The New Age Discrimination legislation
Recruitment and Selection Good Practice
The new Age Discrimination Legislation has come into effect as of the 1 October 2006. http://www.efa.org.uk/
Here are a few tips for organisations to follow a fair recruitment and selection process:
Advertising
- Remove age limits from job adverts, so no-one is discouraged from applying because of their age
- Use language and pictures that appeal to wide age groups
- Avoid phrases like 'applicants should be 25-35 years of age', ‘young graduates’, ‘mature person’ - they are discriminatory
- Publicise your vacancies in ways most likely to attract people of a variety of ages – consider national and local newspapers, free papers, internet, jobcentres, and community and business networks
- State that you welcome applications from all groups regardless of difference, all members of the community
- If you offer flexible working within your organisation mention this within the advert. Applicants who are looking for a career to match their work-life balance will be encouraged to apply
- Be aware that older people increasingly make up a bigger proportion of the population. Ignoring this will reduce your choice of potential candidates.
Experience and qualifications
- Avoid specifying a minimum length of experience such as 10 years, as this disadvantages younger workers. The quality and relevance of experience is important - not the number of years
- Avoid phrases like 'only people with GCSEs need apply'. This rules out many older people who left school before GCSEs were introduced, even though they may have the necessary skills, selection should be made on the basis of aptitude and ability.
Application forms
- Remove date of birth and put it on a separate monitoring form that interviewers don’t see and therefore does not influence the selection
- Review your application form to ensure that you are not asking for unnecessary information about periods and dates; Include only requirements that are necessary to perform and accomplish the job .
- Use Application forms that focus on the skills and competence of the role. See best practice application form on http://www.efa.org.uk/publications/default.asp
- The application and vacancy should be available in different formats ie large print, tape, disk or e-mail and can be received in the same format.
Monitoring
- Check how effective your recruitment process is. Review the number of candidates of different age groups who applied; were short-listed; interviewed; appointed. Was there anything about the campaign/advertisement that might have discouraged certain age groups?
Graduate and specialist recruitment
- If you have special recruitment Programmes for graduates or managers, make them open to all ages.
Recruitment agencies
- If you use a recruitment agency check that they don’t exclude people because of their age and use a variety of methods of advertising to ensure you get a good age mix of candidates
- You need to be sure they act appropriately and in accordance with your company’s equality and diversity policies.
Interviews
- Structure your interviews by using the same questions for each candidate and ask applicants to demonstrate their aptitude for the role by using previous experience either in their social life or in a work context. Stick to asking questions around the skills spec for the vacancy and take notes to provide feedback to the candidate.
- Consider consulting using the Disabled Employment Adviser at the Job Centre for advice in interviewing and attracting Disabled People; ie regarding being flexible about interview dates and times
- If the applicant is disabled or from an under-represented group and suitable for the role if a minor adjustment is made to the job specification; consider making that adjustment.
The Benefits of Best Practice
Managing Diversity makes business sense; the starting point for best practice is valuing and celebrating ‘difference’ as an asset because this allows employers to access the right blend of talent, skills and experience needed to contribute to the business performance.
The CIPD has published some research to explore the drivers for best practice and detailing the business case. The main drivers were to be compliant with legal requirements and to retain and encourage a unique workforce to meet the demands of diverse customers and the need to improve market share.
For further benefits please look at the following website: http://www.cipd.co.uk/subjects/dvsequl/general/divover.htm?IsSrchRes=1
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