Employers risking heavy fines in the interview room
Employers are going to great lengths to avoid asking the wrong questions in the interview room – but often put themselves at risk of legal action.
As Sir Alan Sugar found out in the 2007 series of The Apprentice, grilling a female candidate about how she planned to juggle her family with work commitments, could breach sex discrimination laws.
Now, employers are so concerned about the legal pitfalls that they are failing to ask the right questions in interviews. That’s according to the leading online interview skills training service www.recruitsure.com
“Employers used to be allowed to ask anything they liked – sexuality, religious views, family background,” says Joe McDermott, founder of RecuitSure. “But now, bosses are fully aware of all the legal requirements they face and so often shy away from asking the questions they really should in order to hire the right person.”
RecruitSure is a new online training system which provides all the information companies need to conduct successful interviews. At a fraction of the cost of a traditional, out-of-the-office course, the service means employers save money and avoid potential lawsuits.
“An informal chat could result in an employer asking ‘Are you married’, this goes against a number of discrimination laws,” says McDermott.
One of RecruitSure's features is the Interview Builder which allows interviewers to build an interview in literally just a few minutes - a real boon to busy managers.