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ENGAGE PUTS RECRUITERS IN TOUCH WITH DAVID MCCORMACK CEO, HIVE360 PAYROLL AND BENEFITS

The leading employee digital health and wellbeing app, Engage, is reimagining access to payroll, benefi ts, and health and wellbeing support for workers, in turn boosting talent retention for recruiters.

Th e Engage app has been developed by employee benefi ts and outsourced payroll provider HIVE360, which operates extensively in the GLAA* and industrial recruitment sector.

Completely customisable, Engage gives workers access to a huge range of benefi ts and services, from a personal doctor, personal support helpline, care support, and gym memberships, to high-street, lifestyle, dining and insurance discounts, plus access to digital payslips and a real-time workplace pension dashboard.

“HIVE360 is leading the way in innovating employee engagement for the UK recruitment sector,” explains David McCormack, HIVE360 CEO. “Engage is a unique employee experience, payroll and benefi ts platform that brings tools, information and features that support training, health and wellbeing, fi nancial wellbeing and knowledge, together in one app.

“With its value-added suite of tailored, personal, employee benefi ts, wellbeing support and a constantly evolving choice of tools and features that enable improved communication and recognition of workers, the app’s enhanced approach marks a new era of exceptional support for recruiters, their workers and clients.”

Soaring demand

Usage and take-up of Engage has soared since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic. During the fi rst week of lockdown in March 2020, Engage had an unprecedented 273% increase in demand for its mental health support services.

As the country has moved to predominantly remote working, and the additional mental, emotional and fi nancial stresses this carries with it, user numbers have continued to grow: “We have recorded an average of around 200,000 monthly user sessions since October 2020,” adds David.

“Th e ‘Your Health’ section has registered huge jumps in demand, with the number of users of health and wellbeing advice accessed via Engage rising by as much as 300%. Peaks in users have coincided with government announcements on changes to the Covid-19 restrictions – this was up by 265% between October and November 2020 – and 850 users visited the Mental Health support features in December 2020 when the new Covid-19 variant came to light and Christmas ‘bubbles’ were cancelled.”

Lift -off

Engage is proving particularly attractive to like-minded digital-fi rst businesses. Its customisation and easy API integration with the recruitment sector’s other technology platforms makes it a mobile perks app that is capable of bringing recruiters’ candidate and HR systems seamlessly together in one mobile experience for every workforce.

David says: “We have just announced a strategic partnership with Rocket Software, which represents an unprecedented union of two of the recruitment sector’s most powerful mobile tech solutions providers to deliver real-time integrated app-based benefi ts, rewards and HMRC-compliant payroll and accounts software.”

Rocket Software is used by around 300 dynamic temporary recruitment businesses, and Rocket provides payroll and accounts software solutions to an average 60,000 key workers and drivers in a range of sectors. “We had been looking for a strategic partner in the employee benefi ts space and after reviewing numerous potential partners, found

HIVE360 to be innovative, collaborative, progressive and creative,” Rocket’s MD, Danny Steel explains. “Th eir mobile-based tech easily integrates with our TempID+ software and Pocket Rocket app. Th e Engage app connects directly into the Pocket Rocket mobile app that automates everything from real-time entry of worker’s timesheets to payroll, billing and compliance.”

*HIVE360 is a Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority (GLAA) licence holder and corporate member of Inspiring Workplaces. For more information, visit: www.hive360.com

RIGHT TO WORK CHECKS IN AN EVER-CHANGING WORLD. HOW CAN TECHNOLOGY PROTECT YOUR AGENCY?

Tony Machin, CEO of TrustID, discusses how the pandemic has affected Right to Work compliance checks and how recruiters can prepare for Brexit and beyond

Like most other offi ce-based workers, recruiters have had to rapidly adapt to a new world of compliance due to remote working and legislative uncertainty. In a business that’s all about people, this has brought unique challenges. Establishing candidates’ Right to Work (RtW), for example, can be particularly problematic, as it has traditionally relied on face-to-face meetings and visual checks on original identity documents.

But, as has been said, ‘adversity breeds creativity’. New and innovative technology, designed to overcome the problems of remote recruitment, can bring advantages to recruiters and help smooth uncertainty over post-Brexit employment checks.

Right to Work checks in the Covid era

Prior to the pandemic, recruiters could conduct compliant RtW checks remotely if they had an applicant’s original identity document and checked it with the candidate ‘present’ over a video link, or if the candidate had a Biometric Residence Permit (BRP) or EU Settlement scheme (EUSS) ‘share code’. However, getting to see original documentation has become more diffi cult and not everyone has a BRP or EUSS share code. So, the UK government has temporarily allowed recruiters to check a candidate's RtW using scanned copies or photos of identity documents. You can then arrange a video call and ask the applicant to hold up the original documents to check against the digital copy, record the date you made the check and mark it as “adjusted check undertaken on [insert date] due to Covid-19”.

Th ere’s no date set yet for these temporary measures to end, but guidance says that the government will allow an 8-week window to carry out the required checks of original documents once they do fi nish.

With the number of fake documents in circulation increasing, preventing fraudsters from slipping through the net is ever more challenging. In the past year, our customers saw fake identity documents claiming to represent 52 diff erent nationalities. While the updated guidance makes remote checks easier, many recruiters may not be confi dent checking documents remotely without being able to touch and see original documents and may also be relying on a dispersed team with minimal document training. So, remote checking can also mean an inconsistent, uncertain and less robust process for recruiters.

Brexit and beyond

Covid-19 isn't the only issue aff ecting RtW checks today: the post Brexit world has also raised challenges. Th e Home Offi ce has not yet published full details on how to check RtW of EEA nationals not on the EUSS after 30th June 2021 although we do know that recruiters will no longer be able to accept EU passports or ID cards as evidence from those applicants and should instead ask them to provide an appropriate visa. Th e lack of absolute clarity is understandably causing some concern, with many organisations turning to expert identity service providers for advice on remaining complaint during these changing times. Why consider electronic checking to support your RtW processes?

Th e good news is that there are several straightforward, aff ordable ways to protect your agency from the risks of illegal working and remain compliant with RtW legislation, even in challenging times.

How you choose to carry out identity checks will depend on your processes, internal skills and the perceived level of risk in your sector. For example, if you’re recruiting a high number of temporary candidates, particularly in a sector like construction, your risk of seeing fake identity documents is relatively high. TrustID customers working with the construction sector accounted for 38.2% of all fraudulent documents in 2020 and three in every 100 documents checked by them were fake.

Identity checking experts can help with online tools which off er additional security checks on global identity documents, even from a scanned copy. Th ese specialist providers may also off er additional features, for example, a remote-upload option for applicants to send copies over a secure link, or higher-level security checks, such as facial recognition software, which checks a candidate’s selfi e against the photograph in their identity document to verify that they match.

A good identity service provider can quickly assess whether a document is real and off er guidance on the right documents to request from applicants as evidence of RtW in the UK, even as immigration guidance changes.

Investing in a new process during uncertain times may feel risky, so look for a service which off ers a low minimum order or no long-term contract. As we don’t know how long restrictions will remain, or what the fi nalised post-Brexit guidance will be, this type of service gives you the fl exibility you need to protect your agency in the short term.

For more information, please visit: https://www.trustid.co.uk or call 0118 466 0822.

PERSPECTIVES

By Sue Weekes