Interview questions over childcare?

Hmm71

FATBALLZ wrote: »

Really? Childcare issues are just as applicable to men as they are to women, how is it discrimination based on sex?

I wish! My husband never took his turn at taking our daughter to nursery or ever took a day off when she was ill. The childcare was always down to me as he firmly believed his job was so much more important than mine and that the world would implode if he took a day off once in a while.

ILW

My OH runs a small care home. Many recruits say that child care is no problem (shift work etc) until they get the job and then repeatedly plead child care issues for short notice absences.

Uncertain

ILW wrote: »

My OH runs a small care home. Many recruits say that child care is no problem (shift work etc) until they get the job and then repeatedly plead child care issues for short notice absences.

I'm sure that is true.

However the law gives a right to short periods of unpaid leave for family emergencies (which it doesn't define) and also makes it unlawful to discriminate on grounds of sex. Asking these kinds of questions is leaving the employer wide open.

ILW

Uncertain wrote: »

I'm sure that is true.

However the law gives a right to short periods of unpaid leave for family emergencies (which it doesn't define) and also makes it unlawful to discriminate on grounds of sex. Asking these kinds of questions is leaving the employer wide open.

True, but many employees really do take the mick. Fine for a large organisation but can be disastrous for a small set up or charity.

mrsw1983

My house insurance doesn't cover legal expenses so I won't be able to afford to go through the legal process which is a shame as I'm still really cross over the whole thing

EmmaHerts

Why don't you call the EHRC for free advice?

emg

As I understand it, they offered you the job and then asked those questions. If they then withdrew the offer you might have a case but these types of discrimination cases would usually involve the employer asking the questions at interview and then choosing not to employ someone based on their answers.

Uncertain

emg wrote: »

As I understand it, they offered you the job and then asked those questions. If they then withdrew the offer you might have a case but these types of discrimination cases would usually involve the employer asking the questions at interview and then choosing not to employ someone based on their answers.

Indeed.

Just asking the questions is not actionable. Discriminating unlawfully based on the answers is. For that reason an employer is very stupid to ask as they are leaving themselves wide open if they then don't employ the applicant.

Some people have almost made a career out of engineering situations where they are the victim of discrimination. One can argue about the ethics of that but firms can largely protect themselves by acting sensibly.