Spotlight on Job Adverts

It is advisable to think carefully about job adverts, following the inflammatory job advert placed in Union Square shopping centre by American retailer Abercrombie & Fitch.

The famous chain of clothing stores sparked outrage, after placing a controversial job advert outside its store last week. The advert stating “We are looking for cool and good looking people to represent our brands” has caused outrage and upset in the North East.

Whilst the job advert is not actually illegal, it could lead to problems if a job applicant can prove that they didn’t get the job due to discrimination. Of course, there is no legislation specifically preventing discrimination on the grounds of looks, but there is a risk that it could lead to a claim on the grounds of disability, age, or even sex discrimination.

The danger is that a rejected older job applicant could claim that ‘cool’ infers ‘young’ and that they were turned down because they were too old. Or a rejected disabled applicant may claim that ‘good looking’ means ‘physically perfect’ and that they didn’t get the job because they are disabled.

So is it reasonable for a clothing retailer to simply recruit those who most closely reflect the image they want to present? Businesses often spend large sums of money building up a brand and image, which are designed to target the type of customers they want to attract. The shop assistants in a clothing shop will obviously be part of this image, so is it understandable that they should look a certain way?

Many businesses do have very specific requirements in terms of the type of person they want to recruit. The key skill in recruitment is in finding the right person for the job without breaching any discrimination legislation.

We have the following tips for job adverts:

• Remember that discrimination laws do not just protect existing employees; they also protect potential job applicants.
• Bear in mind that there are malicious serial litigants out there. It was recently revealed that a 54 year old man, used job adverts to file over 60 claims of age discrimination. This clearly demonstrates the risks that a badly worded job advert will bring to a business.
• Consider the broad interpretations of words in job adverts. It is not just obvious words such as “young, mature, school leaver” that can lead to risks. Words such as “recent graduate, energetic, dynamic, and risk taker” can all be interpreted broadly to imply older or younger.
• Focus on the skills that the job requires rather than the length of experience. Stating the exact skills required at the recruitment stage should ensure that the successful candidate is capable of doing the job, whilst ruling out an age discrimination claim.
• Avoid referring to physical descriptions of candidates. Terms such as ‘strong, tall, physically fit, pretty, energetic, image conscious’ could all lead to a risk. For example, ‘fit’ implies that those with disabilities need not apply.
• Remember that job adverts advertise the entire business, not just the vacancy. For example, an advert placed by Wooky Hole (tourist attraction in Somerset) which was recruiting for a Witch who “must like cats, have a convincing cackle, be prepared to wear rags and live in the dark” spread like wildfire on the internet and led to thousands of pounds worth of free advertising!