Working Mums – what about the dads?

I got a request to add www.workingmums.co.uk to our database of job boards this week.

Maybe I’m just the most cynical person in the world, but my first reaction was “hold on, that’s a bit sexist”.  I couldn’t imagine getting a request to add jobsforblokes.co.uk or menonlyjobs.co.uk. But, workingmums.co.uk isn’t alone; there is also www.mumandworking.co.uk

On workingmums.co.uk there is not one mention of Dads.  I found one mention on mumandworking.co.uk (“an audience of Mums (or Dads) who are all actively looking for work”).

I wondered what the legal stance on this would be. So I called the very helpful Alison Henderson at the REC.  The REC’s Director of Legal Services had this to say:

“The point here is that positive discrimination in favour of one protected group whether it be according to race, gender or other group is still discrimination in UK law because it favours one group at the expense of another. The site clearly aims itself at women and although it does not expressly exclude men its strap line suggests that they will not be considered. If that is not the case in practice and I can see no real indication that they will not accept male applicants interested in flexible working then they may not be unlawfully discriminating against men”.

Which to cut through the legal speak basically means that whilst the sites are strongly pitched at women as long as they do not discriminate against any men who may approach them, they are legally OK.

I get the point of the job boards – niche sites like this are going from strength to strength in a market with so much vacancy advertising choice.  Of course I also strongly believe in diversity recruitment.  However, I have to ask, would it have killed them to mention the word dad somewhere on the site?!