7.28.1 The Authority should not generally seek to control whom the Contractor (or its sub-contractors) employs, except where there are valid reasons to do so (e.g. overriding public policy considerations, national security issues, security clearances or statutory duties).
7.28.2 The Authority's concerns are likely to be focussed on preventing or terminating the employment of persons with a criminal conviction relevant to their employment. This is unlikely to be an issue for the Contractor where the concern relates to a matter which is also of concern to the Contractor (e.g. dishonesty convictions). The Contractor will be equally keen to build in safeguards into its employment procedures to take action against dishonest employees.
7.28.3 Examples where a degree of Authority control is required include prison and defence projects, where the Authority retains a need to approve all staff because of statutory duties relating to sensitive security considerations. The Authority has the right to prevent the employment, or require the removal, of any staff. Similarly, public policy considerations may mean that an Authority involved in school projects, for example, does not want employees with convictions of a certain nature (but, again, the Authority and Contractor are likely to have a common interest on such issues).
7.28.4 In the cases in which the Authority is justified in retaining a degree of control over the Contractor's employees, the Authority should agree the relevant restrictions with the Contractor as part of the bidding process. The Contractor's personnel and employment policy will need to reflect the Authority's requirements and this may have a cost implication. The Contract provisions should be reasonable and allow the Authority to veto or require the removal of staff, with the Contractor bearing the risk of the consequences of such action. Any judgment that an employee does not satisfy certain relevant criteria should, to the extent within the Authority's control, be made on the basis of objective evidence. Contractors should note that certain security clearance procedures may be outside the control of the Authority.
7.28.5 Controls need to be exercised over employees at the end of the Service Period, where the considerations referred to in Section 25.4 (Handover Provisions for Assets which transfer to the Authority) apply. Other statutory restrictions will still apply after the end of the Service Period (for example, the Official Secrets Acts 1911, 1920, 1939 and 1989).
7.28.6 Consequences of Control
7.28.6.1 If the Authority does retain some control over sub-contractors and/or employees then the Contract should contain a procedure to be followed to confirm whether the Authority has any objections to a particular party. Any failure by the Authority to respond within the specified time limit should be dealt with in accordance with Section 15.2 (Compensation Events). Authorities should consider carefully whether their "approval" can be deemed to be given if they fail to respond.