Hays has signed up to a revised APSCo (Association of Professional Staffing Companies) code of conduct for RPOs and managed service providers, following talks between APSCo and Hays, as recruiter.co.uk reported last week.

The code was launched in May to address long-standing problems with the recruitment supply chain.

Recruiter understands that Freshfields, Hays’ lawyers, were concerned that the original code could have led to question marks over whether Hays could have been in breach of competition law. 

Nick Bowles, relationship manager at APSCo, who has been working on the code, tells Recruiter that the changes are “semantic” and that “they make Hays and more importantly Freshfields more comfortable with the code”. 

By way of example, Bowles points to rule 5.2 of the code. The original code says: ‘APSCo members must comply with relevant laws, including competition law, and the code of conduct doesn’t not support or promote any anti-competitive activity and should not be construed as doing so.’

The new version says APSCo members ‘must comply with relevant laws, including competition law, and the code of conduct does not support or promote any anti-competition law… and is not intended to do so’.

Following agreement being reached with Hays, Bowles says that companies that signed up to the original code have been told about the changes “without any negative reaction”. 

In a statement Hays tells Recruiter: “We can confirm that we have reached agreement with APSCo relating to the APSCo RPO/MSP code of conduct. We have always been supportive of the principles behind the code of conduct but there were some areas of the code that concerned us and we have worked closely with APSCo to address these concerns through revisions to the code.

“As one of the leading resource management providers we are pleased to now support the code and its mission to ensure best practice in the recruitment supply chain. We place the utmost importance on supplier relationships and initiatives like this which seek to enhance the reputation of the recruitment profession and RPO and MSP providers.” 

Ann Swain, chief executive of APSCo, says: “We are excited to say that the creation of the code of conduct for RPO & MSPs has been very successful in gaining support and focusing the attention of the end-user client community in terms of transparency and fairness for all parties operating within the recruitment supply chain. To have the backing of Hays, one of the largest recruitment groups in the world and a major player in the managed services arena, demonstrates the willingness of professional recruitment companies to endorse best practice.”

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