To use employees’ kids & not advertise?

[MadderAndMadders]

I’m an IT manager in a GP surgery. This summer we have a big IT project which will require about 2 weeks worth of data to be manually inputted.

The GPs have made it very clear that they don’t have the time to enter their data themselves, and while the nurses and pharmacists had initially grudgingly agreed to do it, they’ve become far less willing after hearing that the GPs won’t be!

All in all, it is going to be time consuming (as we’re a very large practice) but not difficult. Our practice manager has said he’s happy to pay minimum wage for others to do it.

I’ve never been in this position before, and was wondering whether it would be unreasonable to use my own kids who will be home from uni, along with the children of the GPs/other staff? (All aged 16+).

It would just be so much easier than having to sift through CVs when it’s a job that requires no skill whatsoever.

I can't see a problem doing so ( as long as every child gets the opportunity, not just yours!)

I say go for it and use the kids! The sixth form college where I used to work did this and it worked really well.

The time consuming job (that no one else has the time to do) got done and the kids earned themselves some extra money and some experience - win win!

If they are employees kids, they can get lifts off parents so no worries about them relying on buses which may make them late.

Ask around your colleagues - I'm sure there will be students who want work.

Didn't you get enough responses last time you posted this?

I have a similar job to you. We wouldn't hesitate to use staff's children. In fact the 16 year old son of one of my gps is working for us one day a week for a few months after school sorting something out.

Do public sector roles had to be advertised?
Is it sensitive data? Is 16 old enough to deal with the type of data, or would the data entry person need to be 18?

cupo I was thinking the same thing

What sort of information will it be, there are all sorts of rules around accessing gp surgery computer systems, confidentiality, access to patient records, working in a surgery, health and safety etc.

Not unreasonable if you do it properly - ie pay them legally and make them sign confidentiality agreements and contracts.
If you do it off the books then there will be legitimate complaints about confidentiality.

I would be concerned about the sensitivity of the data they are looking at....

Do public sector roles had to be advertised

No, we're public sector and have a 'friends and family' scheme for roles such as this.

If anyone has a suitable friend or relative they can recommend, they can come for an informal chat to see whether they would be suitable and away you go.

We've had 3 people in our office alone - generally adult DCs of employees doing a bit of summer work, holiday, sick or maternity cover etc. It has worked very well for us.

So long as they're old enough to understand confidentiality and be bound by it I can't see the problem

Why don’t you ask the practice manager?
Will it create payroll issues? If so it would probably be easier to offer someone overtime/time in lieu to do it.

Is the data sensitive and are the kids old enough to understand that they will be legally bound to confidentiality?

We wouldn’t be able to do this in my company, as it has has the potential to fall foul of UK anti-bribery and corruption / discrimination laws around recruitment practices. Not sure if GPs have to subscribe to the same level of scrutiny: imagine they probably do. You should seek legal advice.

Alternatively you could just hire one really experienced contractor and get them to do it. If you use Reed etc they even do typing tests so you can get someone who is accurate.

I'm sure I've read this question before as well, check with your practice rules, it's not something covered by legislation so all employers will have their own rules.