Job recruitment and advertising 

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• Job advertisements
  
• Recruitment
  
• When discrimination is lawful
  

Job advertisements

Job advertisements should not discriminate on the grounds of age, disability, gender, race, religion or belief, or sexual orientation. For example, if a job advertisement specifies or implies that candidates must be of a particular gender or nationality, it may be unlawful. This also applies to age, although age limits may be justified. However, employers must justify all age limits on objective grounds.

Health, safety and welfare legislation protects young people at work and limits the age at which they can start working. Before employing a young person – that is, someone aged under 18 years – employers must carry out risk assessments that take specific factors into account. This includes, for example, assessing the nature of any physical, biological and chemical agents to which they will be exposed. The risk assessment may conclude that it is not reasonable to employ a young person.

Example
Firefighters must be at least 18 years old before they can join the Fire Service. There is no upper age limit and some entrants join the service in their forties. Given the risks of the job, it is justifiable for job advertisements to say that recruitment opportunities are open only to people aged 18 years and over.

Members of the public may challenge discriminatory advertisements in a court or tribunal, and the Equality and Human Rights Commission may be able to take up a case on your behalf.

If you see an advert that you believe discriminates on one of these grounds, you can contact us with this information. Tribunal claims have strict time limits and it is important to lodge a claim quickly. In most cases, a claim must be received by a tribunal within three months of the act happening that you are complaining about.

Recruitment

It is unlawful for an employer to discriminate against a candidate for a job because of their age, disability, race, religion or belief, sexual orientation or gender in any part of the recruitment process – in job descriptions, person specifications, application forms, during interviews, in tests, or in shortlisting.

For example, application forms should not ask for details that are not relevant to the job, such as country of birth or sexual orientation (except where such questions are contained in monitoring forms that are separated from application forms before assessment). During interviews, questions about a woman’s plans for starting a family, or asking an applicant whether they think that they will ‘fit in’ with the organisation, may also be evidence of discrimination.

However, an employer can ask if you have a disability so they can make special arrangements for you to attend an interview. Find out more about disability and the law.

There is no obligation on an employer to show that they have selected the best candidate for the job. However, all employers are recommended to keep records that allow them, if challenged, to justify their decisions to select particular candidates and reject others. The former Commission for Racial Equality’s code of practice on employment contains useful information on this and other areas, which may also be relevant to issues other than race.

Employers need to be able to show that each selection is based on objective evidence of a person’s ability to do the job satisfactorily, and not on assumptions or prejudices about race, gender, disability, sexual orientation, religion or belief, or age. An employer is unlikely to tell you that they rejected you for these reasons. But if you believe there is evidence of discrimination, you may be able to take a case.

Find out more about taking legal action

Find out more about employers’ legal responsibilities when recruiting

What can employers ask about your age? Read Age Concern’s guidelines  on looking for work.Tribunal claims have strict time limits and it is important to lodge a claim quickly. In most cases, a claim must be received by a tribunal within three months of the act happening that you are complaining about.

When discrimination is lawful

Under certain limited circumstances it may be lawful for employers to discriminate when recruiting people.

These circumstances are usually related to special characteristics of the job, for example:

• casting a character of a certain age in a play or film, when it might be lawful to consider only actors of a similar age
• appointing someone to provide face-to-face counselling for rape victims, when it would be reasonable to advertise specifically for a woman

These are called genuine occupational requirements or genuine occupational qualifications.