This document summarizes several UK acts and regulations pertaining to recruitment and employment legislation: The Sex Discrimination Act prohibits discrimination based on gender in employment. The Race Relations Act prohibits discrimination based on race, color, nationality or ethnic origin. The Equal Pay Act requires that employers pay men and women equally for equal work. The Disability Discrimination Act requires fair treatment of people with disabilities in employment.

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Recruitment Legislation
Sex DiscriminationAct 1995/97
Thisact statesmenand womendeserveequal treatment;peoplecan’tbe discriminatedagainst
because of theirstats,genderoranythingsuchas genderreassignment.Thisappliestobothdirect
and indirectdiscrimination.Directappliestoalessqualifiedcandidate of one gendercan’tbe givena
joboveran over qualifiedpersonof the othergender.Indirectappliestosuchthingsas height.
Howeverthisdoesnotapplytocertainjobsbecause theyhave tobe performedbyaspecificgender.
Race Relations Act 1992
Thisact statespeople can’tbe discriminated becauseof theirrace,colour,nationalityorethnic
origin.Indirectanddirectdiscriminationalsoapplytothisact.Directwouldfocuson race, colouror
nationalityforexample statingonlypeople withblackskincanapplywhereasindirectwouldfocus
on somethingsuchashair.
Equal Pay Act 1970
Thisact statesthat employersinthe businesshave topaytheiremployeesequally.Thiscaninclude
benefitssuchasallowancesforchildbearingorsickness.Thisact was introducedbecause women
were beingpaidfarlessthanmenand the gap betweenthemwas37% whichis a large amount.
Therefore if theyare doingthe same or equivalentjobsof anequal value theyhave tobe paidthe
same amount.Howeverwomenare still paidlessthanmen.
Disability DiscriminationAct 1995 and 2005
Thisact appliestothe fairtreatmentof people withdisabilitiesanditisagainstthe law to treat them
as lessbecause of theirdisabilityunlessthere isaspecificreasonsuchassecuritywhichyou
wouldn’tbe able tomanage witha visual impairment.Businessesmustalsomake adjustmentsso
that disabledpeople are notata disadvantage sothismeanstheymayhave toadd thingssuchas
wheelchairramps.
European Working Time Directive
Thiswas introducedtostoppeople workingmassivelyovertime tobetterotheremployeesandalso
to stopbusinessesfromgivinglonghoursunfairly.The maximumthatwasintroducedis48hours
weeklyoveraperiodof time.Aswell asthisthere are otherthingsthatwere introduced,the
maximumtime periodfornightshifts,periodsforrestingandanannual holidayperiodallowedof 4
weeks.Employersalsohave torecordall of the hoursthe employeeswork.
Employment Act 2002
The act was introducedtogive more rightstoemployeessuchasmaternityandpaternitypay.
Anotherof the thingsintroducedisforparentstohave workinghoursthat are flexible,usually

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because of childbearing.The act wasthenreintroducedin2008 to enhance the rights.Thisincludes
penaltiestoemployersthatpaylessthanthe minimumwage totheiremployees,andthathaving
childrenover16 doesn’tallowthe parentstoaskfor flexible hours.
National Minimum Wage
Thisis setby the governmenttomake sure thatpeople are paidfairlybasedontheirage to work.It
risesyearlyandisthe minimumthatemployeescanbe paid.There are a few differentrates.16-17
yearoldsare requiredtobe paidat least£3.68 hourly,atages 18-20 it risesto£4.98 and itthen
raisesagainthe £6.08 overthe age of 21. If employees are notpaidthisamountor more hourlythey
can contact a helpline.There isalsoaminimumwage foran apprentice whichis£2.60 hourly.
Data ProtectionAct 1998
The data protectionact was introducedtopreventclientsthathave dataheldonthemfrom having
theirdata leaked.Thisprotectstheirdataandthere are specificthingsthatcannotbe done. This
includesdetailsaboutthe personandotherthingssuchas theirbankaccount details;howeverthere
are timeswhentheycanbe sentout suchas if theyare payingfor a productthrough a business.
Ethical Issues
Asking candidates the same questions
Candidateshave tobe askedthe same questionssothateveryone hasaresponse tothe same
question,thismakesitfairastheycan thenbe comparedcorrectly.Thisisn’tthe law but it isthe
rightthingto do as it makesitfairfor everyone.
Guidelines for interviewers who are relatedto candidates
It isn’trightfor interviewerstobe relatedtothe applicantsandthe reasonfor thisisthat theywould
clearlybe biasedtowardschoosingthemoverotherapplicantsandalthoughthisisn’tagainstthe
lawit wouldnotbe fairfor the otherapplicants.Thisisalsowhymany applicationformsaskif the
applicanthasrelationstoanyone inthe business.
Gender and ethnic balance on interview panels
While interviewinganapplicantthere shouldbe abalancedsample of malesandfemalesof different
races,thisway itdoesnot appearas the businessisdiscriminatinganyrace or genderandtherefore
the applicantwill notfeel thatthe businessjudgesonhow the personisandwill feelmore
confident.