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Compliance overview

Compliance in RecSphere brings together everything you need to prove a candidate is cleared to work. You can collect answers, request references, gather signatures and chase outstanding items, all from the candidate record.

What compliance covers​

Compliance covers the checks and records you need to hold for each candidate. The exact list depends on the sector you work in and the role you place them into. Common items include:

  • Right to work - passport, visa or share code evidence.
  • Qualifications - degrees, certificates and professional registrations.
  • References - written confirmation from previous employers.
  • Background checks - DBS (England and Wales), PVG (Scotland) or equivalent.
  • Mandatory training - role-specific training records, for example moving and handling for a Senior Nurse.

Documents are held against the candidate. A document is stored once but linked in two places: the candidate's documents section and, when the candidate is placed, the contract's documents location. A candidate who is fully compliant against your internal baseline is therefore compliant for every contract they are put forward for, unless a specific client requires additional documents.

Your internal baseline and client checklists​

Compliance in RecSphere has two layers.

  • Internal baseline. Your compliance team sets up the compliance documents centrally as templates. This template set is your agency's own minimum requirement, and each document can be marked mandatory. Everything up to the point a candidate is shortlisted is measured against this baseline.
  • Client checklists. A checklist holds the extra documents a particular client requires on top of your baseline. You assign a checklist to a specific client and mark its documents mandatory.

As soon as a candidate is shortlisted for a vacancy, that client's checklist documents are also requested, in addition to the baseline. The baseline items are not requested again. Only the genuinely additional documents are added.

Two layers of compliance

Your internal baseline travels with the candidate. A client checklist only adds the extra documents that client needs, and only once the candidate is shortlisted for that client's vacancy.

How compliance attaches to a candidate​

Every candidate has a Compliance tab on their record. The tab shows each required item, who it was sent to, the current status and the date it was completed.

The status for each candidate rolls up into one of three states:

  • Compliant - every required item is in place and in date.
  • Partial - one or more items are outstanding or pending review.
  • Expired - an item that was previously complete has gone past its expiry date.

You can filter the candidate list by compliance status to find people you need to chase.

When a shortlist adds extra client documents, the candidate's compliance view shows an additional panel for that client with its own progress, for example a percentage complete, and lists the outstanding documents at the top. Your baseline compliance is not re-requested in this panel.

The compliance hub​

The compliance area gives your team a single place to see who still needs chasing. You can filter it, for example by Booked, to show who is booked and who is not yet compliant.

For an individual candidate the hub gives a snapshot:

  • how many items are required;
  • how many are outstanding;
  • how many have been submitted and are awaiting compliance approval;
  • which items are expiring soon.

The snapshot includes any documents added from a shortlist, so the figures reflect both your baseline and any client checklist.

Requesting documents from a candidate​

To collect compliance documents, open the candidate's profile and send a one-time link. Select the documents you want to request and send. The requested documents move to a requested state and appear in the compliance area.

If a link already exists for that candidate, you can add to the existing request, or revoke it and resend. The candidate uploads their documents through the one-time link. If you invite the candidate to the candidate portal and they sign in, they can upload there instead, and they can also see their availability schedule, timesheets and contract.

The four building blocks​

RecSphere compliance is built from four features. You can use any of them on their own, or combine them.

  1. Questionnaires - structured forms a candidate answers in their portal. Use these for self-declarations, right-to-work details, equality data and training confirmation.
  2. Reference checks - one-time email forms sent to a referee. Use these for written employment references.
  3. Document signing - send a document for e-signature. Use these for contracts, declarations and terms of business.
  4. Auto-chase - automatic reminder emails that chase outstanding items on a schedule until they are complete.

Each building block is covered in its own article below.