Once an accurate job description has been drawn up (defining the job) it should be possible to identify the skills, experience and knowledge that will be required in the successful candidate (sometimes termed the 'person specification' or 'job specification' for the post). Some of these are likely to be essential requirements and some merely desirable attributes.
In some strictly limited circumstances, it is lawful for employers to specify that applicants for a post must be of a particular race, sex, religion or sexual orientation because that is a genuine occupational qualification or requirement for the post (sex as a genuine occupational qualification ) ( Race, religion or sexual orientation as a genuine occupational requirement ). These circumstances are, however, tightly defined - covering, for example, jobs requiring dramatic authenticity or the provision of personal services - and are unlikely to be relevant to the engineering, manufacturing, or construction sectors.
Retirement age
Due to an exemption in the age discrimination legislation, it is lawful for an employer to discriminate on the ground of age against a job applicant who is either already over the employer’s normal retirement age or, if the employer does not have a normal retirement age, over 65, or who will be over that age within six months from the date of the application to the employer. (The normal retirement age for a job is the age at which employees in the employer’s business who hold that kind of job are normally required to retire.)
It is important for recruiters to be aware when drawing up person specifications of the potentially indirect discriminatory effect of some requirements or preferences (indirect discrimination). For example, it may be necessary for an employer to justify these requirements, which have a bigger impact on women as a group than on men:
- requiring candidates to be flexible in hours or place of work;
- requiring candidates to work full-time or refusing to consider a job-share;
- imposing an upper age limit, especially where this is linked with possession of a specified number of years' experience.
Likewise, some requirements have a disproportionate impact on certain racial groups, and so may need to be objectively justified. One example would be requiring candidates to possess qualifications awarded by academic or vocational bodies based in the UK, and not recognising equivalent qualifications from overseas bodies. Another example would be requiring candidates to possess a certain level of educational qualifications or competence in spoken or written English.
Certain requirements may be indirectly discriminatory on the ground of age. It may, for example, indirectly discriminate against younger applicants to require candidates to have a certain minimum length of experience.
In order to show that a particular requirement is objectively justified, a company must do more than assert that it is part of the way it has always operated. The company must be able to prove that the requirement is appropriate and reasonably necessary to meet its business objectives, and that the requirement's discriminatory effect is outweighed by the company's business needs. For example, a company may be able to justify refusing to allow a job to be done on a job-share basis if it can show that it has a real business need to maintain continuity of contact with its customers. It will, however, need to prove that it has objective grounds for saying that it is necessary for the job to be done by one person if that continuity is to be provided.
It may also be justifiable to refuse to recognise qualifications from an overseas body if the company has no means of assessing the weight it should give to that qualification. It should be noted, however, that employers are required to recognise certain educational, professional and vocational qualifications obtained in other Member States of the European Union. Further information can be obtained from the Department for Education and Skills ( Other organisations links ).
Person specifications may also need to be revised in order to avoid disability discrimination (disability discrimination) or to meet the company's duty to make reasonable adjustments to accommodate disabled candidates (duty to make adjustments ). Employers should therefore ensure that they do not require applicants to have any skills, experience or qualifications that are not necessary for the performance of the job but exclude disabled applicants.