Legal considerations in the selection process
The decisions you make about who to hire need to be free of bias. As an employer, you are legally required to ensure that your recruitment and hiring processes are free from discrimination and comply with the legislation outlined in the BC Human Rights Code. The Human Rights Code applies to all aspects of the employment relationship, including recruitment and selection.
Under the Human Rights Code, discrimination is prohibited on the following grounds:
- race or colour
- ancestry
- place of origin
- religion
- marital status
- family status
- physical or mental disability
- sex
- sexual orientation
- gender identity or expression
- age
There are many ways that employers may find themselves unintentionally violating the Human Rights Code. For example, your application form might indirectly ask candidates to provide information related to the above list of prohibited grounds or your interviewers may ask questions about family relationships or ethnic heritage. Even if these questions are couched in casual conversation at the beginning of an interview, you may be veering into prohibited territory.
You can take steps to ensure compliance with the Human Rights Code by linking each aspect of your hiring process to the selection criteria you created for the position.