Just when you start to think that maybe businesses have all done their equality and diversity training, a major company like BA is accused on two fronts of potential discrimination in their recruitment process. Just in case you haven’t heard, it appears that in requests for references being sent out to former employers, BA recruiters included questions around the extent of previous parental leave and, whether the person had a disabled child.
Whether BA were asking these questions for future planning purposes, and whether they are guilty of discrimination or not will be for a court to decide; if a direct claim is made and evidence found that the information was used to influence the recruitment decision.
If a company like BA can be caught out in this way it seems to suggest that refreshing your equality and diversity training might be a good thing; no matter how big you are, if only to bring it back to the front of your staff’s mind.
By John Freshney| Righttrack’s Head of Design and Development