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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to find this so irritating?

24 replies

Lexie1970 · 27/02/2012 22:18

I am currently looking for a job and just spotted one that could be perfect. It is for an education establishment for part-time hours.

Just reading through the application form and it is requesting my religion, ethnicity, my sexuality and relationship status. Sadly for their statistics I am a white british female in a heterosexual relationship with a child and i am a non practising christian - why the hell do you need to provide that sort of information, what relevence does it have to the job and am I the only one to get pissed off when I see it on an application form??

Whinge over :)

OP posts:
Cherriesarelovely · 27/02/2012 22:19

That is really strange!!!! I agree with you!

LeBOF · 27/02/2012 22:19

Is it the Equal Opps monitoring form, or part of the main application?

CoffeeBucks · 27/02/2012 22:20

It's to make sure a wide range of people from different groups apply for their jobs. You don't have to fill it out if you don't want to. It won't make any difference to your application.

catgirl1976 · 27/02/2012 22:21

That is usually voluntary

Is it saying you have to answer?

scurryfunge · 27/02/2012 22:22

It's an optional form. Don't fill it in if you don't want to.

RustyBear · 27/02/2012 22:28

When I was processing applications for a job in a school that page was never seen by anyone who would be making a shortlist or interviewing - it only went to the LA.

BagofHolly · 27/02/2012 22:33

Is it an establishment with a particular ethos? If so I think there's some exemption in employment law ehich means they can hire someone to fit their approach eg. Christian, married etc.

Original poster
Lexie1970 · 27/02/2012 22:42

just a bog standard college I think - I closed the application form when I read those pages with the intention of looking again tomorrow as I was so pissed off Grin

Part of me just wants to not bother answering those questions but the bigger part of me thinks if I do not, then I may come across as arsey before they look at the rest of the application - whether voluntary questions or not (only a couple of the questions had the choice not to answer the others appear to require a response......)

OP posts:
BrianButterfield · 27/02/2012 22:44

They want to make sure their advertising/recruitment is reaching as many people as it could be - if they only get applications from one gender, or a certain ethnic group, that means there's a pool of potential talent out there they're not looking in when they recruit. Sensible really.

GrahamTribe · 27/02/2012 22:48

Yes, it irritates the hell out of me. I register with a new GP. They want to know whether I'm married and what my DH does for a living, for example. How on this big almighty earth does it make a difference to my tonsilitis to know that my DH is a former scientist who now manages staff please? How?!

WorraLiberty · 27/02/2012 22:49

Why sadly for their statistics? Confused

They don't actually care you know, it's as BrianButterfield said...to see if their advertising/recruitment drives are working.

Original poster
Lexie1970 · 27/02/2012 22:51

but, but, but........... surely on an online job site (which is where post was advertised) it is in the open market. ANYBODY can find it - not just white me. But why on earth do you want to know if I am gay, lesbian or transgender - it is irrelevent surely?

It just annoys me so much!

OP posts:
MrsTerryPratchett · 27/02/2012 22:51

They just want to know if their recruitment policies are screening out certain groups. YABU.

MrsTerryPratchett · 27/02/2012 22:52

The majority of people on the www are white men. YABU.

cricketballs · 27/02/2012 22:57

read the information - it is not going to be seen by those shortlisting/interviewing it is used for monitoring purposes to ensure that no discrimination is occurring - you can also refuse to complete it

Original poster
Lexie1970 · 27/02/2012 22:57

MrsTerry surely the point is that all applications should be looked at equally without being distorted by their race, religion or sexuality. If you apply for the job and your experience is what they are looking for then you will be called forward for interview because YOU fulfil the recruitment criteria.

OP posts:
scurryfunge · 27/02/2012 23:04

Lexie, that's only if the those people apply. There may be many suitably qualified and experienced people who do not apply.

CoffeeBucks · 27/02/2012 23:05

The applications aren't distorted by the monitoring data. People are appointed on merit, then HR look back at the statistics from all the applications and see that 50 people applied for the job: and 22 were women, 9 were south Asian, 4 were gay, 8 were Jewish etc. If there are any glaring gaps, they know that advertising/recruitment is maybe not reaching as far as it could. Or that something about their adverts or general culture isn't very inclusive.

It is never compulsory to submit this kind of information. It is always detached from the body of the application.

MrsTerryPratchett · 27/02/2012 23:10

Frequently the monitoring form is processed and examined entirely separately from the application, by different people after the fact.

For example if they just used the web to advertise and hired you, they could then go back and look at the application forms. Oh dear, no black men applied at all. Maybe the web is not the best place to advertise to get applications from everyone. Maybe you would have been the best applicant anyway but maybe there are people they are not reaching, in this case black men, by using this form of recruitment. It is to stop inadvertent discrimination and to try to get all the applicants they can.

lesley33 · 27/02/2012 23:17

It can also tell them if there is a perception - right or wrong - that certain groups of people don't think a particular employer is a good employer for their segment of society. For example, if no disabled people were applying for any jobs they advertised, there is obviously an issue they need to address.

70isaLimitNotaTarget · 27/02/2012 23:36

I work for NHS and every 4-6 months we do a patient satisfaction survey. It is anonymous but we are told we are supposed to help patients who can't fill it in unaided. So how un-biased would that be.

There is one part which asks all these ethnicity, sexuality questions. I think, ok fair enough, some illnesses affect some ethnicities more than others (diabetes, Hep C), but I'm damned if I'm going to ask my patient (some of them quite elderly BTW) about their sexuality.

RustyBear · 27/02/2012 23:37

In the case I mentioned, before the forms were forwarded to the shortlisting panel, they were 'anonymised' - names and any reference to age and sex were taken out as far as possible - it's not always possible, as employment history has to stay- and the candidates were just Candidate A, B etc, until the panel had decided which ones to shortlist.

Birdsgottafly · 28/02/2012 00:12

Tbh, OP, if you are looking towork with the general public, in anything other than a small private business, then you best work on this sort of thing bothering you.

If you do get the job ,i would imagine that you will do diversity training and then your questions will be answered.

HoneyandHaycorns · 28/02/2012 00:15

My organisation sends out the Equal Opps monitoring forms with all applications. As a recruiting manager, I never get to see those parts of the form, though.

We pick the best applicant for the job. The organisation monitors our choices to ensure that no particular group is being persistently excluded.

They are usually optional anyway, so if you don't want to fill it in, don't.

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