Employment

These practices aim to ensure both safe and fair recruitment and selection is conducted at all times. Safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people is an integral factor in recruitment and selection and is an essential part of creating safe environments for children and young people.

The School is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people and expects all staff and volunteers to share in this commitment. The School is committed to attracting, selecting and retaining employees who will successfully and positively contribute to providing a valuable service. A motivated and committed workforce with appropriate knowledge, skills, experience and ability to do the job is critical to the school’s performance and fundamental to the delivery of a high quality service.

To ensure the recruitment of all staff is conducted in a fair, effective and economic manner. To achieve this purpose, those that are responsible for each stage of the recruitment process will demonstrate a professional approach by dealing honestly, efficiently and fairly with all internal and external applicants.

This policy applies to all HIS employees and governors responsible for and involved in recruitment and selection of all staff. The ultimate responsibility for recruitment and selection lies with the Principal.

To ensure:

• That the best possible staff are recruited on the basis of their merits, abilities and suitability for the position;
• That the safeguarding and welfare of children and young people takes place at each stage of the process
• A consistent and equitable approach to the appointment of all HIS employees.
• Appointees are not discriminated against on the grounds of race, nationality, gender, religion, age, disability, marital status, sexual orientation.
• That the most cost effective use is made of resources in the recruitment and selection process.
• Compliance with all relevant Japanese statutory immigration and employment regulations.
• That HIS meets its commitment to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people by carrying out all necessary pre-employment checks.

The following principles are encompassed in this policy:

• All applicants will receive fair treatment.
• Please do not include a photograph in your application documents.
• Positions will be advertised with a job description, with the exception of internal shifts.
• Employees will be recruited on the knowledge, experience and skills needed for the job
• Selection will be carried out by a panel with at least two members.
• Selection will be based on a minimum of completed application documents (CV & cover letter), shortlisting and interview.
• Posts will normally be advertised.

HIS is committed to providing equality of opportunity for all and ensuring that all stages of recruitment and selection are fair. Recruitment and selection procedures will be reviewed on a regular basis to ensure that applicants are not discriminated against on the grounds of race, nationality, gender, religion, age, disability, marital status, sexual orientation.

Objective

The objective of the recruitment process is to attract, select and retain staff who will successfully and positively contribute to the future development of the school. The first experience an individual has is important; therefore the experience should be positive and all those responsible for recruiting will:

• Leave a positive image with unsuccessful applicants
• Give successful applicants a clear understanding of the post and what is expected of them
• Reduce the risk of a bad selection decision that can be expensive and may cause problems in the future or may not meet the school’s commitment to safeguard children and young people.

A job description and where applicable a person specification will be issued for all posts.

The purpose of seeking references is to obtain objective and factual information to support appointment decisions, sought and obtained directly from the referee. One of the references must be from the applicant’s current or most recent employer. If the current/most recent employment does/did not involve work with children, then the second reference should be from the employer with whom the applicant most recently worked with children. All referees will be asked whether they believe the applicant is suitable for the job for which they have applied and whether they have any reason to believe that the applicant is unsuitable to work with children.

If the referee is a current or previous employer, they will also be asked to confirm the following:

• The applicant’s dates of employment, job title/duties, reason for leaving, performance, attendance and disciplinary record;
• Whether the applicant has ever been the subject of disciplinary procedures involving issues related to the safety and welfare of children.
• The School will only accept references obtained directly from the referee and it will not rely on references or testimonials provided by the applicant or on open references or testimonials.
• The School will compare all references with any information given on the applicant Any discrepancies or inconsistencies in the information will be taken up with the applicant and the relevant referee before any appointment is confirmed.

The interview will assess the merits of each candidate for the post and explore their suitability to work with children and young people. The selection process for people who will work with children and young people will always include a face-to-face interview even if there is only one candidate. Where appropriate a question on safeguarding will be asked during the interview

Interviewers:

A minimum of two interviewers will interview each candidate. Each interviewer will not necessarily interview the candidate at the same time, some interviews may take place over Skype or other internet video conferencing systems. The members of the panel will:

• Include the principal who has the necessary authority to make decisions about appointments;
• Meet before the interviews to:
  • Reach a consensus about the required standard for the job to which they are appointing; and
  • Consider the issues to be explored with each candidate and who will ask about each of those.

Scope of the Interview:

In addition to assessing and evaluating the applicant’s suitability for the particular post, the interviewers will also explore:

• The candidate’s attitude toward children and young people;
  the ability to support the school’s agenda for safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children;
• Gaps in the candidate’s employment history;
• Concerns or discrepancies arising from the information provided by the candidate and/or a referee; and,
• Ask the candidate if they wish to declare anything in light of the requirement for a background check.

An offer of appointment to the successful candidate will be conditional upon:

• Verification of the candidate’s identity using photographic ID and proof of address
• Verification of eligibility to work in Japan
• Verification of the candidate’s mental and physical fitness to carry out their role of the receipt of at least two references which are considered satisfactory by the School
• Verification of qualifications
• National police check, where possible, as is considered satisfactory by the school, with the certificate seen and verified by the school.
  
  • The police check will cover the past 10 years in any country where the applicant lived for more than six-months.
  • In cases where a police check is not possible, AVVANZ will be used to screen staff members joining HIS or working with children in some way.

Checks will be:

• Confirmed in writing;
• Documented and retained on the personnel file
• Recorded on the school’s central record database; and,
• Followed up where they are unsatisfactory or there are discrepancies in the information provided.

The following personnel should have their details entered on register of staff:

• Staff in regulated activity – all teaching staff (teachers and assistants),
• Regular Volunteers working in an unsupervised capacity
• Supply Staff
• Visiting Professionals in regular contact with children

There will be an induction programme for all staff which includes child protection and safeguarding training through Educare.

When the school needs to use supply teachers it will confirm that the following have been checked;

• Identity
• Right to work in Japan
• Qualifications
• References
• Contractors engaged by HIS will in the main be working when students are not in school. If contractors are onsite during school term periods they will be supervised by a member of staff at all times.

HIS will retain a personnel file of successful applicants with any relevant information provided as part of the application process. This will include copies of documents used to verify identity, right to work in Japan, medical fitness and qualifications. This documentation will be retained by HIS for the duration of the successful applicant’s employment. If the application is unsuccessful, all documentation relating to the application will normally be confidentially destroyed.

Appointments will be made with regard to the following:

• Planning: Timetable decided, advertisement, job description and person specification reviewed and updated as necessary.
• Advertising: The advert must include reference to the policy statement of safeguarding and promoting welfare of children and young people
• Short-listing: Interview panel members should be involved in shortlisting the applications.
  References: References will be requested prior to interview and chased up if not received.
• Check and scrutinise references on receipt – any discrepancies or concerns should be taken up with applicant at interview or the referee.
• Interview: Candidates will be interviewed by at least 2 members of staff, at least one of whom should be the principal who has the authority to appoint. They must meet prior to interview and agree issues, questions, assessments, criteria and standards.
• Conditional Offer of Employment: Offer of employment must be subject to satisfactory completion of the following pre-employment checks:
  
  • Identity and Nationality: These should be verified once the offer has been made.
  • Right to work in Japan: Verified as soon as possible after the offer has been made. – original certificates must be submitted and copied.
  • Qualifications Checked: These should be verified once the offer has been made – original certificates must be submitted and copied.
  • Medical Clearance: The candidate must be both physically and mentally fit to undertake the post.
  • Supply Teachers – All supply teachers must undergo the same checks as above.
  • Regular Volunteers – The above checks should be carried out on volunteers where they are in regulated activity, although they do not require the Right to work in Japan, CV or Medical checks.

A current, valid passport or driver’s license is used to verify identity.