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Employees of the United Kingdom’s General Election watchdog, the Public Accounts Committee, have called for a review of the company’s recruitment practices after it was revealed that the company was recruiting people under the age of 24.
The company was also found to have been recruiting staff under the condition that they would stay on the job and not go on sick leave.
The committee, which is run by the Conservative-led parliament, asked the company for clarification about its recruitment practices in a letter sent to the company on Thursday.
The letter said the company “does not recruit anyone under the 18-years-old age limit”.
The letter went on to say that while the company did not offer incentives to staff under 18, it does offer paid leave, and has a system for training staff at 18.
The public accounts committee also asked the government for more information about how many staff it has on sick-leave.
“We have asked the Department for Work and Pensions for more detail about how often these people are given paid leave and how many are given unpaid leave,” the committee’s chair, Stephen Phillips, said.
“What we are getting is vague and it’s not clear from the company what is happening on the front line to these young people and how they are getting the care they need.”
Phillips also said the committee has been calling for the company to be more transparent about its practices since it was first raised last year, and that it has received no response.
He said he has been meeting with staff who are being paid leave but has not heard any explanation for why they are not receiving it.
“I am very worried that this company has not done a proper job of training staff on how to do the job of a public accountant and getting them to take unpaid leave, or the amount of unpaid leave they are entitled to,” he said.
The Public Accounts committee has also called for an investigation into the company, saying it has a “toxic culture”.
“This company needs to be held to account,” Phillips said.
