The application form provides space for the details of 2 referees to be given. Once you have provided the information on the successful candidate, the candidate’s referees will be contacted on your behalf by the Recruitment Team.
Please note separate guidance exists for posts covered by the Safer Recruitment measures i.e. any post working at a school e.g. cleaner, caretaker, maintenance staff, teaching assistant etc. This applies equally to internal candidates. More information on this is available in a separate section and full guidance is available in part 3 of the Department for Education document ‘Keeping children safe in education’.
For recruitment posts within Children’s Residential establishments e.g. children’s residential worker, processes which follow the Warner recommendations must be followed. More detailed references are used and references are requested for at least a five-year period excluding employment breaks. If a candidate has worked in a care setting but not within the last five years of employment history, then a reference should also be obtained from the last employment in the care setting where possible.
If the candidate is external i.e. not already working for Derbyshire County Council, ideally we require two references, one would normally be from their current employer and line manager and the 2nd from a former employer or a character reference if previous employment not possible. If the applicant has been out of work for a long time or never worked, a character reference will normally suffice as long as they are not related to the candidate and know them in a work capacity. If the candidate has requested on the application from that their current employer is not to be contacted before an offer of employment is made, the recruitment team will ask the candidate for permission to contact the referee when they send the proceed to offer letter out.
If the candidate is internal i.e. already works for Derbyshire County Council, the Recruitment Team will request the relevant reference and also check employment dates on SAP
Reference requests will be sent to the referee for the selected candidate The Recruitment team will check the references to ensure employment dates/job role match and will mark as satisfactory if nothing is flagged on the reference, if there is a query on the reference, the recruitment team will send an email to the recruiting manager with the attached reference in question. The manager is responsible for contacting the successful candidate and if you are happy then email by reply to the Recruitment Team to say you accept the reference, the Recruitment Team will update the check accordingly.
The Recruit system should automatically resend the reference request if no response has been received after 10 working days and again 5 working days later. It is your responsibility to stay in touch with the successful applicant and if necessary, request they chase their references. Delays in receiving references is one of the main causes of hold-ups in the recruitment process, so it is vital we work together to avoid this. Candidates should not start in post until the necessary references have been received. If a referee does not respond after reminders, an alternative referee should be requested and the details passed to the recruitment team so they can request the reference.
You may decide that having received the reference about the candidate, you no longer wish to pursue the appointment. You are advised to discuss this situation with your HR Business Partner. It is usual to meet with the candidate to discuss any poor references and to hear any comments they may have before making a final decision. If you intend not to go ahead with the appointment, you should inform them of the reasons for your decision. If you wish to withdraw the offer of employment, you should then confirm this with the Recruitment Team so that a letter can be written to the candidate on your behalf.