The Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC) has set out tougher requirements for membership as part of its drive to improve standards.

The REC, which has 8,000 corporate members, will "raise the bar" for membership. The new standards include: Satnam Brar, managing director of Maximus, a City-based IT and construction specialist, told Recruiter that the changes were an incentive for his organisation to sign up to the REC "straight away".

• Two client and candidate references for each new member, as well as previously stipulated checks.
  
• Random inspections of a percentage of member offices to approve servides againt the Code of Professional Practice.

Satnam Brar, managing director of Maximus, a City-based IT and reconstruction specialist, told Recruiter that the changes were an incentive fo this organisation to sign up to the REC "straight away".

"Before this announcement, we have never really had much motivation to join," Brar said. "People would tell me they were members of the REC and I would say 'What does it do? But our biggest bugbear is coming up against recruiters who don't work in the same ethical way we do, so to know that the will be spot-checked is a good thing."

But he also sounded a note of caution. "The standards will only make a difference if the REC polices them well. If they don't do that, then the REC will lose value."

One REC member, a Glasgow-based IT specialist, also welcomed the changes. "It's important to have standards because there are no barriers to entry in this business," said Wendy McDougall, managing director of 9-20 Recruitment. "The idea of spot-checks, particularly, is a good one. Everyone who is doing a good job has nothing to fear but this might weed some people out."

However, another IT specialist told Recruiter he still would not join the REC. Matthew Fernandez, managing director of Hampshire-based Acuro, said: "Giving references is easy. No one is going to give a bad reference. Also, if REC representatives can't get out and see us now, what resources are they going to put into doing spot-checks? I'd rather see the REC act as more of a professional services watchdog, where its obligatory to have a licence to practice."

Fernandez added that he was not a member of the REC because he "does not lose anything" by not being a member.

However, REC chief executive Marcia Roberts argued that the changes would provide "strong value for money" and would raise the standard of members. "I have listened to the wishes of over 1,000 members in my first month as chief executive," she said. "The overwhelming desire is for greater enforcement of REC standards."