Take a Trip Down the Recruitment Law Rabbit Hole

How up to date are you on industry law? Do you keep abreast of the changes going on?

As IRP members you have access to the Legal Resources section of the website, including the comprehensive IRP Legal Guide. The section is written and updated by the REC’s Legal team.

In this section you’ll find everything you need about the law that affects your business; from updates in legal news to detailed webinars explaining topical recruitment issues.

Another key benefit in the Legal Resources section is the IRP Legal bulletin. This aims to keep you up to date with key cases and pieces of legislation that will have an impact on how you run your business.

Our industry is worth £28.7 billion. It’s growing every year, and there are estimated to be almost 100,000 people working in recruitment.

As such, it’s important for us to stand out from the crowd as competition for both candidates and clients heats up.

Being knowledgeable about recruitment law is important whether you work on permanent, contract or temporary placements, and no matter which sectors you operate within.

You don’t have to have an encyclopedic knowledge - we know you’re extremely busy people. But it is important to have a baseline knowledge you can demonstrate to your clients.

This is when the bi-monthly IRP Legal bulletin can become your lifeline.

Alongside updating you on recent cases and legislation changes, it also contains a section based on the most popular REC legal helpline FAQs.

You’ll be surprised by how relevant the FAQs are to your work.

So what are some of the FAQs answered in recent editions of the IRP Legal bulletin?

“Will I have to refund my client if a permanent candidate resigns during the rebate period but their notice period finishes after the rebate period?” 

“I know I should calculate my temporary workers holiday based on an average of their total pay received over the previous 12 weeks, but what if the worker has worked for less than 12 weeks?” 

“My client made an offer of employment to my candidate with a later starting date and my candidate accepted. My client has now decided to withdraw their original offer before the candidate starting working. What are the legal ramifications of this?” 

“I am aware of the new obligation to submit reports to HMRC to combat false self-employment amongst limited company contractors; do we have to make a report to HMRC if the limited company we are paying has been incorporated outside of the UK?”

“Should we ask every temporary worker to sign the 48 hour opt out agreement? If so, can the 48 hour opt out agreement be included as part of their contract?”

Keeping up to date on recruitment industry law can feel a little overwhelming. But once you get started, you really are a figurative Alice falling down the rabbit hole. There is so much to explore, and so much relevant information you can use with your clients and candidates.

You might start by reading the IRP Legal bulletin, then find you’d like to know more about an area, so delve into the IRP Legal Guide. And before you know it, you’ve introduced something new into your arsenal. There are also training courses that the REC runs that might be of benefit, specifically on legal elements and fundamentals you might be interested in.

Put yourself in your clients or candidates shoes. If they were talking to a recruiter who can demonstrate they know the industry - talk about things like IR35, the Agency Workers Regulations or any relevant legal changes that may affect their hiring process with confidence, you’d want to work with them.

Click here to explore the IRP Legal resources.