Diversity Assured Service

The REC launched the pioneering new ‘Diversity Assured Recruitment’ initiative in December 2006 as a follow-up to the REC/Jobcentre Plus Diversity Pledge. 

Diversity Assured Recruitment Certification takes recruitment agencies one step further and provides an external verification of their recruitment procedures.  The Diversity Assured certification is a service which means recruitment businesses will be inspected and advised as to how best to recruit a diverse pool of candidates e.g. in the choices they make in where and how to advertise positions.

A good diversity policy will improve employment opportunities and offer agencies a wider pool of skilled talent. Diversity Assured Recruitment confirms a business’ credentials to employers, candidates and staff. This could be of particular use to public authorities who have a legal duty to promote gender, race, disability and equality.Diversity Assured also gives businesses piece of mind by satisfying legal obligations and lowers the risk of claims for discrimination. The average cost of a discrimination case is £10,000 and the largest award made to date was £1.4million.

The ‘Diversity Assured’ initiative is being delivered through Birmingham Professional Divercity, one of the REC’s partners for the Diversity Pledge, and through IODA who run a series of practical training courses.

Birmingham Professional Diversity run a range of services. The price of the scheme is £760 + VAT per branch or £1200 + VAT for a fully inclusive support package and analysis of existing procedures. 20% of all agency branches will need to be inspected in order to complete the Diversity Assured health-check.

It takes on average 6 weeks per organisation to achieve an acceptable level. During this period we estimate that it takes between 15 and 20 working hours to be ready for the health-check if you choose to be supported in the process. If you decide to work unsupported, the time will of course depend on your existing systems and practices.