In your corner: REC Campaigns and Policy news - 11 March 2021

And just like that we are in to March. 2021 shows no signs of slowing down as we move closer to Spring and the easing of lockdown begins. The world of campaigns remains a busy one, with ongoing work on Brexit, Covid and the aftermath of last week's Spring Budget announcements. Here are some of the key highlights from the last fortnight:

Restricting the movement of social care staff

The Department of Health and Social Care have issued updated guidance on restricting workforce movement between care homes. Care home providers have been asked to continue to limit all staff movement between settings unless absolutely necessary, to help reduce the spread of infection. This includes agency and other temporary staff. However, exceptions do apply where staff movement is unavoidable in order to meet the needs of people using the service and to maintain safe staffing levels. We would like to hear your views and feedback on this guidance, and what this means in practice for you as health and social care recruiters – please get in touch at policy@rec.uk.com

Employers Domestic Abuse Covenant

As part of the REC’s formal partnership with the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) we are encouraging members to sign the Employers Domestic Abuse Covenant (EDAC); a pledge by businesses to support women affected by abuse to enter or re-enter the workplace. You can support women by offering mentorships, paid employment, volunteering opportunities, training, apprenticeships and work experience. Many of our members will already be doing great work in this area, but this will be an opportunity to formalise, and be recognised for your contributions.

Government support following the end of the transition period

The government has launched a SMEs toolkit to help small businesses to identify the decisions and actions needed to continue trading with the EU and the EFTA. The document contains action lists, helplines numbers and further resources. New guidance on business travel to Europe for work has also been published, including information on entry requirements, luggage, earnings, qualifications, and insurance. You can download the explainer here. REC has been asked to comment on the new guidance, so if you have any feedback, please contact us at policy@rec.uk.com.

New immigration system

Following the Home Office Employers Advisory Group meeting last week, the Government laid additional Immigration Rules to continue the implementation of the new system. These include opening the Graduate route to applications from 1 July 2021, covering also a Global Talent route to enable those at the top of their careers to qualify if they have received a prestigious prize. The Rules for the Skilled Worker route have also been amended to allow foreign workers in key health and care roles to have greater opportunities to come to the UK. Click here to access the statement of changes in full. 

Education Sector updates

With schools reopening earlier this week and new guidance being published by the DfE, we have written an update for agencies operating in the education sector. This covers new information on testing and vaccines, as well as other updates from the DfE.

HMRC are seeking your Insight

The Customer Insight Team at HMRC are undertaking a project to better understand the relationship between recruitment agencies, end clients, other employment intermediaries such as umbrella companies and candidates. The REC has been feeding into the work with our own intelligence, however it will be incredibly useful for them to hear directly from our members. If you are interested in taking part and have 30mins for a telephone interviews please contact policy@rec.uk.com

Research Corner

The latest version of the REC's Report on Jobs was published last Friday. The key data from February shows that:

• The number of permanent staff appointments fell for the second month running
• Candidate availability has been slow to pick up due to reluctance among candidates to seek new roles because of lingering uncertainty and concerns over job security
• Overall demand for staff has remained broadly stable after a sharp drop in January

The REC is also publishing the new Jobs Recovery Tracker this week, so keep an eye out for that too for the latest information and trends on high-demand industries and local hiring hotspots.