Safer Recruitment Policy

1. Purpose

This Recruitment Policy outlines the procedures and standards for recruiting employees and volunteers within AuDHD UK (“the Charity”). The Charity is committed to fair, transparent, and safer recruitment practices that comply with UK employment law, equality legislation, and safeguarding requirements.

2. Scope

This policy applies to:

  • All paid staff positions

  • Trustees 

  • Volunteers

  • Contractors working in regulated activities

3. Equality and Diversity

The Charity is committed to promoting equality, diversity, and inclusion in recruitment and selection processes. Recruitment decisions will be based on:

  • skills

  • Experience

  • qualifications

  • suitability for the role

The Charity will not discriminate on the basis of:

  • age

  • disability

  • gender reassignment

  • marriage or civil partnership

  • pregnancy or maternity

  • race

  • religion or belief

  • sex

  • sexual orientation

in accordance with the Equality Act 2010.

4. Advertising Vacancies

All vacancies will be advertised openly where possible to encourage a diverse range of applicants. Advertisements will include:

  • role title

  • responsibilities

  • essential and desirable criteria

  • safeguarding requirements

  • application deadlines

5. Application Requirements

5.1 CV Requirement

All applicants must submit an up-to-date CV outlining:

  • employment history

  • relevant qualifications

  • skills and experience relevant to the role

Applications submitted without a CV will not be considered.

5.2 Covering Statement Requirement

Applicants must provide a covering statement explaining:

  • why they are suitable for the specific role applied for

  • how their experience matches the role requirements

  • why they wish to work with the Charity

Generic statements that are not tailored to the advertised role may result in the application being rejected.

6. Right to Work and DBS Eligibility

6.1 Right to Work

All applicants must demonstrate their legal right to work in the United Kingdom prior to appointment.

6.2 DBS Eligibility Requirement

Where a role requires a Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check, applicants must:

  • be a UK citizen or have lawful residency status for the past 5 years (with a maximum of 12 months living abroad).

  • have a biometric ID document in their current and legal name (biometric passport or ID card) for use for Digital ID checking as the Charity is a majority remote organisation and therefore requires online ID checks with our DBS providers. 

This is to enable the Charity to complete appropriate background and safeguarding checks where required.

Due to safeguarding requirements, we are unable to accept applications from individuals who have not lived in the UK continuously for the past 5 years, as we cannot sufficiently complete thorough DBS checks and, as a small charity, we are not currently in a position to undertake overseas criminal record checks. 

The Charity reserves the right to request additional documentation where applicable.

7. Shortlisting and Initial Meetings

Applications will be shortlisted and invited for an informal Initial Meeting against the published criteria for the role.

Interviews may include:

  • competency-based questions

  • safeguarding questions

  • scenario-based assessments

An appropriate Team Lead or the COO will hold the Initial Meeting and relevant team members may also be present if required.  Applicants will be notified who will be in the Initial Meeting beforehand and may be given Initial Meeting questions ahead of time if requested. 

8. References

The Volunteer Coordination Team at AuDHD UK will normally request a minimum of two references before confirming any appointment.

References should:

  • be professional where possible

  • relate to recent work or volunteering experience

  • not be provided by relatives

  • should have known the applicant for at least 2 years

Successful applicants must produce the names and email addresses of relevant referees to the Volunteer Coordination Team at volunteering@audhduk.org.

9. Safeguarding

The Charity is committed to safeguarding vulnerable adults.

Roles involving regulated activity may require:

  • Enhanced DBS checks

  • Additional safeguarding training

  • Additional safeguarding risk assessments

Any offer of employment or volunteering is conditional upon satisfactory onboarding and safeguarding checks.

10. Confidentiality and Data Protection

Applicant information will be handled in accordance with:

  • the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR)

  • the Data Protection Act 2018

Application records will only be retained for as long as necessary.

11. Unsuccessful Applicants

Unsuccessful applicants will be notified in writing of the hiring decision and will be subject to a standard 3 month no reapplication period unless otherwise stated by the Charity. The 3 month restriction applies to unsuccessful applicants reapplying for the same role and does not restrict application to other roles to which they may be better suited. 

Applicants who have displayed professionally poor behavior during the application process may be assigned an extended reapplication period of 6 months, which will be communicated to the applicant at the time of rejection from the role. 

If an applicant is found to have unacceptable behaviour during the application process, or is not respecting the reapplication restriction, they may be asked not to reapply for any role within AuDHD UK in the future and all subsequent applications could be declined.