IN DIFFERENT COUNTRIES

CANADA:

When starting the recruiting process, it is important to be aware of certain legal issues in
order to minimize risk. Job postings, interview questions, checking references and making
job offers all need to be done in a way that meets legal requirements.

JOB POSTINGS

According to the BC Human Rights Code (Discrimination in employment advertisements),

employers must not publish job postings or advertisements that give preference to:

 Race  Family status

 Colour  Physical or mental disability

 Ancestry  Sex

 Place of origin  Sexual orientation

 Political belief  Gender identity or expression

 Religion  Age

 Marital status

PRE-EMPLOYMENT ASSESSMENTS:

Many companies require potential hires to take part in a pre-employment assessment, an area
ripe for recruitment related lawsuits. Assessments need to avoid the following:

 Discriminate or adversely affect a protected minority

 Require unreasonably high or restrictive standards that are not job-relevant

 Invade Privacy
In order to prove test validation, an employer must conduct a statistical study that proves that
the pre-employment assessment measure what it is purported to without adversely impacting
a protected group. As an employer, when choosing a pre-employment or talent assessment
provider, it is extremely important that the test publisher can prove test validation.

THE INTERVIEW

Once employers are ready to begin their interviews, there are a few key points to keep in
mind when designing questions. Employers need to ensure their interview process is not
intentionally or unintentionally asking questions on prohibited grounds (see Discrimination in
employment provisions). It is important to describe the job and requirements in a way that
gives all applicants a chance to apply. For example, if a position requires regular overtime
and has an irregular schedule, do not ask:

“Do you have children?” as employers would be assuming a person with children could not
work longer hours.

To ensure the candidate can work the schedule employers need, you should ask:

“This job requires regular overtime and has an irregular schedule, can you meet this
requirement?”

CHECKING REFERENCES

It is important to note that you cannot ask questions that are illegal during any stage of the
recruitment process including their interview or while conducting reference checks. For
example, just as you cannot ask a candidate about a disability in the interview process, you
cannot then ask their former employer, “How many sick days did they take last year?”
However, you can ask if they were reliable and punctual.

EXAMINE THE EMPLOYEE'S SOCIAL INSURANCE NUMBER (SIN)

The Social Insurance Number is used to administer government benefits. As an employer,

you need to view every new employee's SIN card within three days of the employee starting
work and record the employee’s name and SIN exactly as they appear on the card.

Watch for SINs that begin with the number "9"! A SIN starting with this number signals a
person who is not a Canadian citizen or permanent resident and who is authorized to work
only for a particular employer with a valid employment authorization issued by Citizenship
and Immigration Canada.

MAKING THE OFFER

According to the BC Human Rights Act (Discrimination in wages), it is important that you
not “discriminate between employees by employing an employee of one sex for work at a
rate of pay that is less than the rate of pay at which an employee of the other sex is employed
by that employer for similar or substantially similar work.” You must ensure that differences
in wages when offers are being made are based on “the concept of skill, effort and
responsibility, seniority systems where unions exist, merit systems and systems that measure
earnings by quantity or quality of production.”

In all steps of the recruiting process (job postings, interviews, checking references and
making the offer), remember the prohibited grounds and make sure all questions are asked in
a way that gives all applicants a fair chance to respond based on their job needs. Doing so
will minimize the risk and chance that you might be charged with discriminatory hiring
practices. Good recruiting is also good ethical and business practice, which will foster their
positive reputation and make it easier for you to recruit. Remember that every interview you
conduct is like an advertising opportunity. Every candidate should leave wishing they would
have the opportunity to work for you.

HAVE THE EMPLOYEE FILL OUT REQUIRED FORMS

Form TD1, Personal Tax Credits Return, determines how much tax is to be deducted from a
person's employment income. A new employee has to complete the federal TD1 and the
provincial TD1 if more than the basic personal amount is claimed.

In Quebec, employees need to use the federal TD1 and provincial Form TP1015.3-V

UNITED KINGDOM:

The laws governing discrimination play an important role at every stage of the recruitment
and selection process. Employers should judge job applicants against a range of objective
criteria, eg skills, knowledge and experience and not on personal factors.

Employers also need to be aware of other legal requirements, such as legislation on criminal
records, the need to check that the selected candidate has the right to work in the UK, and
case law on references for those selected for appointment. In addition, data protection
legislation (which was revised as from 25 May 2018 as a result of the EU’s General Data
Protection Regulation (GDPR )imposed in the UK through the Data Protection Act 2018)
applies to the gathering, retention and disclosure of information obtained during the
recruitment process.
DISCRIMINATION

Employers are required to comply with the Equality Act 2010 which prohibits
discrimination on the grounds of age, disability, gender reassignment, race, religion or
belief, sex, sexual orientation, marriage or civil partnership, pregnancy or maternity (the
“protected characteristics”). Discrimination on the grounds of trade union membership is
also unlawful.

JOB DESCRIPTION AND PERSON SPECIFICATION

It is important to formulate a job description and person specification at the start of the
recruitment process and to ensure that their contents are clear, objective, appropriate, non-
discriminatory and relevant.

POSITIVE ACTION

It is permissible to take positive action to encourage people from certain groups to apply
for work in circumstances where women (or men) or people from a minority racial group
have been under-represented in the workplace in the previous 12 months, or where people
from a particular religion, sexual orientation or age group have, in the past, been
disadvantaged in employment.

ADJUSTMENTS FOR CANDIDATES WITH DISABILITIES

Employers need to be aware of the duty to make reasonable adjustments for any job
applicant with a disability and of the sorts of adjustments that may be required.

Restrictions on the Employment of Children and Young Persons

Employers must ensure that the laws relating to children and young people are complied
with when recruiting children and young persons.

Offers of employment should state whether they are conditional on further information
being provided, eg references, a satisfactory medical or criminal records check.

DISCLOSURES

Employers may carry out checks on a prospective employee’s health, qualifications,

previous work record and criminal record; however, health checks cannot be lawfully
carried out until a conditional offer is made unless the check is for one of a short list of
specified purposes, including making reasonable adjustments to the recruitment process
for the benefit of a disabled candidate.

There is no general duty on employers to provide references for existing or past

employees, but if they choose to do so, they have a duty of care to ensure that the
reference is accurate, factual and not misleading.
 Where it is appropriate to do so, an employer may seek access to a prospective
employee’s criminal record through the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS), formerly
the Criminal Records Bureau or (in Scotland) through Disclose Scotland

DATA PROTECTION LEGISLATION

The Data Protection Act states that sensitive data about an individual may not be
collected or used unless either the individual has given free, explicit and unambiguous
consent, or one of a number of conditions (which are defined in the Act) is fulfilled.