Recruiter code crackdown

UNSOLICITED resume distribution is not only damaging WA job hunters’ prospects but also the reputation of the local recruitment industry, according to the WA branch of the Recruitment and Consulting Services Association.

There have been 37 disputes Australia-wide relating to the sending of resumes to employers without a candidate’s permission since the RCSA installed a new code of practice in October last year.

For some job-hunters, particularly in executive ranks, the practice could be damaging if their current employer accidentally gains knowledge of their job-hunt.

It also does not look professional if the same resume is distributed twice to an employer by different recruitment agencies.

These are the types of scenarios Choice One general manager and RCSA WA Branch ethics committee member Scott van Heurck said the RCSA’s new code of practice was trying to avoid.

He said the practice was not only compromising candidates’ employment chances and the professionalism of the industry, but was also against privacy laws.

The RCSA’s new code of practice was drawn up following competition concerns with its previous code.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission ratified the code last year.

However, the new code was also modified to promote more ethical behaviour in the highly competitive industry.

“It wasn’t the most ethical industry and the association realised something needed to be done about it,” Mr van Heurck said.

While the RCSA’s workload has increased substantially in relation to dispute resolution since the new code it is still concerned that only half of WA’s active recruitment agents are its members and therefore subject to the code.

There are presently 122 corporate and 41 individual RCSA members in WA.

Despite there being about 300 active recruitment licences the number of licences actually in WA is said to be about 700.