College - occasional staff - General - HR in Schools and Academies

5 College - occasional staff

9 Mar, 2022 14:29

Hi all

I work in an FE college.

We are looking to occasionally hire very casual staff, such as outside exam assessors to assist auditing our exam processes, and student ambassadors who might help out with open days at the college. They want to be paid via payroll so they would be employed.

They might only work once or twice a year, if that, but as we have students from 14+ we are required to have regard to KCSIE - my question is, if we ensure these staff are supervised, technically they are not in regulated activity, and we could treat them as 'visitors'. But as they will be on the payroll, does this mean that they have to go on the SCR and that all the pre-engagement checks have to be carried out.

We are hoping to find a process whereby we can take these staff on, on a one-off basis and pay them through payroll, without having to go through all the pre-engagement checks, as they will be supervised on site.

How do other colleges/schools handle this area and these type of staff?

Thanks in advance!

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Kimberly | 0 Posts

9 Mar, 2022 15:30

Hi Karen

Paying someone has no impact on the pre-checks that are required, as checks should be completed for volunteers (and contractors) too.

Regulated activity only impacts whether a barred list check is required, but all should have an enhanced DBS.

Just to confirm these roles are certainly not visitors and should not be viewed in that way. KCSIE was brought in to safeguard children, so the question shouldn't be how do we find a way not to do the safeguarding checks, but how do we ensure we've done everything we can to keep our students safe.
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Karen Close | 0 Posts

9 Mar, 2022 15:47

In reply to Kimberly:
Thanks Kimberly, and yes I do completely agree with you.

How do other establishments deal with staff members who might literally only be employed for one day? The issue we're having I think is that it's putting people off from accepting the work, having to go through all the checks, references, dbs etc, for potentially just the one day's work. Any ideas?
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Kimberly | 0 Posts

9 Mar, 2022 16:05

In reply to Karen Close:
Could you use a similar tactic to how you get your volunteers to undertake the checks?

I find being up front about the checks required helps a lot, and allowing enough time for them to be complete so candidates don't feel like it's a rush.
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Nina Waters | 0 Posts

16 Mar, 2022 17:41

I've always put these kind of workers on the books as as and when employees, and make sure they go on the update service when you do their DBS and all the other statutory checks. If they stay continuously employed, you can just update the DBS check when they work. However, the Harpur Trust case makes this kind of arrangement a real challenge, as you'd be liable for full holiday pay.

Worth keeping an eye on the supreme court ruling re Harpur Trust however, as hopefully there will be an outcome on that one soon (it was heard in November, and the website indicates an outcome in 3-6 months beyond the hearing).
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David | 0 Posts

29 May, 2022 12:18

Hi,

Late to the conversation I know. All paid and unpaid staff, including Governors, contractors, and agency should still be put through the safeguarding checks and placed on the SCR.

Where DBS is concerned, you should, at the very least be completing a standard DBS check for non-regulated activity work. Best still, would be to complete an enhanced check and include appropriate barred lists for those completing regulated activities.

Kind regards
David
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