Ramdon question, Employer asking age

Valli

scheming_gypsy wrote: »

if you're a pirate you'll have to drink rum. You'll be working from home but your home will be your new boat and it's commission only

And don't forget pirates speaks in the present tense, pirates does!

Valli

sjbrun wrote: »

Where I work we sell BB Guns and Fireworks amongs other toys aimed at kids there are some things aimed at adults and for that reason all staff must be over 18 to serve those products. We have checked with the job centre and ACAS and we can write on the job adverts that staff must be over 18 for that reason. In the interview we ask if they are over the age of 18 but we dont directly ask their age. As far as i'm aware there must be a ligitamate reason to do this for health and safety or to comply with a law.

You should NOT be aiming fireworks OR BB guns at kids. You'll have someone's eye out. Then they will have to take up piracy on the high seas and goodness only knows where this will all end.



There is a legitimate reason. Age restricted goods must be sold by someone old enough to buy them. Hence the underage checkout girls in Mr. M. have to have someone check when they're floggin' me my Pinot Grigio. Or Chablis if its been a good month;).

Yorkie1

I suppose in relation to the original issue about the age question, one way to respond is to say "Of course I'll tell you but could you just explain how it's relevant to the job/ why you need to know at this stage" or something similar. Gives them the opportunity to give a valid reason if one exists ...

Savvy_Sue

Jarndyce wrote: »

Assuming this part of the application form is not detachable for the selection process

even if it is detachable for the selection process, I'd still say it was none of the employer's business.

Our application form now asks applicants to confirm that they are over 18, and we have valid reasons for not employing under 18s. That's all. If they're to drive our van, we need to know if they're over 25 (and check they have a full licence etc). Again, that's all. We probably would have a problem with insurance once they're over 65: I know our more mature volunteers only get half cover at that stage.

blondie12 wrote: »

as i say, i can understand the age thing if it were for bar work or driving or something, but its for weekend receptionist at a care home...

So I think they're bang out of order to ask for that detail.

Valli wrote: »

You should NOT be aiming fireworks OR BB guns at kids. You'll have someone's eye out.

I'm not sure where your joke begins and ends, but it read to me that sjb sells fireworks and BB guns ALONGSIDE toys and games aimed at kids, not that he's going out of his way to sell these things to kids. (Personally I don't think guns of any kind have any place alongside children's toys and games, but that's completely OT!)

Of course there are other legal restrictions which mean that an employer NEEDS to check age: you can't do a paper round before you're 13, for example, and my lads had to be 17 before working at the local cinema. But an employer doesn't need DOB pre-employment, just confirmation that you're legally of an age to do the job / be insured to do the job!

Valli

Personally I see no reason why anybody sells BB guns. DS wanted one, years back and I didn't know what they were and he showed me what they were ON THE MARKET (on a market stall and not in a shop) and I was appalled. But I was 'sort of' joking at the poster there.
Just because there's a demand I see no reason for there to be a supply.

proactive

isn't the whole thing about not having to give an age a bit pointless since giving the age you passed your gcses or a levels or whatever the equivalent was before essentially telling them how old you are?

anyway i work in a bookies so you gotta be eighteen to work there so that was practically the first thing they asked

Jarndyce

Savvy_Sue wrote: »

even if it is detachable for the selection process, I'd still say it was none of the employer's business.

They are allowed to ask to collate data for monitoring purposes - that allows good employers to check they aren't discriminating inadvertently!

hcb42

I hardly ever fill out an application for a job, it is usually a cv but any with questions like that one would go straight in the bin. god forbid what their employment policies are like when you actually get the job, if they havent even got the basics right.

Jarndyce

hcb42 wrote: »

I hardly ever fill out an application for a job, it is usually a cv but any with questions like that one would go straight in the bin. god forbid what their employment policies are like when you actually get the job, if they havent even got the basics right.

Nice for you that you can afford to be so choosy. Not everyone can.

mountainofdebt

I appreciate that its against the law to discriminate on the basis of age but I really do despair when you've got to the situation where an employer can't even ask a person's age now.

At the end of the day, if the employer prefers an older or a younger person , a man or a woman for the role then they will choose the person that fits their preferred specification - all it means by not being allowed to ask these questions is that people's time are wasted