Induction

Updating author: Lynda Macdonald

Summary

Having concluded the processes of interview, selection and job offer, the issue of the new employee's induction to the company should be given careful attention. A thorough induction to the organisation, the department, the job and the people the new employee will work alongside is essential if the person is to become an effective and motivated member of the team.

• Induction should not be a brief one-off event that takes up only the first day of the new employee's employment, but should instead be designed to last over a period of several weeks. (See The content of the induction programme)
• Induction programmes should provide standard information about the structure of the organisation, business objectives, the function of the department, the purpose and key responsibilities of the job, standards of performance that are required and all policies, procedures and rules. (See The content of the induction programme)
• The induction process should as a minimum include introductions to the company, the workplace, the people, the job, health and safety requirements, terms and conditions of employment and the office environment. (See The content of the induction programme)
• Where employees have been recruited to a position that may be vulnerable to bribery risks, the induction programme should be tailored accordingly. (See Implications of the Bribery Act 2010)
• It is usually of benefit to employer and employee alike to stipulate a probationary period for the new employee at the end of which a review is carried out. (See Probationary periods)
• Probationary periods have no meaning in law as any qualifying period required for rights and entitlements in employment starts to run from the date employment commenced. (See Probationary periods)
• In carrying out induction, it is important to ensure that no employee is placed at a disadvantage because of his or her gender, gender reassignment, marriage or civil partnership status, pregnancy, race, religion or belief, sexual orientation, age or disability. (See Equal opportunities in induction)
• The Equality Act 2010 permits employers to offer training specifically to employees with particular needs, eg language training for people from a minority racial group. (See Equal opportunities in induction)
• Under the Equality Act 2010, employers are required to make reasonable adjustments to any provision, criterion or practice that they apply and to any physical feature of their premises in order to accommodate the needs of disabled employees so as to help them overcome any disadvantage which their disability would otherwise cause them, and this would include adjustments to the induction programme and methods of delivery. (See Equal opportunities in induction)
• Part-time employees should be afforded the opportunity to undergo a full induction training programme because under the Part-time Workers Regulations 2000, part-time workers must not be excluded from training on account of their part-time status. (See Part-time employees)