Procurer – employment requirements
Our support for increased employment in public procurement is based on the purchasing process. Here you can follow the whole process and get help in the different phases.
Planning
Before adding employment requirements to a public tender, the purpose, requirements and aims need to be described both internally within the organisation as well as towards potential suppliers.
Start by considering these questions:
- Has a decision been made politically or by management? YES/NO
- Is the purchaser interested in employment requirement measures? YES/NO
- Has a job-matching service been chosen for the recruitmentprocess? YES/NO
- Is there a network or other means of collaboration available for procurement in the region? YES/NO
If you have answered YES to all questions, it's just a matter of getting started.
Did you answer NO to any or all of these questions?
Everything starts with a decision from management. Get in contact, explain the benefits of employment requirements and show them the checklist for decision makers. The more people who actively choose to make a difference, the greater the difference we can make.
Success factors that have been identified in procurement with employment requirements:
- Clear decisions, political willpower and courage from management and decision makers.
- Active dialogue with suppliers and social partners.
- Close cooperation with the job-matching service.
- Resources allocated for procurement as well as the follow-up.
The contracting organisation must have a stated purpose for setting employment requirements in procurements and a defined target group. For the organisation to be able to effectively work with employment requirements, a political decision or mandate from management is needed.
The decision could, for example, apply to a special pilot procurement project, procurement within a selected sector, projects within a limited period of time, or general decisions regulated by issued guidelines and policy documents.
Suggestion!
Make a socio-economic calculation to see what effect or benefits it can give to set employment requirements:
In connection with initial planning, it should also be considered whether reserved procurement might be used to reach the required employment objectives. In reserved procurement, only suppliers that meet certain requirements regarding their activities may participate, such as sheltered workshops or suppliers whose main purpose is social or professional integration for individuals with disabilities or who have difficulty entering the labour market.
Reserved procurement/contracts (SV)
Identification
Prepare the assessment support documentation for the procurement in question: identify external factors that may have an effect and clearly define the target group. The target group should consist of people who for various reasons need help in entering the job market.
Contact the job-matching service/social services or the public employment service to find out whether the target group exists what it is consists of.
Start by considering these questions:
- Is there a target group?
- What is the target group?
- Can we work together with other interested parties and contracting organisations?
- Does the target group need to be trained or equipped? Who will do that?
- Can employment subsidies apply to the target group?
Remember:
- Target groups that are close to the job market are usually easier to match with the contract.
- Target groups further away from the job market need to be equipped more.
Analysing
Analyse which procurement objects may be relevant. Review everything from the procurement plan and incoming procurement assignments to business area and category planning. A thorough analysis—where the possibilities as well as risks are studied—will help you select procurements that are best suited to setting employment requirements.
The following questions should be considered:
- What is the type of procurement?
- Do you have a procurement contract that lasts for more than a year?
- Does execution of the contract require considerable human resources?
- Does a large part of the contract consist of personnel costs?
- Will more than one person carry out the assignment/execute the contract?
- What possible suppliers are available for the task in your region?
- Are there other contracting organisations in the region that have the same needs?
- Is it an industry or profession where you are required to do a necessity assessment?
Get started!
- See which procurements or procurement areas may be appropriate. When it comes to framework agreements, remember to open the way for setting employment requirements in the future when renewing competitive tendering.
- Open dialogues internally and externally.
- Conduct an external analysis. Contact other contracting organisations that have experience with employment requirements in procurement and draw on them for help. See illustrative examples in Kunskapsbanken (SV).
- Prepare a decision support document for the procurement.
See if the procurement is suitable for employment requirements
- Do the tasks in the contract require high formal education?
- Does the procurement object or area contain tasks that do not require formal training?
- Can the work be done by individuals who lack or who have only limited skills and experience but who have been equipped for the assignment?
- Could it be a preferential procurement?
Get started!
- Identify more precisely the content of the product, service or construction contract that will be procured. State also where the task will be performed.
- Consider how many employment opportunities may be reasonable to expect over the term of the contract, based on the length, scope and content of the contract.
- Describe the tasks that may be relevant.
Remember:
- Include any employment standards that are relevant to the procurement in your assessment.
It is important to conduct a market analysis well in advance of procurement to see whether it is appropriate to set employment requirements. The analysis could, for example, consider the value of the contract over its entire term, the scope and content of incoming tasks, the number of years the contract runs for and the main industry involved. A general analysis might be done previously that merely needs to be supplemented for the current procurement.
Each contracting organisation must conduct its analysis at the local or regional level in order to assess whether it is appropriate to set employment requirements in connection with a certain procurement object, since there are regional variations on the job market according to cyclical fluctuations that can impact the availability of individuals on the job market.
During the analysis period, the contracting organisation should consult with appropriate entities, such as the business community, industry organisations, social partners, suppliers and other relevant organisations.
In order to obtain a well-founded market analysis and create good opportunities for succeeding with a procurement that includes employment requirements, early consultation with suppliers, employers' and workers' organisations, and other relevant entities may also be needed. It is also important to consult internal stakeholders within your own organisation before the market analysis and before consulting suppliers and other organisations.
Early dialogue might involve meeting potential suppliers, industry organisations, specialists and other stakeholders to learn about how employment requirements can work in the best possible way for the procurement in question, as well as which solutions the market is able to provide according to the objectives and purpose of the procurement and the suppliers' operating needs.
Each purchase is unique, and assessing which requirements are reasonable to set needs to be done well beforehand. An example could be whether the value of a procurement object consists mainly of personnel costs or equipment/investment costs. Contracts that are primarily based on the performance of work have a higher proportion of personnel costs, which can allow greater scope for employment requirements within the framework of the contract. Requirements on the number of placements should be adjusted according to what is to be implemented and achieved. When setting employment requirements, the task should involve more than one person implementing the contract.
Examples of conditions needed and factors that should be considered before deciding on employment requirements for a particular procurement
- A decision, a policy or instructions and guidelines are in place that apply to the contracting organisation's work on procurement with employment requirements.
- Consultation has taken place with the industry, the business community, social partners (employers' and workers' organisations) and other relevant organisations regarding the possibilities for setting employment requirements; or already-existing industry agreements on internship, training initiatives etc. This may have been essentially done in connection with policy decisions.
- Dialogue has been entered into with potential suppliers before procurement begins in order to identify appropriate employment requirements and to give suppliers an opportunity to understand what is expected of the one who is awarded the contract.
- Suitable job seekers have been identified according to the defined target group on the job market.
- There is no risk of displacement effects—that is, of regular jobs being pushed out in favour of accepting new workers based on the employment requirement.
- It will not be disproportionally burdensome for suppliers to satisfy the requirements.
- There are abilities and resources for following up on the requirements, and non-compliance can be penalised.
- There is support, opportunity and potential for the supplier who wins the contract to satisfy the requirements.
- Management at the contracting organisation supports and is committed to allocating resources, and has the right level of ambition for cooperating with the supplier so that the requirements can be fulfilled.
- There is no risk of distorting competition between large companies and SMEs, or between foreign and Swedish member companies.
It is now time to decide on whether it is proper to use employment requirements for the procurement in question.
Steps to take:
- Make the decision together with the purchaser (budgetary authority) or project manager.
- Ensure that the purchaser understands the requirements in the procurement and contract.
- Inform the job-matching service (external or internal) of the decision.
Procurement
It is now time to formulate the requirements, award criteria and special contract terms that will be included in the tender documents.
Take advantage of the templates developed by the National Agency for Public Procurement:
Document employment requirements (SV)
Document for contract terms - dialogue on employment promotion measures (SV)
Template support document (SV)
Steps to take:
- Select special contract terms for the procurement.
- If the procurement is intended to promote improved gender equality or employment, you can use the terms in the template for bonus incentives.
- The tender document must explain that the supplier can receive help with job matching and recruitment.
- Do you use a job-matching organisation? Send the procurement schedule to them.
- Ensure that the purchaser possesses the knowledge needed in order to respond to questions from prospective tenderers.
Promoting gender equality and increasing employment through bonuses
If all is done:
Evaluate the tenders and award the contract(s).
Implementation
When the procurement is ready, the supplier should find and recruit those who will be offered work or internship. This is done by the supplier, possibly together with the job-matching service.
If needed, the purchaser/procurement agent can participate in this work.
- Book a kick-off meeting with the successful bidder after the standstill period has elapsed. Make sure, too, that purchasers and the job-matching service attend the meeting.
- Go through with the supplier the exact time when the employment requirements must be met according to the terms of the contract, along with the consequences of failing to meeting the requirement.
- Go through follow-up procedures and establish a joint follow-up plan.
- When the recruitment process is completed and the employment contract is signed, the supplier should inform both the procurement agent and the purchaser.
Follow up/monitoring
Have you managed to achieve all the objectives? When the contractual period nears its end, it is time to follow up. Initially, the supplier provides a general report to the one responsible for following up the agreement. The job-matching service should also be given the opportunity to participate in the follow-up.
- All procurement contracts with employment requirements must be followed up. Follow up templates and support can be found on the website of the National Agency for Public Procurement.
- If employment standards requirements have been set, these should also be followed up.
- Evaluate your experiences from the procurement process. You will benefit from them in future procurements that include employment requirements.
The following should be kept in mind during this phase:
- Hold appraisal meetings with the supplier during the contractual period in order to gauge how things are going with the commitment.
- Ensure that certificates are given to employees or interns for their efforts.
- As contracting organisation, obtain final documentation on how the contract has been fulfilled (see form below).
- Document and bring experiences into the next procurement that includes employment requirements.
- Ensure that personal data is processed in accordance with provisions in the Data Protection Regulation (SV).
Handling of personal data in connection with the follow-up
When following up employment requirements, it may be necessary to have access to personal data. The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR—Regulation 2016/679/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council) applies to all processing of personal data.
Data protection regulation