Staff Interviews - Top Tips for Employers

This week, the final Apprentice contestants went through the gruelling, but entertaining "interview stage" of the TV show. European law firm Osborne Clarke have provided some practical tips for real world interviewers looking to stay on the right side of employment law.

Richard Brown, employment partner, said: "There are is a whole raft of unwritten rules governing interview practice from how you advertise to the feedback you offer. For the unwary, these rules can be a real minefield.

"Many interviews are conducted with a representative from both the business and HR. It's critical that anyone unfamiliar with the rules take direction from HR before they start the process.

"As Sir Alan found out last year, one of the key areas to watch out for are the discrimination rules. Interviewers must ensure not only that their actions do not discriminate, but also that they could provide the documentation to prove this if their process fell under the microscope of an employment tribunal."

Top Interview Tips

1. Just the job: Make sure you draw up a detailed job description and use this to assess each candidate. If you are accused of discrimination, this hard evidence can be invaluable in demonstrating that you have objectively assessed each candidate.

2. Location, location, location: Do consider where and when the interviews will take place and whether any adjustments are needed for disabled applicants or in terms of timing, whether candidates may have childcare or religious appointments.

3. Watch your language: Take care not to use any discriminatory language in the job advert. Looking for a 'young, dynamic person' or 'Mature, experienced lady' could fall foul of both the age and sex discrimination rules.

4. Level playing field: Don't discriminate against candidates on the grounds of race, colour, nationality, ethnic or national origin, sex, disability, religion/belief, sexual orientation, gender re-assignment, marital or civil partner status, trade union membership or age.

5. Policy insurance: Make sure you have an equal opportunities policy in place and that it is applied. Applying it will involve training your employees on a regular basis. If you face a claim at the employment tribunal, this will help prove that you have taken reasonable steps to prevent discrimination.

6. Is that definite? Ensure that the requirements for the job are objectively justified. For example, the ability to work long hours may discriminate against certain candidates such as candidates with children or applicants with a disability. You must be certain and be able to prove that long hours are necessary.

7. Play fair: Don't ask questions in an interview which are potentially discriminatory, for example, questions asked of a female candidate that would not be asked of a man, such as whether she has any plans to have children.

8. Right to work? Don't forget to check the candidate's right to work in the UK. An employer commits a civil offence if it negligently employs someone who does not have permission to work in the UK.

9. Check your make-up: Make sure you monitor the make-up of applicants in a separate equal opportunities monitoring document.

10. How did I do? It is important to give feedback following a request by an unsuccessful applicant. Failure to do so can leave the employer open to a claim that the rejection was for a discriminatory reason.