Manifesto

Transparency: Recruiters must be open and transparent about the role, its requirements and the processes and procedures used to assess these. Information must be freely available wherever possible without requiring further clarification or enquiry.

Equity: Recruiters must aim to remove requirements, processes and procedures that result in inequity, exclusion, marginalisation and underrepresentation in the recruitment process. Recruiters must acknowledge their power in the recruitment process and use that to promote equity and social justice.

Respect: Applicants invest significant amounts of time, physical and emotional energy into job applications. Recruiters must respect this and aim to make the process as straightforward, simple and stress-free as possible.

'Must’: Issues for which Fair Library Jobs believes that there is an imperative to comply with the terms of this manifesto. Job adverts which fall short of these demands will be robustly and comprehensively challenged.

‘Should’: Issues for which Fair Library Jobs believes there is a pressing and very strong case for compliance with the terms of this manifesto. Fair Library Jobs may challenge job adverts which fall short of these demands, while examples of best practice will be championed, as and when they appear.

‘Recommendations’: Issues for which Fair Library Jobs believes there is a strong case for compliance with the terms of this manifesto. Recommendations will be championed through examples of best practice, as and when they appear.

1.0 Qualifications and Experience

1.1. University Degrees alone, both undergraduate or postgraduate, must not be an essential or desirable requirement on person specifications. Where skills and/or knowledge that may be derived from a formal qualification are deemed an essential or desirable requirement for the role, applicants should have the opportunity to demonstrate how they may evidence these skills and/or knowledge in ways other than formal qualifications.

1.2. Phrases such as “or equivalent experience” should not be used.

1.3. Recruiters should not assume all applicants know what skills and/or knowledge may be gained through a formal qualification. Better practice is to explicitly list these as points on a person specification in order to allow applicants to evidence these individually.

1.4. Membership and/or recognition of specific organisations should not be used as an essential or desirable criterion without providing an opportunity for candidates to demonstrate an equivalent level of knowledge, skill or continued professional development. Better practice is to explicitly list the required knowledge, skills or professional development in order to allow candidates to evidence these either through membership or recognition by professional bodies or through other activities.

1.5. Recruiters must not require candidates to account for periods of time outside of employment or education.

1.6. Recruiters should follow the Principles of Fair Chance Recruitment on recruiting people with criminal convictions, including reconsidering the need to ask about criminal convictions, and following rehabilitation and data protection legislation. 

2.0 Salaries and Contracts

2.1. Salaries must always be clearly indicated on a job advert. For part-time jobs, both the full-time equivalent and the actual part-time amount that would be received should be listed. Where applicable, salaries must state whether location-based weighting/allowances (e.g. Inner London weighting) are included within or additional to the stated salary.  

2.2. Job adverts and/or job descriptions must clearly display the grading for the role. Details of the employer’s salary progression framework must be publicly available online and (if relevant) state how pay progression/increments are achieved.

2.3. The name and location of the employer and the job details (job description and person specification) must be clearly included within the job advert and not require additional action or enquiry on the part of the applicant to access this information.

2.4. Salaries must conform to the Real Living Wage or (if within Greater London) the London Living Wage, as set by the Living Wage Foundation.

2.5. Contract types and lengths must be clearly stated. If a contract is fixed-term, a job advert should not promise future extensions based on prospective funding without a clear and up-front discussion of the funding context.

2.6. For part-time roles, the total number of hours, the number of working days and anticipated working hours/pattern must be displayed. Where this is subject to agreement on appointment a note must be included stating this and opportunities for prospective applicants to discuss this in advance of completing an application.

2.7. Salaries and job grading should be commensurate with the expertise, experience and reflect the local cost of living. Remuneration should be at least in line with relevant sector-specific salary guidance, recognising that inflation should be added.

2.8. Previous and current salaries must not be asked for during the application process. 

3.0 Volunteers, work placements and job shadowing in Libraries

3.1. When advertised, a voluntary role must clearly and unambiguously be stated as such and must not be allowed to pose as a paid job. For clarity, the word ‘volunteer’ should be included in the role title.

3.2. Entitlement to reimbursement of expenses (or absence thereof) must be clearly set out in the job advert.

3.3. Volunteer roles should not be advertised with a requirement to commit more than 1 day or 8 hours per week (except for shorter-term periods) and ideally the volunteer should be able to commit as much or as little time as they like, within reasonable bounds. Volunteers can be free to choose to commit more of their time beyond this minimum.

3.4. Volunteer positions should not ask for minimum qualifications or prior experience of specialist technical knowledge (e.g collections management systems or documentation standards).

3.5. Volunteer positions must not be used to replace roles which were previously paid, or which carry duties and responsibilities one would normally expect from a paid role.

3.6. Adequate training and Personal Protective Equipment must be provided, depending on the nature of the role.

3.7. Each volunteer should have a designated supervisor, manager or mentor.

3.8. Appropriate volunteer agreements should be in place between volunteers and hosting organisations, so that the expectations of both parties are understood.

3.9. Organisations should not seek to claim title to Intellectual Property produced by their volunteers.

3.10. Commercial, profit-making organisations should not advertise for voluntary roles, with the sole exception of placements and job shadowing, as defined below.

3.11. Placements and job shadowing are understood to be fixed-term periods of unpaid work, within the context of an educational programme, with clearly defined learning and development outcomes and adequate training and support.

4.0 Traineeships and Internships

4.1 Traineeships and internships are understood to be fixed-term periods of entry-level paid work that allow training and development opportunities for individuals interested in entering the profession.

4.2. Traineeships and internships must conform to all conditions of other advertised roles, including but not limited to, offering a Real Living Wage/London Living Wage, specified contract terms and qualifications and experience.

4.3. Traineeships and internships must be open to both graduates and non-graduates. Where skills and/or knowledge that may be derived from a formal qualification are deemed an essential or desirable requirement for the role, applicants should have the opportunity to demonstrate how they may evidence these skills and/or knowledge in ways other than formal qualifications.

4.4. Traineeship and internship positions must always be advertised, assessed and recruited through an open, accessible and transparent recruitment process.

4.5. Traineeships and internships must have clearly defined learning and development outcomes, which are clearly set out in the role advert. Adequate training, support and development opportunities must be provided, best practice is to outline the necessary time allocation allotted for these activities within a job advert or job description.

4.6. Traineeships and internships must not replace roles which were previously permanent paid jobs. Sufficient distinction must be made in recruitment documentation between roles and responsibilities of those will trainee or intern roles and those with permanent contracts.

5.0 Voluntary roles within the profession

5.1. Voluntary roles within the profession are understood as unpaid labour donated by individuals in addition to their usual paid or unpaid work or study. This might include positions on committees, steering groups or professional networks, publication roles such as peer reviewing, copyediting or editorial roles or performing consultative services.

5.2. Voluntary roles must be openly advertised and include a role description, person specification and use an open, accessible and transparent recruitment process.

5.3. Voluntary roles must clearly state the anticipated time and/or resource commitment required to complete tasks and attend required meetings.

5.4. Voluntary roles must outline any required training and detail how training will be delivered.

5.5. Voluntary roles should have a designated supervisor, manager or mentor.

5.6. Those undertaking voluntary roles should have the right to request a reference to evidence their contribution in the role.

6.0 Clarity, accessibility, transparency and communication

6.1. Job adverts, job descriptions and person specifications must be clear and concise, avoid unnecessary jargon and be as accessible as possible. Sector specific terms should include or be replaced by non-specific terms wherever possible.

6.2. Job adverts must be clearly divided into the role profile element (e.g. job description) and personal specification element. It must be unambiguously clear that the candidate will be assessed for their suitability for the role against the criteria of the person specification alone and which section of the application method is used in this assessment.

6.3. Fair Library Jobs recommend that job descriptions include a proportion or percentage breakdown of key elements and tasks required of the role. 

6.4. The number and scope of the criteria on the person specification must be proportional to the role applied for, and criteria must not be duplicated.

6.5. Criteria must be transparent and must apply to everyone equally within the bounds of the Equality Act 2010. Criteria that focus on personality traits rather than skills/knowledge must be avoided.

6.6. Application methods, such as forms or portals, or covering letters with word limits, must allow applicants enough space to fully evidence how they meet the required criteria.

6.7. Application methods such as forms and portals must meet accessibility standards i.e. Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (known as WCAG 2.1) for online application methods.

6.8. Job adverts must be made available in .pdf and large-print format and accessible to screen readers.

6.9. It is recommended that Job Adverts be available in the most spoken regional languages.

6.10. Contact details for sources of further information about the post must be made available as part of the job advert and any queries received must be answered promptly.

6.11. Job adverts must have a clearly stated closing date and time. 

6.12. Vacancies should not close early due to volume of applications. If the closing date is extended, the extension and the reasons for it must be clearly communicated to existing applicants.

6.13. Job adverts must not include terms to the effect that ‘previous applicants need not apply’.

6.14. Organisations must not ask for sickness absence reports or previous parental leave periods during the application process.

6.15. Organisations must not ask for a driving license or access to a vehicle and instead should outline the requirements of the role and allow the candidate to explain how they could achieve them. Organisations must support alternative travel options in a fair and equitable way.

6.16. Organisations that claim a desire to improve representation and/or diversity within their workforce must outline the work and practices done in this area.

6.17. Applications must not require unnecessary information or ask for the same information multiple times. 

7.0 Interview Practice

7.1. Recruiting organisations must inform all candidates about the constitution of the interview panel and format of the interview ahead of time.

7.2. Recruiting organisations should pay reasonable travel expenses to candidates who attend for interviews. Alternative interview methods e.g. video calls, should be accommodated.

7.3. Reasonable adjustment requests for interviews should be actioned without undue delay.

7.4. Interviewers should consider how they format questions e.g. keep questions short and direct, and ask positively framed questions.

7.5. Fair Library Jobs recommends the sharing of interview questions with all candidates in advance.

7.6. Interview formats should be commensurate with the responsibility level of the role. Follow-up interviews should only be used when strictly necessary, and the purpose of the follow-up interview clearly explained in advance.

7.7. Assessment tasks at interview stage must be directly related to substantial aspect of the role and its requirements. Candidates must be informed of the requirement to complete a task at the point of being invited to the interview and not after acceptance of the interview.

8.0 Feedback

8.1. Candidates invited to interview must be informed of the outcomes of those interviews in a timely fashion.

8.2. Candidates invited to interview, should they be unsuccessful, must be provided with meaningful feedback about their performance at interview.

8.3. Job applicants, should they be unsuccessful in progressing to the interview stage, should be informed of the outcome of shortlisting in a timely fashion.

8.4. Job applicants, should they be unsuccessful in progressing to the interview stage, should be provided with feedback regarding their applications.

8.5. Fair Library Jobs recommends not giving feedback at the same time as giving the recruitment outcome. Allow unsuccessful candidates time to absorb the result of the process before receiving feedback.

8.6. Those giving feedback must ensure as far as possible that it is constructive, actionable and honest.

8.7. Institutions should allow and seek, where appropriate, feedback from candidates to improve their hiring processes. 

9.0 References

9.1. Recruiters must always make it clear at what stage in the recruitment process they intend to contact referees.

9.2. Recruiters must not ask for consent to contact referees before it is necessary.

9.3. Recruiters should not penalise candidates for the reference policy of an organisation such as their employer or former employer.

9.4. Candidates should be informed about the nature and purpose of the references requested. 

You can also access the full FLJ Manifesto document here.

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