The Recruitment and Employment Confederationís 2007 Annual Complaints Report has revealed a continued increase in the overall number of enquiries and complaints but a significant drop in the number of serious disciplinary matters it investigated.
The number of enquiries and complaints the REC handled rose 20 per cent from 685 in 2006 to 820 last year while a total of 24 serious cases investigated in 2007 led to sanctions being imposed on non-compliant members - compared to 94 in 2006.
Commenting on these findings, Helen Reynolds, the RECís acting Chief Executive Officer, said: ìThe continued increase in the number of complaints and queries is an an indication of the increasing greater awareness of the RECís standards role amongst employers and jobseekers. But the overall figure still remains extremely low in relation to our membership numbers.
ìEven more encouraging however is the sharp decrease in the formal investigations we carried out. This is an excellent sign that our decision last year to focus on working alongside members, providing them with support and guidance, before any complaints against them came before us for review, has been a tremendous success.î
As a result of the 24 investigations into serious disciplinary matters, the Professional Standards Committee issued sanctions including one reprimand, one compliance order, five inspections and accepted one resignation. Two appeals are also currently pending.
These sanctions were imposed on members for breaches such as acting on behalf of a client without proper authority, unlawful deduction of pay and incomplete registration processes.
A total of 44 per cent of the 820 complaints received by the Professional Standards team were against members while 37 per cent were general enquiries including misuse of REC logos and notification of scams against recruitment agencies.
The other 18 per cent of inquiries against non-members were dealt with by providing alternative sources of information and advice.
Last year, temporary workers were again the main group of complainants accounting for around 30 per cent of all queries, a significant drop on the 50 per cent received from them in 2006. Most of the complaints were about pay, terms of engagement, holiday pay or poor communication and customer service.
However, queries from permanent candidates grew to 21 per cent last year with most of them relating to communication problems with their agencies including lack of responses when applying for posts through jobsites.
Claire Walker, the RECís Head of Professional Standards, said of the figures: ìThe Professional Standards function really came into its own last year due mainly to our expansion of policing of standards within the membership. The introduction of the new national inspection programme and assessment officers who have been carrying out random spot checks on agency compliance has certainly made a difference to the outcomes of our investigation work.
ìWhat is more, members have been extremely positive about the programme and generally, it has been very well-received with many saying how beneficial they found a visit from the assessment team.î
Findings of the report included:
ï The greatest proportion of complaints came from the London region with 36.1 per cent of the total inquiries received. However, around a quarter of all members are located within this area. Next was the South East region with 12.94 per cent. Lowest levels were recorded in Wales which only had 0.6 per cent followed by Northern Ireland with 1.1 per cent.
ï Eleven per cent of the total number of complaints related to sector groups - significantly lower than 2006 when the proportion was 36 per cent. Most related to members working within the IT and Comms sector against whom 30 complaints were received.
ï Complaints against IT & Comms members were related to unclear refund and rebate clauses, sending out CVs without a candidateís permission, ëpoachingí activities and problems with payment and poor communication with contractors.
ï No IT & Comms members were subject to disciplinary action, showing that all complaints were either not upheld or resolved informally.
ï In the Medical, Education and Nursing & Social Care sector, problems continued to arise from difficulties with the portability of Criminal Records Bureau checks. As in previous years, this has been caused by the uncertainty of agencies as to whether they can verify checks when requested to do so by other employment businesses. Complaints arise from workers when this leads to the loss of an employment opportunity.
Copies of the report are available from the REC website: www.rec.uk.com.
REC report highlights significant decrease in serious disciplinary cases
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