Job candidates being asked illegal questions by firms

JOB CANDIDATES are being subjected to illegal questioning during interviews such as being asked if they were planning to have children, a study reveals.

Almost four out of five managers do not think it is potentially illegal to ask someone applying for a job if they were planning to go on maternity or paternity leave, with 40%per cent thinking the question is acceptable.

Science and technology recruitment firm Hyper Recruitment Solutions (HRS) said such questions have the potential to breach employment law, which requires employers to treat all candidates fairly. Its survey of 1,000 managers found that men were more likely than women to ask such a question.

A separate poll of 1,000 employees found that one in five feel they have been mistreated in an interview, with some walking out or making a complaint.

winner Ricky Martin, who set up the recruitment firm after winning the reality TV show in 2012, said: “It’s pretty shocking to unearth that such practices are happening every day in the hiring process.

“It is imperative that British bosses are educated on workplace practice, to put a stop to such shocking interview practices which lead to unprecedented inequality.

Official training should be mandatory across all business sectors for anyone involved in the process of interviewing prospective candidates.”