Do you struggle to fill your vacancies or achieve S106 outcomes? Facing a relatively low unemployment rate, and a tightening labour market, many employers in the construction industry are struggling to find people with the right talent, skills, abilities and mindset to fill their vacancies. Some also struggle to recruit and retain talent from excluded groups when accomplishing their S106 outcomes. Over 11 million people in the UK (around 20% of the workforce) hold a criminal record. Many of these individuals may have committed relatively minor offences, come from disadvantaged backgrounds and have a wide-range of skills and abilities – yet they face immense barriers to working in construction. Many employers also struggle to understand their legal rights and responsibilities when considering applicants from this vast potential talent pool. Some employers worry about a perceived impact on insurance, securing certain contracts or even reputational risks. Now, more than ever, employers need specialist support to navigate this complex area. The Mind the Gap (MTG) Project is a three-year initiative commissioned by the CITB. A consortium of partners, led by Lendlease, aims to reduce skills gaps and improve S106 outcomes by providing construction industry employers with the knowledge, skills, training and support they need to recruit serving prisoners, offenders on licence and other people with criminal records who are motivated to work. Nacro, one of the MTG partners, and a leading social justice charity is delivering a free half-day safer recruitment training session for HR professionals and others responsible for recruitment and retention decisions, to equip them with the knowledge and practical resources needed to confidently recruit ex-offenders, ensure their processes comply with recent changes to legislation and manage and mitigate any potential risks involved. Who is it for? HR professionals with responsibility for recruitment decisions, policy developments and workforce planning. It will also be relevant to in-house employment lawyers; as well as those with responsibility for safeguarding, staff retention and equality and diversity matters. Benefits By the end of this you will:

• Understand how to recruit confidently and effectively from a talent pool of 11 million people

• Be able to improve the diversity of your workforce

• Understand how to minimise any potential or perceived risks that might be involved

• Learn how to avoid unnecessary failed recruitment costs

Learning objectives

§ Understand and apply the relevant legislation that impacts upon recruitment and

retention of people with criminal records (e.g. ROA 1974, DPA 1998/ GDPR 2018)

§ Learn how to deal effectively with disclosure of criminal records

§ Gather the relevant information in order to inform the risk assessment process.

§ Understand how to interpret criminal record information in order to inform risk

assessment processes

§ Understand how to risk assess applicants/employees with criminal records in the

context of safe recruitment and reputational business risks.

RSVP

If you would like to register for the event or have any further enquiries contact Dominic Headley

email: dominic@dominicheadleyassociates.co.uk or mobile: 07399 814 199