Health and social care personnel - international recruitment: updated code of practice

Definitions

Active international recruitment

'Active international recruitment' is the process by which health and social care employers (including local authorities), and any other organisation involved in the recruitment (including but not limited to contracting bodies, recruitment organisations agencies, collaborations and sub-contractors) target individuals to market Scottish employment opportunities, with the intention of recruiting to a role in the Scottish health or social care sector. It includes both in person and online approaches and whether or not these actions lead to substantive employment.

This can include (but is not limited to):

• advertising to candidates through a medium. This includes asking current international employees to share information about vacancies with friends or families in red list countries
• incentivisation activities such as referral bonus schemes
• referring candidates to specific vacancies in Scotland in return for a fee from the employing organisation - it is illegal under section 6(1) of the Employment Agencies Act 1973 for recruitment organisations of any type to charge fees to the individual applicant for job finding services.

Where a candidate has already been appointed to a specific role by a Scottish employer following an independent direct application (defined below) recruiting organisations can support and facilitate the employee's passage to the UK. If required, it is the responsibility of the recruitment organisation, agency or collaboration, to provide evidence that the services they are providing are permitted under this exception.

Direct Application

A ‘direct application’ is when an individual makes an application to a specific advertised role on their own behalf to an employing organisation. Direct applications do not use a third party, such as a recruitment organisation, agency or collaboration.

Individual health and social care employers may consider direct applications from individuals’ resident in countries on the code red and amber list (see Annex A red and amber list countries) if they have made a direct application to a vacancy at their organisation.

A direct application can only be made in response to a specifically advertised vacancy that is hosted by, and recruited to, the same sponsoring organisation.

Resident

‘Resident’ refers to the country an individual is currently residing in when they apply for a health or social care role.

The rules on active recruitment and direct applications are based on the country where an individual is residing when they apply for health or social care job, rather than the nationality of the individual or their original country of training.

Contracting bodies

A ’Contracting body’ is a health or social care provider that contracts with health and social care personnel to provide a service, rather than employing them directly. For example, general practitioners who are not salaried may be contracted by NHS Scotland, rather than employed by them.

Employer

An ‘employer’ refers to the person or organisation that employs (or employed) an individual for a specific role or vacancy.

Employment Agency

The term ‘employment agency’ or ‘employment agencies’ is used to describe a business that recruits candidates for vacant positions (permanent or temporary), for health and social care employers.

This includes the statutory definition set out in section 13(2) of the Employment Agencies Act 1973 :

“a business (whether or not carried out with a view to profit and whether or not carried out in conjunction with any other business) providing services (whether by the provision of information or otherwise) for the purpose of finding workers employment with employers or of supplying employers with workers for employment by them.”

Recruitment collaboration

A ‘recruitment collaboration’ or ‘collaboration’ is a group of organisations which have partnered to pool resources to recruit candidates for vacant positions within that collaboration. This can be on a commercial basis.

Collaborations also come under the statutory definition of ‘employment agency’ set out in the section 13(2) of the Employment Agencies Act 1973.

Recruitment organisation

A ‘recruitment organisation’ is an organisation that recruits candidates to vacant positions – either permanent or temporary - on behalf of a health or social care employer, whether or not it is on a commercial basis.

Recruitment organisations also come under the statutory definition of ‘employment agency’ set out in section 13(2) of the Employment Agencies Act 1973.