Should you ask health related questions on job application forms?

Are you still asking health related questions on job application forms? If you are, have you thought this through? Is the reason you ask health related questions on job application forms because you want to judge if someone is going to be able to attend work regularly? You’ve probably heard of the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 (DDA). However, have you heard of The Equality Act 2010 (EqA)? If you haven’t, you need to learn more about it and how it has superseded the DDA. The EqA lists a number of ‘protected characteristics’. One of the ‘protected characteristics’ in the legislation is disability. Disability is defined as a ‘physical or mental impairment which has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on that person’s ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities’. You probably know that it’s is against the law to discriminate against someone who has a disability. You probably wouldn’t dream of directly discriminating against a candidate for a job with a disability. If you are still asking health related questions on job application forms, you probably don’t realise that you may receive claims against you for discrimination. Asking health related questions on job application forms allows you to be challenged. It maybe claimed that […]