The legal landscape around hiring and talent management is evolving rapidly, with new UK and EU regulations setting stricter standards around fairness, transparency, and worker protection. HR and Talent Acquisition (TA) professionals are now required to navigate complex compliance requirements while maintaining high hiring standards.
In our recent Clu'd Up Employers Club webinar, industry experts Ryan Broad, Kevin Withane, and Victoria Hall shared actionable insights and strategies to help organisations not just meet these demands but use them as a catalyst for smarter, fairer, and more effective recruitment.
Here are the essential takeaways and top strategies for HR and TA leaders to integrate into their operations.
1. Harness AI Responsibly in Hiring
The rise of AI in recruitment has transformed hiring processes, making them more efficient and data-driven. However, the recent EU AI Act and other upcoming regulations place HR tools under scrutiny, particularly regarding discrimination and fairness.
Actions for HR & TA Leaders:
Define Anti-Discrimination Parameters: Establish clear boundaries for what AI can and cannot do to ensure unbiased decisions.
Implement Regular Audits: AI models can experience “semantic drift,” where they begin to skew unintentionally. Routine audits can ensure these tools stay aligned with hiring goals.
Maintain Human Oversight: While AI can assist in sifting through resumes or standardising assessments, final decisions should always include human input. This avoids potential biases AI might introduce due to data limitations.
Invest in Education and Training: Many organisations have underinvested in educating staff on effective AI usage. Training on areas like prompt engineering can lead to more accurate AI-driven results.
Pro Tip: Use AI tools to create skill-based assessments, focusing purely on candidates' abilities rather than subjective metrics, helping to reduce unconscious bias and provide a structured approach to interviews.
2. Skills-Based Hiring: The Key to Consistency and Compliance
Skills-based hiring not only aligns with equality standards but also helps structure recruitment processes for consistency, a major factor under the Equality Act and new EU regulations.
Actions for HR & TA Leaders:
Standardise Skill Assessments: By implementing skills-based assessments, you can ensure all candidates are evaluated using the same criteria, helping to remove subjective bias.
Develop a Competency Rubric: Create a framework that outlines skill levels from beginner to expert. This helps interviewers assess competencies consistently and provides a clear benchmark.
Train Hiring Managers: TA teams should offer training on using skills-based evaluations and make sure hiring managers are aligned on evaluation standards.
Pro Tip: Structured scorecards provide a data-backed record of hiring decisions. These serve as an audit trail, crucial for compliance, and help defend against claims of bias.
3. Preparing for ‘High-Risk’ AI Compliance
Under the EU AI Act, HR systems used in recruitment and employment are categorised as high-risk, subjecting them to heightened transparency and audit requirements.
Actions for HR & TA Leaders:
Conduct a Compliance Audit: Evaluate your current recruitment technologies and AI tools to determine compliance gaps.
Documentation and Transparency: Document your processes around AI usage, ensuring you can demonstrate fair, consistent, and legally compliant practices.
Involve Key Stakeholders: Collaborate with IT, legal, and finance teams to create a compliance framework that meets cross-departmental requirements, including potential budgetary needs for compliance.
Pro Tip: Consider implementing a Fundamental Rights Impact Assessment, which helps assess the broader effects of AI on employee rights, particularly if using AI in sensitive HR processes like promotion or termination decisions.
4. Budgeting and Planning for Legislative Changes
Upcoming UK and EU regulations, such as the Employment Rights Bill, bring significant changes, including enhanced rights from the first day of employment and restrictions on "fire and rehire" practices. Failing to comply could bring fines comparable to GDPR penalties, along with damage to reputation.
Actions for HR & TA Leaders:
Plan and Budget Early: HR should start working on business cases now to secure budget for compliance needs. Consider the costs of legal consultation, training, and potential process overhauls.
Address Flexible Working Provisions: Under new legislation, employees can request flexible working from day one, with employers expected to respond fairly. Establish clear policies and a process to handle requests effectively.
Monitor and Adapt Job Descriptions: Avoid recycling outdated job descriptions. Work closely with managers to create descriptions that accurately reflect the current role requirements and skills needed.
Pro Tip: Secure the involvement of finance and leadership early, as these legislative changes are expected to drive up HR costs significantly. Building a solid business case around compliance can safeguard your team’s budget and highlight HR’s role in organisational risk management.
5. Manager Accountability in Hiring Processes
Managers play a critical role in maintaining the consistency of skills-based hiring practices. However, many managers rely heavily on HR for hiring, resulting in gaps in hiring accountability.
Actions for HR & TA Leaders:
Promote a Balanced Responsibility Model: Encourage managers to take an active role in defining the skills and competencies required for roles. HR should support rather than take over this responsibility.
Invest in Training for Managers: Help managers understand the importance of structured hiring and the role they play in ensuring compliance with anti-discrimination laws.
Implement Real-Time Feedback Loops: Create a structure where managers receive timely insights on their hiring processes and decisions, supporting continuous improvement and adherence to legal standards.
Pro Tip: Reassure managers that skills-based hiring isn’t about adding complexity but about refining the process. A structured approach can actually reduce hiring times and improve team quality, outcomes that managers often value.
Getting ahead of legal changes in hiring
The evolving landscape of employment law is challenging, but with these changes come opportunities for HR and TA professionals to enhance hiring processes, reduce bias, and improve the overall candidate experience. By embracing skills-based hiring, responsible AI use, and proactive planning, HR leaders can not only ensure compliance but also position their organisations for success in an increasingly competitive talent market.
Prepare your organisation now for these changes by implementing audits, refining hiring processes, and fostering a culture of proactive compliance. With the right approach, you can turn legal challenges into strategic advantages, elevating your organisation’s hiring practices for 2024 and beyond.
Need a simple way to get ahead of the big legal hiring shifts? Stay informed on critical hiring changes with our "Act Now or Pay Later" report. This guide not only maps out upcoming shifts but also includes a terminology page so you can communicate confidently with your team. Don’t wait—download now to future-proof your hiring strategy.
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