‘Know your rights’ warning for job interviews

Employers are being reminded to ensure they stay within the law when carrying out job interviews and not discriminate against potential recruits.

The warning follows a poll by a graduate recruitment organisation which found that more than 40 per cent of British women have been asked ‘inappropriate’ questions during an interview.

The research from Debut showed that more women than men were asked questions about topics including their relationship status, age and future family plans.

Claire Haworth, solicitor in the Employment team at Napthens solicitors, has warned employers to be aware of their responsibilities when carrying out interviews.

She reminds that the Equality Act 2010 prevents an employer from discriminating against a job candidate in various circumstances including disability, sex and marriage or civil partnerships, .

Claire said: “For some employers this can be a very busy time of year, with the recruitment process ramping up.

“In my experience most are well aware of their role and responsibility when it comes to job interviews, but mistakes are still made.

“Employers should understand their obligations in an interview process, so ensuring relevant staff members have received training in equality and diversity is important.

“They should be clear what the job criteria is and prepare questions that are relevant to that job criteria for the interview, not discriminatory and applied consistently to each candidate.

“Employers should keep record of the questions and answers for each employee at the interview so they are in a position to justify why a candidate has not been successful. “They should also avoid asking questions that are not relevant to the job specification.”