In this 7-part series of blog posts, we explore the basics of employment law to help offer advice to managers and business owners.
Here is part 7: Recruitment
Recruitment
When recruiting staff, it is important that legal obligations still apply even though they do not work for you. These mainly revolve around discrimination. The key points to remember when recruiting are:
- be careful when writing job adverts that could be or imply discrimination. Avoid words like youthful, energetic, would not be suitable for a woman (I have seen this, honest)
- When sifting and rejecting candidates make a note why and don’t write anything that could be discriminatory eg has children,
- When interviewing, be careful what questions you ask. It is illegal to ask whether someone is pregnant, is planning to have children, childcare arrangements, will they be getting married etc etc. Again I have witnessed this. It happens still. If you do, you could be writing a big cheque.
- Make notes of the reasons for hiring/ rejecting as these can be used as evidence. Again be careful what you write. If you have no notes, it’s your word against somebody else’s and a Tribunal is entitled to make its mind up on who it believes.
- Once hired, make sure that equal opportunities are just that and you live the policy. Train your staff. It is important both to make sure everyone is aware of their rights and obligations and it can be a defence against a claim.
If in doubt of anything, seek advice. We can help – call us on 01423 788 538 to speak to an expert Truth Legal Solicitor.
