To think that "we require a 5 year job history with no gaps"

[PyongyangKipperbang]

is effectively saying "We dont want anyone with young kids"?

And it will disproportionately affect women who are usually the ones who give up work for a few years when the kids are little?

@TabbyMumz

They dont mean gap of employment, they mean a gap in your cv history, ie a time period you have no explanation for. If you've been off looking after kids, just say that, dont leave that period blank.

Which means if you were sick/disabled, you have to put it down. Or your childbearing status.

It's amazing how many times you don't have sufficient experience/skills to be called for interview in a job you have literally been doing for years when you have to put those down on an application form.

I think it's particularly shit for people who have been made redundant. Especially now, in a pandemic.

They don't mean gaps in employment. They just want to know what you've been doing for the last 5 years. So it could be
Worked a year
Had a baby and stayed at home for a year
Went backpacking for a year
Worked for two years

Thank you @Cherrybakewellard

I think finding evidence to cover any gaps within 5 years is a barrier to entry for some SAHP.

Providing a reference to cover a period where one may be ill, or moved area on top of being at home has proved a headache more than once, and I'm sure not just for me.

Yes, speaking as someone who has employed a lot of people, when I said 'give your educational and employment history with no gaps', I meant 'Tell me what you were doing every year'.

I was fine if people said 'full-time parent', 'travelling in Australia, etc' or 'unemployed'.

This is often required for security reasons, enhanced crb etc. Doesn’t necessarily need to be employment but you need someone of standing to vouch for you. I do in my industry, which is why I’m currently signing on, after being made redundant in March,even though after September I will only get my NI paid due to dh’s Income. If my industry (aviation) ever gets back on its feet I will need a new crb check and history.

It just means they want your full employment history for the past five years (including periods of unemployment/study/etc).

@PyongyangKipperbang

I realise that ML is counted as employment. I am talking about leaving work for (say) 2 years because child care costs make unworkable and then trying to re-enter the work place.

I agree that either sex can take a break but lets face it, we all know that women are the ones who take time out when the kids come along the vast majority of the time and how it affects their long term prospects.

It just seems a bit off to me.

They are asking for a 5 year job history to ascertain your experience and to call for references, do you really think they shouldnt do this?

If you have had a career break for whatever reason you state that .
"Career break Jan 2018- Jan 2020 Caring responsibilities/ personal circumstances/ travelling "

Ive never known it to be an issue.
However if you have taken a very long period off you may not have up to date skills but if you are a strong candidate then retraining could be offered.

I'd say it is indirect discrimination.

I had gaps on my CV; when pregnant with my first child I left my employers a fortnight before my baby was due; they refused to pay my mat leave (this is 20 years ago so you only got a pittance anyway) so I told them to stick it - I was about to have a baby on my own, no partner on the scene, so really had no time for their shit. I went back to work (in a new job) when DC was 8 months old but that left a 9 month gap on my CV...when I had DC2 my employer announced just before I started my mat leave we were being TUPE'd to a new employer at a different location (which I couldn't travel to), so I took whatever mat leave I was entitled to (3 months IIRC) and then again a gap until I found a new job when DC2 was about 11 months old.

I really struggled to conceal that gap on my CV in the past, or at least avoid drawing attention to it (because if a prospective employer saw it, it tended to be a dead giveaway that I had children, and then wouldn't get the job because mother = liability, certainly in the areas I work in!)

I take that to mean ‘tell us everything you’ve done for last 5 years’ which for me included lots of ‘travelling’, ‘having a baby’ etc. I did quite a few job applications recently, (before Covid & schools closing meant I had no ability to work anyway), got to interview a few times, so I assume my approach was correct. Although now I think about it the last one which I didn’t get shortlisted for asked for contacts to verify what I was doing any time I wasn’t in work, which is obviously hard to do in some situations

We had been living abroad for DH’s job where I couldn’t work & had to home school the kids. I put down one of his colleagues to verify me never heard back.

They want 5 years consecutive history regardless of what you've been doing. Not working is fine, they're checking that you weren't actually sacked for gross misconduct/stealing from customers etc. If you've been travelling then evidence of ticket stubs for the time periods etc would do. If you've been claiming job seekers then that would be fine. If you state 2 years for SAHM then they would need to be able to evdence that you hadn't been employed elsewhere during that time period. It's not discriminatory, it's a fraud prevention requirement. IME (and used to oversee some of these checks) most of the people checking will have come across many of these instances and will work with you to ensure that you can provide appropriate assurances

"Which means if you were sick/disabled, you have to put it down. Or your childbearing status."

Yes that's right. What's wrong with that? It's about giving full disclosure.

"It's amazing how many times you don't have sufficient experience/skills to be called for interview in a job you have literally been doing for years when you have to put those down on an application form."
But if you've been off sick or doing childcare, you've had some time off where you havent been doing those jobs. And other applicants may not have had time off and have more current experience. still not discriminatory to women. After all, we all make a choice regarding doing childcare or returning to work.

Sorry but if someone wants to be viewed the same as someone who has worked consistently then they shouldn’t leave the workplace to be a SAHM

You make choices, they have pros and cons. One of the cons of stepping out of the workplace is that it will probably be tricky to get back in, particularly without stepping down a level. It’s one of the reasons that lots of people don’t step out of the workplace and in turn they deal with the cons of that decision.

Own your choices and their consequences and stop looking for discrimination! If you’ve stopped working for a few years then you’re not as valuable or sought after as lots of other people, and employers wanting to employ the people with the most recent, consistent and up to date experience is their right. Someone who has made that decision needs to accept that it will have consequences and it actually comes across as really entitled if you expect to stop work for a few years and then when you want to return, expect to be viewed on an equal footing with someone who hasn’t left the workplace.

Hear hear rainycloudyday. Totally agree. Employees want people with ip to date skills.

I think the problem for me is that if you state that you had 3 years out of work due to caring for dependents and if you are of childbearing age, its usually going to be for the kids.

Its a nice easy way to weed out applicants with children without asking if they have kids, which is illegal.

Well said, Rainy...

Yes that's right. What's wrong with that? It's about giving full disclosure.

Because legally your childbearing status should not form part of a recuitment process. Its why they cant ask if you have kids or are planning a pregnancy, and this is a sneaky way of finding that out or at least getting a pretty good idea.

And this doesnt actually affect me as I do have 5 years + in work, just struck me as a bit underhand.

I read “no gaps” to mean “explain everything you’ve done in the last 5 years”

So for example, made redundant in February, unemployed for 3 months due to redundancy then found another job. Explain the gap “I was finding the right long term job for me not just any random job / I used the time to do extra training / I volunteered etc.

Like PPs have said, you are misreading it.

It's not discriminatory. Most employers/ recruiters ask for this. It doesn't mean you need to have 5 years continuous employment, it means tell us what you've been doing for 5 years. My dh was job hunting recently and he had a typo in his cv that looked like he had 10 months not working, the recruiter came straight back and asked him to account for those months. He fixed it and it was fine.

"Because legally your childbearing status should not form part of a recuitment process. Its why they cant ask if you have kids or are planning a pregnancy, and this is a sneaky way of finding that out or at least getting a pretty good idea."
I wouldnt say it's a sneaky way, they just want to know what you've been up to and how current your experience is. Another point of view is that you've already had time out for looking after dependants so not going to do it again?

@PyongyangKipperbang

Yes that's right. What's wrong with that? It's about giving full disclosure.

Because legally your childbearing status should not form part of a recuitment process. Its why they cant ask if you have kids or are planning a pregnancy, and this is a sneaky way of finding that out or at least getting a pretty good idea.

I advise people to put " caring responsibilities" No need to mention who

To be honest, most employers arent looking to find out you've had kids, they are looking to see if you've been out of work, ie out of practice.