A bit disgruntled about being asked for interview

[Quadrophenia]

Okay so my current employer i started working for in 1999, I worked for them full time and then part time when children were born and when child number 4 was born I took a break. Returned to work last year after a 4 year break as they needed bank staff (casual workers, had to be re interviewed and inducted which was a bit odd but given the time out of work I accepted with no issue (things had changed in my time out of work etc). Anyway after a year working as a casual member of staff, sometimes almost full time hours I've decided that i would liek a more permanent part time position. As they are struggling to fill staff vacancies I thought this would be mutually beneficial. I put togetehr a shift proposal, working as a part of an existing team. Anyway had a phone call today saying that i will have to fill in an application form and be interviewed, is this the norm? All i want to do is make my position more permanent, at present I'm allowed to run shift etc with no extra pay and have all the responsibilty of a permananet member of staff so its not even as if its a different role. Is this an employment law type situation?

[Quadrophenia]

sorry about the typos!!

[Katisha]

It's probably just a formality. They probably have to be seen to go through the correct procedure.

[laidbackinengland]

I think it is normal as 'officially' any permament post has to be advertised and fairly recruited to because of equal opportunities. Someone with HR knowledge might be able to reveal more than me - I am only speaking from personal experience in the NHS where my job was advertised with a very quick closing date to try and ensure no one else applied !! {very naughty}

[Quadrophenia]

I hope it is just a formality, i feel like I'm being made to jump through hoops a bit, i was only interviewed last year and they already know my abilities etc.

[Katisha]

I know. Hoop jumping is a total pain, but there always seems to be an emphasis on interview.

[flowerybeanbag]

How do you mean an employment law type situation? Do you mean they might be doing it because they have to legally?

The answer is no, not a legal requirement but if an employer has someone employed casually but has permanent vacancies and the casual person wants to fill one of those vacancies it would absolutely be normal to have an interview and a form to fill in.

Obviously it happens quite often that temps are made permanent, but quite often there is a process to go through. They may have a recruitment policy stating minimum requirements for any permanent members of staff being taken on include an application form and an interview. That sounds like good practice to me, and the more open and transparent their recruitment procedure, the better in terms of equal ops and all that. Also better in terms of the records - if it is clear from files/database that a permanent member of staff was taken on in August 2008 but there are no interview notes and no application form, it could raise questions or cause hassles later.

I wouldn't have thought an interview in your situation would be too horrendous or anything to worry about? If you are working well, and they are pleased with what you are doing, I can't imagine they'll be asking you lots of tricky questions and you should be able to answer them all well anyway.

[Quadrophenia]

that certainly makes sense flowery beanbag. The boss is one of my best friends so actually the interview is quite quite awkward for me, i feel like I have to prove myself to her (completely my issue!!). I think possibly its our friendship which means it is done by the book, she probably has to cover herself also.

[flowerybeanbag]

That makes even more sense then, if you are friends, that's very sensible of her to make sure it's all completely above board.

It is a bit awkward . I would expect her to acknowledge that it's an unusual situation at the beginning of the interview and once you've got that out of the way, it should be fine.

[Quadrophenia]

I'm sure it will be, I guess I just thought I would be snapped up and it would be implemented straight away.

[flowerybeanbag]

I'm sure you have been snapped up really, you just can't be told that until the hoops have been jumped through.

[Quadrophenia]

ahhh thanks