With the government indicating that it may want to see budgets cut and 25 per cent of pharmacies close in the future, community pharmacies will be placed under increasing pressure to ensure they employ the right people and have the right recruitment procedures in place.

Understandably, most employers will feel that they should be able to recruit any individual they want by whatever process they choose, whether that is relying on a recommendation from a family friend or advertising a role and going through a formal interview process.

To a certain extent, you can – as an employer or manager you have the right to recruit the person you think is best for the role. However, that does not mean there won’t be any consequences should your method of recruitment fail to meet the often little known legal requirements.

On the face of it, the procedure for recruiting a new employee seems relatively straightforward: the process is to prepare a job description and person specification, advertise the vacancy, consider applications, invite applications for interview and make your selection. However, it can be very difficult to get the right person for the job.

Having in mind from the very beginning of the process exactly what you are looking for in a candidate, alongside a strong knowledge of your legal obligations, will help you get the right person for the job, while also minimising any risk to your business and reputation.