Is this job advert illegal ??

spiritus

The following job advert appears on several job websites yet when you contact the agency they tell you they don't have any jobs in the Bolton area. One agency staff admitted that it was a generic advert.Is this legal ?? Reading the advert it sounds like it relates to a specific role otherwise how could they include a description of the role in their advert.Credit Controller« Previous job | Next job » Agency: Page PersonnelJob Location: Bolton, LancashireSector Accountancy - Other AccountancySalary: £16,000 - £19,000 per annumJob Type: PermanentDate: 16 NovApplications: 16Ref: 17266291 Key responsibilities will include:Chasing payments by phone and email. Chasing personnel and corporate debt. Setting Customer Credit Limits. Allocating cash to account when payments are made Excellent communication skills.The successful candidate will have experience in the office environment and with customer service enquires. They must also possess excellent organisational and communicational skills.Page Personnel's clients are always looking for proactive Credit Controllers to join their finance teams, in the Bolton area.There is an excellent salary with benefits.Page Personnel is a leading UK recruitment consultancy

liney

If the agency is a member of the REC then it is against their code of practice and you could report them for 'fishing', but i'm not sure that it's actually illegal to advertise a vacancy you aren't recruiting for, but against industry standard and worthy of REC investigation.

The Recuitment and Employment Confederation are a governing body for recruiters, and it is often required by a client for their suppliers to be members.

There is always the possibility they thought you weren't suitable for the position so said it was no longer available though...

Mimi_Arc_en_ciel

Agencies advertise "fake jobs" to get candidates through the door and registered ready for when they get a role in. Alot of companies call agencvies fri evening wanting staff for the following monday and the only way the agency can meet those needs is if they have people in the ranks waiting on work. By REC standards they shouldnt do it but it doesnt mean they stick to the REC code of conduct - they just dont get caught. Candidates and positions come hand in hand - you cant fill positions without candidates and you cant get candidates without roles.

CCFC_80

I would say it is illegal, I think it needs to be clarified from some source that advertising fake jobs ( jobs that do not exist) is just not on and agencies should be fined and prosecuted.

cazziebo

From a previous thread....

Quote:
Originally Posted by andy46
Agencies are not allowed to advertise bogus jobs. This is strictly regulated and if you think an agency is doing this then report them to the recruitment agency inspectorate http://www.berr.gov.uk/whatwedo/empl...ies/index.html

Cazziebo, Can you advise in this link where it states that agencies are not allowed to advertise bogus jobs ?

Thanks
It's in the Employment Agency Standards document on that same page. Believe me, report a company for this to the Inspectorate and they are down on them like a ton of bricks. They usually don't just investigate the one ad - (Unless they think it's a malicious complaint rather than genuine) - they do a full audit of all procedures. They are scary people! (to agencies!)


Regulation 27(2) provides that the agency or employment business must
not place an advertisement, which includes details of positions unless it
has :
(a) information about all the specific positions included in the
advertisement; and
(b) the authority of the hirer concerned to find work-seekers for
each position advertised.

top_drawer_2

lol i've signed up for loads of agencies in the past after seeing an ad in the paper/shop window ... and so many times they have said (in a condecending way) that they dont have any suitable roles for me regardless of really high scores on typing computer tests ...

It makes me sick really to think about how recruitment agents treat people.

To the OP: I doubt anything would come of a complaint, the agency will no doubt be savvy enough to know how to avoid any actual reprimand that would matter.

Jen

spiritus

I'm resurrecting this thread as I strongly suspect the practice of job agencies advertising "fake" jobs is now worse than ever !!

Has anyone else had experience of jobs being advertised by agencies ?

A common tactic seems to be the agency advertise what sounds like a specific sounding job and then when you apply for it then call you back asking about tour career background and why you are wanting to leave your current job. At the end of the conversation they mention they will contact you should anything suitable come up without ever mentioning the very job that you have applied for (even though I'm more than qualified !)

456789

Page Personnel's clients are always looking for proactive Credit Controllers to join their finance teams, in the Bolton area.

Things like this are written a lot and are meant to mean they may have clients who have some type of work like this

so yeah not a real job but that line is how they justify it

Page are a very big company owned by an even bigger recruiting company so I would guess they know it is legal if they are doing it

spiritus

456789 wrote: »

Things like this are written a lot and are meant to mean they may have clients who have some type of work like this

so yeah not a real job but that line is how they justify it

Page are a very big company owned by an even bigger recruiting company so I would guess they know it is legal if they are doing it

The adverts I am referring to are very specific even going into detail about the salary and job descriptions.

In my opinion, even Page's advert, worded that way, is intentionally misleading as it strongly suggests they are looking for credit controllers to join their finance teams ??

LinasPilibaitisisbatman

Agencies often get called at short notice and asked to supply temps etc. To do this sucessfully they need a bank of people available at short notice. Thus they advertise "jobs" that dont exist to cultivate CV's and create a bank of suitably skilled individuals they can immediately offer when employers ask.

The bad side of this is the hundreds of average CV's they get every day will never suceed as people will of course pip for the better skilled people.

spiritus

LinasPilibaitisisbatman wrote: »

Thus they advertise "jobs" that dont exist to cultivate CV's and create a bank of suitably skilled individuals they can immediately offer when employers ask.

.......which is illegal. Never mind the poor sods who may get their hopes up when an agency sells them a pipe dream.

Have you worked at an agency ?