I am so mad!!!

sb13579

hes a tightfisted miser. hes like ebeneezer scrooge in my opinion and i hope he goes bankrupt.

Skint_Catt

lol, thanks sb13579 - I don't wish that on anyone however I do hope the new girl leaves within months! :rotfl:

cazziebo

What a terrible way to run a company. What's to say the 22 year old male doesn't leave for another job/travel the world/turn up drunk or hungover most mornings?

It's wrong - but it's not officially discrimination unless he uses the information to choose one candidate over another. It is very poor practice and he probably doesn't ask males the question. I would give ACAS a call and ask them what to do - I'm not sure if they follow up this kind of allegation. They might. I'm sure they would keep your identity secret.

You're too good for them. There are better employers out there

alyth

I'm going to throw a slight spanner in the works here - whilst I understand of course that these questions cannot be asked by an interviewer, and he went about it the wrong way in asking you the question directly, for many years I temped on and off and gained many a position by covering for maternity leave - and at one particular interview the poor guy got himself in such a twist by asking so many indirect obvious questions about whether I was married/had kids/was planning them that in the end I just replied that I had no intentions of ever having kids, and I gained a six month mat cover working for a very high profile guy you will have heard of.

Look at it from the other viewpoint - the guy has a small company, under 15 employees, you are engaged and will be married and no doubt will have kids - sorry for that assumption. He is struggling in a recession, he may take you on and six months down the line you are pregnant - whilst he won't lose money, he has to retrain someone, keep your job open for you, and go through the whole recruitment process again - don't know whether you went via an agency for this job, but he has agency fees to consider.

I am not saying it is right or wrong, but I can see both points of view. I would look on it as experience, as others say, the guy went about the interviewing the wrong way, do you really want to report the company, start legal proceedings, over something that whilst is wrong and is important to you, in the greater scheme of things nothing has been hurt or damaged apart from your feelings.

I have had interview training and interviewed for staff in the past, it is a legal nightmare, depending on how old the guy was he may have been trying to push his luck, it may just be the way he is - put it down to experience, and good luck in your search for another job.

foxy-roxy

alyth wrote: »

I'm going to throw a slight spanner in the works here - whilst I understand of course that these questions cannot be asked by an interviewer, and he went about it the wrong way in asking you the question directly, for many years I temped on and off and gained many a position by covering for maternity leave - and at one particular interview the poor guy got himself in such a twist by asking so many indirect obvious questions about whether I was married/had kids/was planning them that in the end I just replied that I had no intentions of ever having kids, and I gained a six month mat cover working for a very high profile guy you will have heard of.

Look at it from the other viewpoint - the guy has a small company, under 15 employees, you are engaged and will be married and no doubt will have kids - sorry for that assumption. He is struggling in a recession, he may take you on and six months down the line you are pregnant - whilst he won't lose money, he has to retrain someone, keep your job open for you, and go through the whole recruitment process again - don't know whether you went via an agency for this job, but he has agency fees to consider.

I am not saying it is right or wrong, but I can see both points of view. I would look on it as experience, as others say, the guy went about the interviewing the wrong way, do you really want to report the company, start legal proceedings, over something that whilst is wrong and is important to you, in the greater scheme of things nothing has been hurt or damaged apart from your feelings.

I have had interview training and interviewed for staff in the past, it is a legal nightmare, depending on how old the guy was he may have been trying to push his luck, it may just be the way he is - put it down to experience, and good luck in your search for another job.

Fair point, good post.:T

sb13579

i still say report the company because i hate there guts.

Zazen999

Skint_Catt wrote: »

Went to an interview this morning. All was going well until he asked me my age. I hesitated but said I was 32. Then he continued to ask me about my living arrangments and about my plans to marry & have children (whether or not he'd noticed my engagement ring I'm not sure).

I didn't think they could ask you these things now? Surely that's sex discrimination as he wouldn't have asked a male applicant those questions? I'm guessing I won't get the job (and especially after finding out today I didn't get a previous one) and I'm fuming and upset.:mad:

Sorry just had to rant!

In future; you need to stop at the first point and ask them whether that is relevant, and anyone with any knowledge of the law etc should know they can't ask these sorts of questions these days.

I suspect if you really wanted to, and you don't get the job, you really could take them to the cleaners. If you really wanted to.

paulwf

Unfortunately a lot of small biz employers know very little about employees rights and the law. For example the last 2 companies I worked for both didn't know what the minimum holiday entitlement was and were offering less than this...I know it has been changing but it isn't rocket science to keep up with this.

You could write a letter to inform him of the law, there is a good chance that he genuinely didn't know he was breaking (or coming very close to breaking) the law. If you are willing to pay out money for the principle you could send it through a solicitor. Trying to take legal action will be a lot harder unless the interview was recorded or there are witnesses or he will give access to his notes...if it is your word against his anything will be hard to prove.

Since we've hit our early 30's my OH and myself have seen every female friend and relative in their 30's that has married have a child within a year and quite often they have another one within a couple of years. A 32 year old female about to get married is going to be seen as a huge "risk" by a small business. It is a complex issue, one much debated on by the childfree community as to what the best approach a woman in a similar situation should take in an interview. As Alyth mentions, in some ways it is good to get the topic aired as by stating your plans you now have some hope in getting the job rather than next to no hope. It's such a tricky issue, I do hope you set this employer straight with regards to the law and good luck with the job hunt.

ohreally

Make a complaint to the equalities commission http://www.equalityhumanrights.com/your-rights, their lawyers will pick this up if theres a case.

Seek advice about making a complaint to an employment tribunal...http://www.employmenttribunals.gov.uk/FormsGuidance/beforeMakingRespondingClaim.htm

Skint_Catt

alyth as I said in a previous post I'm well aware of WHY he was asking the questions and I have no desire to prosecute or claim anything against him but I'm still upset that I've been written out of a job which I'm more than capable of.

I stated to him at the time that he shouldn't have been asking me those questions but he continued regardless. Even though I may want children after I marry the fact is I may not be able to have any so I'm looking at a future of being unemployable until I hit he menopause!