference between trial and probation periods?
Do you know that if you and the employee agree to a trial or probation period, that it must be recorded in the employment agreement?

Reaching an agreement	Yes	No	n/a
Once you and the employee have reached a final agreement on the terms of their appointment, have you made sure that you have both signed the final offer of employment and employment agreement?
Have you given a copy of the signed document to the employee and filed a copy on your records?

Dealing with unsuccessful applicants	Yes	No	n/a
Have you notified the applicants who were unsuccessful?
Have you either: returned any information provided by the applicant to them retained their information in a secure place, if the applicant wishes to be considered for future vacancies, or retained their information securely for a set period, in case of follow up by an applicant, and then destroyed it?

Managing problems and disputes	Yes	No	n/a
If there are problems in relation to the bargaining or appointment process which could lead to disputes, such as a personal grievance, do you know where to go to for help and advice?

4. Getting the worker started checklist

If you answer no to any of the questions you may need further information.

Before your employee starts work	Yes	No	n/a
Have you set up a personal file for the new employee? This could include: a signed copy of the employment agreement a copy of the letter offering them the job a copy of their job description and application form details of their citizenship, permanent residence or the work permit held dates when the employee becomes entitled to conditions under either minimum legal entitlements or additional provisions in their employment agreement details of who to contact in an emergency details of the bank account to be credited with their wages (if this is your agreed method of payment)?
Has the new employee completed a tax code declaration (IR330)?
Have you set up a wage and time record?
Have you set up a holiday and leave record?
Have you set up a process for KiwiSaver?

If you are a first time employer	Yes	No	n/a
Have you registered as an employer with Inland Revenue?
Do you know that Inland Revenue will advise ACC that you have become an employer?
Do you know that Inland Revenue and ACC have guides to help first time employers on their websites?

Induction	Yes	No	n/a
Have you taken the new employee through an induction, including a full health and safety briefing and explaining your workplace policies?
Have you discussed your expectations of the employee and your performance management system?
At the end of the day, have you touched base with the employee to see if they have any questions?