Job boards are calling for fundamental changes to the regulations governing them as the consultation period on proposed changes to the Conduct Regulations 2003 ends on 11 June.

At present the regulations apply to all recruiters, including job boards. They require that they carry out a number of suitability checks on candidates, such as ID checks and verification of qualifications.

However, the Department for Business Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR) has acknowledged that in reality the overwhelming majority of job boards do not comply.

“This position is unsatisfactory,” said BERR. “Non-compliance on this scale brings enforcement into disrepute while enforcing compliance of the present regime would increase costs to the point where a number of these services would no longer be economic.”

Robbie Cowling, chief executive of Jobserve Group and managing director of JobG8, told Recruiter that having to check candidates’ IDs and qualifications would kill the job board industry. He said he would like to see job boards treated in the same way as the publishing industry and newspapers. “We are just an advertising medium, that’s all we are,” he said. He would also like to see a code of conduct governing job boards, which would ensure high standards.

Jemin Popat, managing director of CardiffJobs.co.uk and Bristol Jobs.co.uk, told Recruiter that complying with the current regulations was impractical. “It would be physically impossible to carry out the thousands of checks a day with the 10 staff we have,” he said.

Stephen O’Donnell, a director of Alljobsuk.com, told Recruiter there was a fundamental difference between recruiters and job boards, and this should be reflected in any new regulations.

“A job board, unlike a recruitment agency, doesn’t have the responsibility to decide which candidates are submitted to the vacancy. They are really another form of advertising such as a newspaper,” said O’Donnell.

He said that he would like tom campbellto see a separate set of regulations for job boards that would both protect jobseekers and be fair to job boards and agencies.

One regulation he would like to see is that unless updated within the previous six months, candidates’ personal data would be deleted after six months. This would protect candidates from having their personal data lying around, long after they had stopped looking for a job, he said.

In a statement to Recruiter, Monster said: “We, with other leading UK job boards, have been in dialogue with DTI/BERR since the regulations were introduced in 2003. We have concerns about how these apply to job boards. We will be responding to the BERR as regards the current consultation process.”

Popat added that except for CRB (Criminal Records Bureau) checks there was no need for regulations specifying checks on candidates.
Consultation

The Department for Business (BERR) is currently consulting on the Conduct Regulations and welcomes comments, including who should carry out suitability checks on candidates. The consultation ends on 11 June. Full details www.berr.gov.uk/consultations/page50428.html