New hiring toolkit supports the construction sector with Better Hiring

The Better Hiring Institute (BHI) has launched a free to use industry best practice Better Hiring Toolkit for the construction sector on how to hire quickly, fairly, and safely, and to tackle modern slavery in the sector.

With construction at the heart of many of the Labour government’s plans, including the development of 1.5m new homes, the BHI has collaboratively created the toolkit with experts at the Gangmasters & Labour Abuse Authority (GLAA), the Chartered Institute of Building (CIOB), Disclosure & Barring Service (DBS), and Reed Screening to improve hiring.

The new Toolkit – which can be accessed by visiting BHI Website (betterhiringinstitute.co.uk) provides practical, simplified guidance to support construction businesses with hiring new employees by utilising UK best practice. It provides advice on vetting potential new recruits including checking and verifying their qualifications, as well as information for employers on their obligations when it comes to issues like the validity of CSCS cards and modern slavery, which is sadly still rife across the construction sector. It also includes insights from a recent CIOB report into the employment of people with criminal convictions, which highlighted some of the barriers prison leavers in particular, face when trying to enter the sector. 

Keith Rosser, Chair of the Better Hiring Institute said:

“The Better Hiring Institute was created to make UK hiring the fastest globally, the fairest in the world, and the safest it can be. For such a vital UK industry this Better Hiring Toolkit does exactly that. I am proud that the Institute are helping in such an important way an industry at the centre of a key government commitment. In helping 1.5m houses to be built across the UK this will contribute to economic growth and better opportunities for everyone. I encourage all employers in the Construction sector and more widely to sign up to the Better Hiring Charter to help them stand out as a better employer.” 

Caroline Gumble, CEO at CIOB, said: “The new BHI industry toolkit aligns with the work CIOB is doing to help reduce the long-standing skills gap in construction and our policy work to raise awareness of the need to tackle modern slavery. In terms of the skills shortage, my hope is that this toolkit can encourage more recruitment from a wider range of communities, including those often overlooked, such as ex-offenders, and potentially improve the retention of skilled and talented people. In this important industry, an initiative to encourage fairer and more efficient hiring, helping to bring people into the sector, is to be welcomed.”

Among the key ambitions of the Better Hiring Toolkit include:

• Making UK Hiring the fastest globally, the fairest in the world, and the safest it can be
• A strong desire to raise standards
• To offer a one-stop shop for industry best practice

The BHI mission is to make UK hiring faster, fairer, and safer, and exists to transform the labour market by bringing in a revolution in the way the UK hires staff. Working with UK Government the BHI has developed Better Hiring Toolkits to cover 80% of the UK workforce, a Better Hiring Charter to transform fairness in UK Hiring and the Modernising Employment All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) in Parliament. 

Join the APPG on Modernising Employment to be a part of improving hiring and employment in the UK. Chaired by Lee Barron MP, the APPG is focused on helping more people into work by reducing barriers in hiring and advancing the rights of both work seekers and workers to deliver a better deal for workers whilst helping to grow the economy.

Those responsible for recruitment within construction organisations are being urged to download, implement and share the Toolkit within the hiring community: Access the Better Hiring Toolkit here. If you would like to join the BHI Construction sector subcommittee group and shape the future of hiring in the sector, you can join by visiting Join us - Better Hiring Institute. 

Helen Chandler, Acting Associate Director of Business Development for the Disclosure and Barring Service, said: "The Disclosure and Barring Service helps employers make safer recruitment decisions, and our collaboration with Better Hiring Institute represents important steps forward in supporting the construction industry in safeguarding best practice. We’re pleased to be supporting the development of the free toolkit to ensure that recruitment across the sector is more effective and better informed.”

Corinne Peart, Head of Engagement, Reed Screening said:

“I am delighted to have collaborated with the Better Hiring Institute, CIOB, the Disclosure and Barring Service, the GLAA and industry on such an important Toolkit for the construction sector. Reed Screening’s mission to pioneer the future of hiring means that this joint initiative to streamline and improve hiring is hugely important to us. At Reed Screening we are proud to contribute to helping such an extremely important sector hire quickly and safely.” 

Elysia McCaffrey, CEO at the Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority, said:

“Our mission is to stop the exploitation of workers in the UK and to ensure employers treat them fairly. The Construction Better Hiring Toolkit, produced by The Better Hiring Institute, is a fantastic demonstration of how partnerships can contribute to intuitive products, designed to prevent worker abuse. I am delighted we were invited to participate in the development of this toolkit. 

By sharing guidance to support organisations to benchmark their onboarding processes, the whole industry has access to the tools available to ensure fairer and safer recruitment processes. Workers can be reassured that they will be treated equally and fairly.”

For more information about the Toolkit please email secretariat@betterhiringinstitute.co.uk