Loungers

Loungers is an operator of café/ bar/ restaurants under two distinct but complementary brands, Lounge and Cosy Club. Loungers was founded in Bristol in 2002 by three friends who wanted to create a neighbourhood café-bar that they would want to go to. That focus on hospitality, comfort and familiarity remains at the core of the company, driven by an independent culture and focus on the local community. Today, Loungers operates successfully in a diverse range of different sites and locations across England and Wales.

Business need

In early 2018, Loungers were looking for advice on a Right to Work solution, to make compliance simpler. The Fourth ATS team therefore started researching suitable services that could integrate with the Applicant Tracking system.

Nick Meads, Director of ATS at Fourth explains “We wanted to help Loungers to find an easy way to include an additional check in their processes – a compliance check which would confirm that the applicant they were processing through the ATS was genuine and had the Right to Work in the UK.”

The solution

Having evaluated various options, the TrustID Right to Work managed service was chosen in early 2018. Using the API , it was quickly integrated with the Fourth ATS as part of a seamless on-boarding process for Loungers. Today, Loungers use the Right to Work App to remotely validate all employees across their nationwide Loungers and Cosy Club locations with proof of their Right to Work status being stored in the Fourth ATS to demonstrate compliance with legislation.

A watertight process

The system allows restaurants to easily manage candidates from initial application to employment, with every stage of the recruitment process carefully documented and tracked. At Loungers locations, once a candidate is invited to interview, as an additional stage in the recruitment process, managers are now prompted to run a Right to Work check using the TrustID Right to Work App.

“Before an applicant can be moved to the next stage in the process,” adds Nick “a Loungers manager accesses the TrustID Right to Work App to validate the appropriate documents. No-one can be employed without a successful check – the ATS just won’t let managers move them forwards.”

A fully managed service

The TrustID Right to Work App guides Loungers’ managers on which documents they need to obtain to ensure they correctly comply with legislation. The manager accesses the App on their smartphone, captures an image of the appropriate documents and answers a few questions to confirm that they have seen the original documents and are satisfied they belong to the applicant. Then it’s over to TrustID.

The Managed Service from TrustID checks the validity of the identity documents and confirms the applicant’s Right to Work status back to the manager via the Fourth ATS. Separately, a full .pdf report, time stamped with details of who did the check and when, is automatically uploaded to the applicant’s HR file. The process takes just a few minutes and can be run from anywhere. Any suspicious documents or missing information is highlighted to managers, allowing them to rectify errors or reject any candidate whose documents are suspicious. And the TrustID Right to Work helpdesk team are also on hand if the managers need any further advice or support. Importantly, the images of documents captured by the manager are stored securely on the cloud, and not on the manager’s phone. This ensures GDPR compliance by eliminating the risk of personal data being inappropriately stored.

Efficient on-boarding

By introducing the TrustID Right to Work App, Loungers removed the need for internal training and investment in manual processes which could delay the candidate recruitment process. Today, the automated process means that candidates can be on-boarded quickly and efficiently: processing an applicant takes less than half an hour – from walking into a Loungers venue to being accepted on to the payroll – and no Head Office administration time is needed at all.

Communications inviting applicants to interview with Loungers detail the documents which they need to bring with them and advertise the use of identity verification technology. This acts as an early deterrent for those who may be tempted to apply using fraudulent identity documents and means that candidates are well prepared for checks. The system also tracks Right to Work expiry dates, to ensure ongoing compliance.

Conclusion

The TrustID Right to Work service has helped Loungers to introduce an easy to use ID checking process which ensures all new hires present the correct, valid identity documents and have the Right to Work in the UK. The online checking process helps to on-board new employees efficiently and quickly, with a consistent and robust process in every location with minimal HO intervention. The API means that integration between the Fourth ATS and TrustID was straightforward. It offers a simple interface to transfer information between the two systems and creates a record of the checks performed for audit purposes.