Remote job but employer asking for face to face interview?

[Seawitchandgarden]

I just wondered what are people's thoughts/experience with this.

Due to health issues/a disability I have been applying only for remote roles or local roles that don't require the use of public transport. I made it clear in my job applications/the equal opportunities that I am disabled.

I was offered an interview for a role advertised as remote with a charity yesterday but this is a face to face interview.

The interview is in a random location which I assume was hired for the day and it would take me almost two hours each ways of travel, be costly and they are not offering any support with transport costs.

I am a bit baffled by this. What is the point of a face to face interview when you are not even inviting the candidate to your offices to meet the team or see your work environment and when the role is fully remote?

I have replied to point out my disability and request a Zoom interview instead.

So far crickets...

It doesn't say she asked for reasonable adjustments? It just says she made it clear she was disabled. Those are two different things.

If you're asking for a Zoom call for the interview instead of face to face then it helps to explain why. Reasonable adjustments without any context could mean anything.

It is perfectly reasonable for an employer to want to meet you before agreeing to pay you money every month.

Employers also do pesky things like ask you to complete tasks, dress a certain way, and be on time.

I believe they may even be so unreasonable as to require these things from disabled people at times!

I work for a charity and recruit. Its common to see people face to face and also to do it in a location thats convenient to the panel. Ask if there's a reasonable adjustment pointing out disability. However if you ca physically make it then do so - fully remote is sadly really rare so I'd so everything to get the role ....

I’ve interviewed candidates for several positions over TEAMS and been delighted with our appointments so I really don’t see why that should be a problem.

It doesn’t sound like there is a risk of being asked to go in regularly - they are asking you to meet at a venue they have hired for the interviews, not the office where there are lots of other people. I would 100% insist on meeting you face to face before hiring. I might, if your skills were really appealing and surpassed others, agree to meet you more locally to you as an adjustment but I don’t think there is any point in not being honest and saying in the real world, where there are generally many, many candidates applying (including usually several with disabilities who will get themselves there) anything that makes you stand out as rigid or a pain before I’ve even interviewed you means that I would likely go with someone else. I would certainly never hire anyone I hadn’t met face to face (and all of our roles are working from home and will remain so).

Going back a few years ago a disabled relative applied for a remote job. They asked for a face to face interview at their location which was several miles away with no convenient transport. My relative, a non driver, asked if they could refund the cost of a taxi. They agreed to share costs which she accepted. At the last minute the interview was cancelled without any firm reason. They probably decided it was going to be too much trouble to employ her.

Yeah I agree.

I’m not sure why you would assume it wasn’t face to face? May be a remote job but of course an employer would want to meet you in person before committing to hiring and paying salary!

I’ve only ever been offered travel costs for an interview when it was an internal role and I already worked for the company.

Absolutely agree with F2F interviews. You get a totally different vibe from meeting people rather than via a screen.
However if I were to be interviewing somebody who would struggle to attend, I would arrange to meet them nearer to their home after having first done an online interview and advancing them to next/final round.

They are not going to reimburse your travel expenses to attend an interview … why would they?
If you want the job you will have to attend the interview and pay to get there, remote jobs are rare and therefore extremely popular, if you don’t go they’ll be a list of people that will.

It’s normal to have a face to face meeting at least once before hiring, to make sure you really exist, often you need to bring your id etc. it’s also typical to have to have in person meetings occasionally for remote roles

I think the employer is entirely reasonable to request a face to face interview and due to your disabilities you are entirely reasonable to request reasonable adjustments. You could have a case for discrimination if reasonable adjustments aren't made.

I live in the absolute arse end of nowhere and the journey to my job interview was 4.5 hours there and 4.5 hours back for an hour long interview. Well worth it as I also had the opportunity to talk them to face and get the real measure of them which is still valuable in these times of zoom.

Might have been a bit miffed it i hadn't got the job after all that effort.

I wouldn’t recruit someone who I hadn’t met face to face. Do you never leave the house to travel anywhere OP? If you are not completely housebound and really wanted the job then I’d move heaven and earth to be there.

good luck

I don't think it is particularly common yo fave face to face interviews anymore especially for a remote role. Hope they get back to you

You need to frame it as "reasonable adjustment" on the basis of your disability (assuming due to what you've said, travel is prohibitive due to it). The reasonable adjustment is an online interview. It shouldn't be denied.

And if it is denied, you don't want to work for them as they'll be dicks the rest of the time as well.

I am going to be really honest here. You might not mean to do this but you come across as you have something to hide. It is an employers market at present and couple with your age (and I am older!) it will be thanks but no thanks.

Look at it from their point of view. With all the AI going on surely you can see that they do need to see you at least once. Are you honestly saying that you expect to be offered a role for potentially years and no one in the company has met you face to face ever?

I'm sorry but this is an overreach. There is a large gap between I need to work remotely and I can never attend anything in person. Ring HR if you absolutely can't do it. But I don't think most people would equate remote working with never being able to get somewhere.

Edited for spelling

It's an interesting question, though. Fully remote working could be ideal for suitably-qualified agoraphobics, quadriplegics, people with certain neurological conditions, fragile bone diseases ... all sorts of disabilities and some treatments (chemo) can render intellectually competent people incapable of getting around without an ambulance.

Everyone would go "But these people can work! We have WFH now!" Yet they can't if they're required to mobilise independently in order to get the jobs.

OP, I strongly suggest asking specifically about a reasonable adjustment for the interview. Good luck!

right to work checks. from the gov.uk site says that the employer needs to "check that the documents are valid with the applicant present."

do they have an office at all? Is the interview location near the office?

I don't think there would be any problem saying that you would struggle to get to the location they've proposed, but you could meet in x area or x area or they are welcome to suggest alternatives that would work for them, bearing in mind you are travelling from x

You're coming off quite spiky in your replies. a job interview is not the time to be spiky! be collaborative instead!

I had a zoom call for my interview and it was fine , although I do half an office day a week and weekly teams calls , I’d just explain how difficult it will
be to get there for you . Best of
luck x

Graduate recruitment usually offers travel costs for an interview I suppose its assumed that they are skint.
Ive claimed for civil service type job interviews (just milage or a train fare tho).
When recruiting I paid any travel claims out of a HR budget code not mine (corporate and public organisations). Pretty sure there was a standard in house form I sent to the interviewee.
So its not uncommon. Its intended not to disadvantage any individual applicants and have an equal recruitment process.

This doesn't really address the OP question, other than travel expenses are a reasonable request.