How we discriminate in interview

A couple of week’s ago we set up a quiz asking recruiters if they “accidentally” discriminate in interview.  200 responses in I feel we’ve enough data to share some trends.

First the good news; over 90% of recruiters know you can’t ask a candidate’s age or if they have, or plan on having children.  Nearly 90% knew not to ask about martial status either.  Asking whether someone is married (or if they have a husband or wife) could be viewed as being discriminatory, and an interviewer should always err on the side of caution, even when making polite conversation. The question could be construed as eliciting information regarding an interviewee’s sexual orientation, and so is probably best avoided.

On the questions of where a candidate currently lives and their alcohol consumption or recreational drug use we had more uncertainty with 25% of respondents feeling confident asking about those areas.

Asking someone about where they live could create discrimination issues as they may live in an area that has more residents of a specific ethnic group, religion or class. Also problematic is asking an interviewee where they are from – the same rules apply. A way around this is to not ask somebody how far away they live, but instead ask them whether they would be able to get to work for 9am.   With regards to drugs and alcohol an employer can set rules for professional conduct and substance use at work, but as with many of these scenarios what someone chooses to do in their personal time is entirely their own decision and is unrelated to their ability to do the job.

However, on the question of sickness and disability we struggled with just under 2/3rd of people getting these ones correct.   You can’t ask an interviewee questions about their health or a disability or how many sickness days they took in their last job.

Asking somebody whether they have a disability and whether it would impinge on their ability to do the job is grounds for disability discrimination and should be avoided at all costs. Interviewers should be equally cautious with questions relating to health, a candidate should never directly be asked whether they have any health conditions or have suffered from any illnesses in the past.

It is acceptable to ask an interviewee to explain any gaps in employment due to long term sick leave, provided it is stated on their CV. Questions can be asked about disability to find out whether a job applicant would be able to undertake a function that is intrinsic to the job, for example, lifting and physically supporting service users in a care setting. Applicants can also be asked whether they have any health conditions which might prevent them from attending an assessment centre if that would involve physical or outdoor activities.

Finally after being befuddled by all the sensible questions about interviews only 82% of you would have risked asking interviewee to do an impression of a dinosaur.   Although, honestly, why would you?!

Thanks again to Fisher Jones Greenwood for helping put together the ten questions (and answers) to this quiz.