Agency worker recruitment
Agency workforce resources
References are an important part of the recruitment process for agency child and family social workers.
On 31 October 2024, statutory guidance for local authorities on the use of agency child and family social workers came into effect in England. The statutory guidance sets out a new requirement about referencing. The statutory guidance includes information about:
Check your current policy to make sure it aligns with the expectations set out in the agency rules.
The statutory guidance applies to all new assignments. Local authorities should seek detailed practice-based references for any candidate offered an assignment on or after 31 October 2024.
Local authorities should provide references using the standard template when the request comes on or after 31 October 2024 even if the assignment pre-dates the statutory guidance. If the local authority already has detailed references on file dated before 31 October 2024, these can be shared without using the standard template. Where an assignment ends after the guidance has come into effect, the reference should be shared with the agency worker prior to the end of their assignment.
Agency child and family social workers starting assignments in early November 2024 are likely to have been subject to pre-employment checks prior to the guidance taking effect. Where this is the case, and local authorities have followed their existing procedure, they do not have to repeat pre-employment checks for those already on, or about to start, assignments.
When requesting and receiving references, local authorities (LAs) should ask for at least 2 detailed practice-based references for each agency child and family social worker. Refer to the statutory guidance to ensure you are meeting the requirements.
Although LAs cannot delegate responsibility for providing references, LAs can work with managed service providers (MSPs) or agencies to agree processes for obtaining, storing or sharing references.
Effective processes for requesting and providing references include:
Practice-based references are important because they provide essential information about a social worker’s skills, experience and competence.
Local authorities should obtain at least 2 references to ensure they hire workers who are well-suited for their roles. This is particularly important for those working with people who have complex needs.
References also:
Employers writing references have a duty of care to the social worker and potential employers to ensure the references are factual, fair and specific.
Here are some principles to keep in mind when writing a practice-based reference.
References should:
References should not:
Use the standard reference template to ensure all references have the same information. To maintain consistency, writing references should be part of both recruitment and exit processes. Staff need to understand their roles when it comes to writing references.
A downloadable reference template is available to help write detailed references for agency child and family social workers.
Local authorities need to check that they are working with agencies that follow safe selection practices. Important steps for safe recruitment include:
Refer to Skills for Care’s Safe and Fair Recruitment guide for further advice about safe hiring practices. Clear roles and responsibilities make reference processes smoother.
Learning how to write a good reference, with examples of what works and what does not, boosts quality and consistency.
Helping staff understand their responsibilities when completing the reference template and answering their questions can speed up the onboarding of social workers.
Responsibilities may differ across local authorities (LAs), agencies and managed service providers (MSPs) so LAs should:
To ensure a straightforward process when writing, requesting, and receiving references, it’s important to plan ahead.
Examples from the London Improvement and Innovation Alliance show that clear communication and early conversations with everyone involved can prevent confusion.
You can use these examples from people involved in the hiring process to help improve how you manage writing, requesting and receiving references.
'I’m told by HR that I can’t give references to agency workers and their agency should provide the reference’.
You could:
‘I wouldn’t employ an agency candidate when the reference only includes dates, as it indicates there were issues’.
Keep in mind that:
‘We don’t provide references for agency workers, the agency should provide them’.
Be aware that:
‘We struggle to get hiring managers to respond to references’.
Keep in mind that:
Referencing is only one aspect of selecting a candidate. Organisations should also use methods such as interviewing, pre-interview tasks, and team meetings to assess a candidate’s knowledge, skills, and qualities to find the right fit.
Induction is the process of introducing new workers to the organisation’s practices, processes and expectations. It can include ensuring that new workers undertake mandatory training on, for example, health and safety. Induction gives the opportunity for workers to meet the people they will work with on a day-to-day basis. During induction, workers are issued with the equipment they will need to do their job.
These checks give employers assurance that the worker can provide high quality care to children, young people and their families and carers.
The Agency worker induction checklist helps ensure that the necessary checks and processes are completed when an agency worker starts their assignment. It includes the checks set out in the agency rules, and other checks you may wish to include. There is also an end-of-assignment checklist to complete when the assignment ends.
You can adjust the content of the agency worker induction checklist to include other induction elements specific to your organisation.
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