What you need to know about recruiting

The Employment Relations Act 2000 highlights the importance of “good faith” behaviour as the foundation of the employment relationship, and the value of having the rights and obligations of both employers and employees clearly set out.

In this guide the  Department of Labour provides employers with information about good practice when recruiting and hiring employees. If you need more information about any matter, please contact the Department of Labour or by calling them free on 0800 20 90 20.

From the very beginning, it is important to set an environment that creates good faith relationships. Acting in good faith is common sense and is critical during the hiring phase.

Job applicants and employers need to communicate openly and honestly with each other to avoid disappointing expectations, and other problems later on.

Government policy and legislation in a wide range of areas, including immigration, health and safety, human rights, skills development, disclosure and privacy, may also need to be considered during the hiring process. This guide primarily focuses on employment relations, raises key issues in each of these other areas, and points you towards sources of more detailed information.

If you don’t follow all the suggestions included here, it does not mean you are necessarily in breach of the Employment Relations Act or other relevant legislation. There is no “one way to hire”, but the information is designed to help avoid some common problems.

Information is grouped around the three stages of the hiring process, and each stage has a checklist of key actions. Where these elements are a legal requirement, the text is boxed.

The stages of the recruitment process are:

• describing and advertising the job
• receiving applications through to interviewing
• selecting and appointing.

Throughout this guide, there are references to resources that can be obtained from the Department of Labour for use in the recruitment and induction process.