Discrimination in the Workplace
In the UK there is extensive legal protection to ensure that companies can’t discriminate against job applicants and employees on grounds of sex, race or age. However, many high profile cases have shown that employers are still discriminating on all of these grounds, either through ignorance of the law or because they think they can get away with it.
When recruiting new employees careful attention must be paid to both the job advert and the interview process. HR resourcing experts should be consulted on the process and can sit in on interviews to offer advice if an interviewer is unsure. Job adverts can no longer the gender of the person being sought, unless the job falls into very specific criteria. Statements can be made about looking for someone with a certain number of years of experience, but an employer can no longer say they are looking for someone aged over 35 or under fifty. During the interview process it is wise to steer well clear of any questions regarding children or childcare so as not to discriminate against women who are the main carers for young children. The easiest way to ensure your process is fair to everyone is to have competency based interviewing. Write a standard set of questions before seeing any candidates, and base the questions around previous experience, or ask them to tell you about a time when they were in a specific situation. Ensuring that you ask everyone the same thing will mean you are not being discriminatory in your interviewing process.
For existing employees the rules are broadly similar. Opportunities for promotion and training must be given to all employees on an equal basis. Many of the recent high profile cases in the press have centred on women who have been on maternity leave when their position has been made redundant, or who have been sacked for spurious reasons shortly after announcing their news to their employer. Although such overt discrimination is rare, there are many other ways that employers may discriminate against employees without even realising that they are doing it. If your company does not employ an HR resourcing team, it is wise to retain the services of an HR advisory company who can advise and consult on best practice and assist with writing of documents and drafting of internal adverts or letters to staff.
It is also wise for all small employers to book themselves on a short course run by one of the many private training providers which will take you through the basics of the legislation and outline your responsibilities as an employer. It could mean a day out of your working week, but in the long run it could mean you’re seen as a much fairer employer.