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DWF | |
One of the most common mistakes employers make is to specify a minimum level of experience, as this could rule out younger people who might be equally capable of carrying out the role. Another potential risk is to ask for a degree, which could discriminate against older people as a university education is now much more common that it was 10 or 20 years ago. While both these requirements can be justified where they are necessary for the job a safer alternative would be to specify the level of skills required. Specifying minimum levels of experience is particularly risky An additional problem, particular in the leisure and retail sectors, is that some employers ask for candidates who are ‘lively’, ‘energetic’, ‘enthusiastic’ or ‘dynamic’. Such terms can all be viewed as discriminating against older people or those with disabilities. Our survey found that the retail sector was the worst offender with 37 per cent of all adverts containing some form of discrimination, compared to 32 per cent in HR, 26 per cent in the leisure sector and 16 per cent in finance. The situation has improved since 2005, when age discrimination rules were first proposed and when a similar survey by DWF found that half of all job adverts contained some type of discrimination. However while progress has been made, it is clear that some organisations are still exposing themselves to potential liability through a lack of careful wording within advertisements, leaving themselves open to tribunal claims. We advise employers to review any current adverts and the policies that they follow before publicising a position to ensure that they limit this risk. For further information, please contact: |
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