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Stuart Gentle Publisher at Onrec

Employers warned over recruitment processes

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Employment law experts at Thomas Eggar are warning employers to take care when selecting candidates for interview as rejection can easily lead to a claim on the grounds of racial or sex discrimination. This is where a South East school recently found itself when a candidate from an ethnic minority was rejected; a claim was made on race discrimination grounds and the school now has to answer many questions about its racial mix and recruitment policies.

Employers need to properly assess candidates and to have a contemporaneous written record of why a candidate was not selected, or was not successful at the interview, advises Nick Hine, an employment partner at the London office of Thomas Eggar. It is also advisable to have an equal opportunities policy in place, which shows evidence of considering this matter. The school is now being asked why it does not have one.

Claims to employment tribunals are on the increase, and this particular candidate is believed to have made several similar claims against other schools which have also rejected him, but this does not reduce the burden to the school in answering the claims against it.