Employment application form - are these questions legal?

Kirri

I have received an application form and am surprised to see the following questions on it (it is for an office job)


Date of birth/marital status/children/nationality - is it legal to ask these, I thought age was an iffy topic these days?

Do you smoke - again is this legal? I don't smoke but that's not the point..

Mudd14

It became the case where employers got rid of questions like that to avoid discrimination claims. It is not illegal to have them on the application but they should not affect the selection process which some times employers have found hard to prove so they just got rid of them!

dmg24

Even if date of birth is not asked, it is pretty easy to work it out from the work history.

Nationality is usually asked to ensure that you have the right to work in the UK (though this will be subject to further checks if your application is successful).

Kirri

I am surprised all those questions are legal, I just get a really bad impression from a company asking all those things these days...

alenax

Nationality I can see the point of, but the marital status and kids and smoking thing really gets me! I went into a shop to ask about a part-time job once and the man working in there asked me if I smoke, I challenged him about how the question was irrelevant and he just mumbled something about it. Didn't get the job though

Oldernotwiser

People who smoke frequently expect to get smoking breaks and often smell strongly of tobacco, making it very unpleasant for co workers and the public.

DCFC79

All them details have been on application forms ive filled in for years

Kirri

Oldernotwiser wrote: »

People who smoke frequently expect to get smoking breaks and often smell strongly of tobacco, making it very unpleasant for co workers and the public.

Yep I can undetstand why they want to know, what I wanted to know is are they legal..

as with the kids and marital status thing, obviously they will discriminate either way on these (as there isn't any relevance to the job), but is that right!

Oldernotwiser

Kirri wrote: »

Yep I can undetstand why they want to know, what I wanted to know is are they legal..

as with the kids and marital status thing, obviously they will discriminate either way on these (as there isn't any relevance to the job), but is that right!

I don't think that smokers' rights are enshrined in any law, otherwise smoking wouldn't have been banned in so many work and leisure premises.

Kirri

alenax wrote: »

Nationality I can see the point of, but the marital status and kids and smoking thing really gets me! I went into a shop to ask about a part-time job once and the man working in there asked me if I smoke, I challenged him about how the question was irrelevant and he just mumbled something about it. Didn't get the job though

Me too and I would feel like saying the same - I don't even smoke but I don't think they really have the right to know about people's personal lives.. and the other questions can really be discriminatory for women..

SnowyOwl_2

Over here in NI it's habit for many employers to ask for a medical history. You have to provide details of current medication, past illnesses, current illnesses etc etc. Yeah I know you can fib but if they somehow find out about something you aren't up front about they say they can sack you.

Very often the medical questions are part of the application form, and of course are seen by HR staff, and maybe even line management staff. It's appalling!

I worked in HR for a company last year, and my HR colleagues frequently referred to the answers people gave about their medical history when making a decision about absence. For example if someone has put that they have had migraines in the past then go off sick with migraines then that was treated as an ongoing condition and the person doesn't face the same disciplinary measures compared to someone who has just started having migraines. I was stunned that any medical information was available to non-medically qualified staff.

The fact that medical information often forms part of the application form makes me suspect that it can be considered during the recruitment process, which of course is very wrong.