subject: Employment Policies And The Equality Act - Recruitment [print this page] Employment Policies And The Equality Act - Recruitment
Each phase of the employment cycle, from the hiring and selection procedure all the way through to an employee leaving the organisation, is governed by equality legislation and employees, even possible employees, have rights at each stage.
The majority of equality law in the United Kingdom is included in the Equality Act2010 which came into force on 1 October 2010 and pulls together all extant anti-discrimination legislation that has developed over the past four decades. It includes nine "protected characteristics" previously protected within separate legislation - age, disability, gender reassignment, race, religion or belief, sex, sexual orientation, marriage and civil partnership and pregnancy and maternity - and provides a legal structure to protect the rights of individuals and develop equal opportunities for all.
The hiring and selection process should be carried out in a manner that promotes equal opportunities to ensure that no unlawful discrimination happens. Job advertisements should be widely publicised in order to encourage applications from all appropriately qualified and experienced people and should not be restricted to regions or publications which would exclude or disproportionately reduce applications from a particular gender or racial or age group. In addition, the advert should avoid stating requirements as to marital status or stating an age limit or group and words like "mature" or "young" should not be used.
At interview, all questions should pertain to the selection criteria and questions should not be derived from assumptions about roles in the home and in the family, or the assumed suitability of different ethnic or age groups for the post in question. Job seekers should not be asked their age or about their health and disabled applicants should not be asked about the nature of their disability or how it will affect their ability to carry out the job.
A complete record of each interview and selection decisions should be made and kept for six months to provide feedback, if subsequently requested by applicants. The provisions of the Data Protection Act 1998 enable applicants to ask to see interview notes where they form part of a "set" of information about the applicant (e.g. the application form, references received etc, or the full employment file if the applicant is already working for the company). The reasons for appointing or not appointing a particular applicant may also be challenged under discrimination legislation.
Once the successful applicant has accepted the job offer, a written statement of the main terms and conditions of their employment is required by law to be issued to the employee inside two months of them starting in the job.
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