Avoiding Recruitment Discrimination

In today's employment culture, employers must not only create robust anti-discrimination procedures and develop cultures that foster equality; they must also be able to demonstrate their achievements to the outside world. Discrimination is a hot topic, as the vast numbers of tribunals will attest each year. The recruitment process is particularly vulnerable in this regard, so follow our handy guide to ensure that you minimise the risk to your business.

Recruitment Processes

Good staff training and robust processes are essential to maintaining regulatory compliance and building an equality driven culture. Ideally, draw up your processes with the aid of a HR expert, whether in-house or external, to ensure that you have the right guidance and input.

You must have a Job Description prior to Recruitment

Before you begin any recruitment activity you must, for example, have a job description in place that covers the required duties of the role, along with a person specification that details experience, skills and necessary qualifications. These documents are essential, providing a platform for the latter part of the process.

Producing a Job advertisement

Focus on the requisite key skills, experience and qualifications and include a list of duties. Be very clear about the occasions when you can specify potentially discriminatory factors, such as gender or disability. The purpose of discrimination laws is to ensure that people are treated fairly, so irrelevant factors such as religion and sexual orientation cannot form the basis of a recruiter's decision to hire or exclude a candidate. But there are exceptions. A severe physical disability, for example, might preclude a candidate from being accepted for a position that requires good health. Seek HR advice on this potentially awkward issue.

Candidate Shortlist

It may be sensible to remove the name and contact sections of each application form to encourage candidates to focus on the essentials. Try using a grid to record assessments and ensure transparency. Ensure that more than one person supports this activity to avoid bias. When you have a number of applications, begin the task of creating a shortlist of candidates.

Job Interview

Your panel should draw up a question schedule beforehand and focus only on experience and skills deemed necessary for the job. They must also be aware of subjects that they must not discuss, such as age and marital status. The interviewers must use the same process for each candidate and record their answers using a scoring sheet. Keep all paperwork for reference. Finally, these scoring sheets should be used to make the final decision. Ideally, a HR representative would attend the interview to offer additional peace of mind for all parties.

Written by Marc Dewdney of Circle Square Talent - Finance Jobs London& Accountancy Jobs London. Marc specialises in recruiting Permanent Senior Finance Candidates into Real Estate, Property and Construction firms within London and the surrounding counties. He also recruits for Investment and Media firms in Central London, and other contract and interim roles.

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