Recruitment and selection is an exercise in discrimination.

Evaluate how ethical and legal principles can enhance the Recruitment and Selection process.

Recruitment is the process of engaging the people the organization needs. Selection on the other hand is an aspect of recruitment concerned with deciding which applicants should be appointed for the jobs. Recruitment process though meant to be non discriminative and fair to all the parties, has loopholes which though inherent to the process beats the purpose. In this study I will look to evaluate how ethical and legal principles can enhance the recruitment selection process although it can be seen as a process for discrimination. This study will consider some of the reasons ethical and legal principles in Recruitment & Selection and where they have enhance the process and also cover instances where it has impaired it. Further to this my evaluation will also look at what discrimination is and the context of how it impacts the selection process.

Modes of discrimination
Deterministic discrimination involves the idea that suitability or unsuitability collectively necessarily confers suitability or unsuitability. Thus claims that women are physically weak thus claim that women are physically weaker than men or that they have smaller brains than men would fall into this category. Decisions based on intellectual inferiority of black people. In some cases women are considered to be better placed for some jobs due to their innate, manual dexterity or their inherent capacity to endure boredom. Similarly, nursing, teaching and caring for the elderly are sometimes said to be feminine occupations since they appeal to maternal love Patronage this form is based on acceptability of individuals. Based on those decisions made on the basis of known or predicted characteristics of an individual rather than on the basis of qualities presumed to be derived from group membership. It involves relationship between individuals and takes the form of personal dependence in terms of exchange of favors. Particularism concerned with the acceptability rather than the suitability of members of particular groups. The question is whether members of a particular group will fit in. the judgment being made here is essentially moral rather than technical. Examples include where single people are not considered for jobs since they are considered too mobile. Black people will not be considered since they will antagonize fellow white workers. These modes of discrimination are very evident in many organizations and as a result, much legislation has come up especially in the U.K that seeks to curb this problem.

One of these is the equality legislation Types of discrimination and behavior covered by equalities legislation Anyone employing staff needs to be aware of the different aspects of equalities legislation and ensure that they comply with them. The legislation covers different types of discrimination and behavior:

Direct discrimination: To treat someone less favorably than other employees on the basis of race, gender, age, religion or belief, disability or sexual orientation. For example, refusing to offer a suitably qualified candidate a job because of their age. Indirect discrimination: Where an employer imposes particular requirement or practice on all employees that may unnecessarily disadvantage a particular group. For example, insisting that job candidates are UK citizens when this is not an essential requirement of the post. Harassment: Defined as unwanted behavior or conduct that that violates people's dignity or creates an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment. Victimization: To victimize a person because they have made a complaint or allegation concerned with discrimination on the basis of age, gender, religion or belief, disability or sexual orientation.

Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) This legislation makes it illegal for an employer to discriminate against an employee or potential employee on the basis of their disability. The Act covers both the recruitment and selection of employees and the ongoing employment of employees who become disabled. The Act places a legal responsibility on employers to make 'reasonable adjustments' to enable a job applicant to take up a job or to enable an existing employee to continue working. Some examples of reasonable adjustments are:

changing working hours allowing time off to receive medical treatment providing specialist equipment providing extra supervision or support Making changes to premises.

In the terms of the DDA, disability is defined as: 'A physical or mental impairment that has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on his/her ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities'.

This definition covers hidden disabilities such as diabetes, epilepsy and depression, as well as some long-term illnesses such as cancer, HIV and multiple sclerosis.

Race Relations Act This legislation makes it illegal for an employer to treat any employee or potential employee less favorably than others on the basis of race, color, nationality (including citizenship) or ethnic origins. The Act covers all employees including casual staff, self-employed contractors and staff hired through employment agencies, and is applicable regardless of the length of time worked for an employer or the number of hours worked per week. Sex Discrimination Act This legislation makes it unlawful for employers to discriminate against employees or potential employees on the basis of gender or marriage. It covers all aspects of employment, including: The only exception is when an employer can prove that employing someone of a specific gender is a genuine occupational requirement. This is where the nature of the job or particular duties of the job requires that it be done by someone of a specific gender (e.g. a female worker in a womens refuge).

recruitment and selection provision of opportunities for promotion, transfer and training terms and conditions of employment Redundancy and dismissal.

Employment Equality (Age) Regulations Under this legislation, it is unlawful to discriminate against employees and potential employees because of their age. The Regulations cover all aspects of employment including recruitment and selection, terms and conditions, opportunities for training, promotion or transfer and redundancy and dismissal. The legislation establishes a national default retirement age of 65 and makes it illegal to compulsorily retire anyone before this age. Employees have the right to ask to work beyond the age of 65 and employers must consider such requests. The legislation also removed the upper age limits on unfair dismissal and redundancy ETHICAL ISSUES

AFFIRMATIVE ACTION

The ideas underlying affirmative action and equal employment opportunity are similar with respect to selection, employment, and promotion; however, affirmative action and equal employment opportunity embody different concepts. Equal employment opportunity means that all individuals must be treated equally in the hiring process, in training, and in promotion. Each person has the right to be evaluated as an individual on his or her qualifications without discrimination based on stereotypic conceptions of what members of minority groups or any other protected class are like. Classifications protected under federal and state equal employment opportunity laws are those of race, color, sex, national origin, religion, age, veteran status, and disability. Company Policy Company policy refers to guidelines, circulars, memoranda, policies and procedures published by the relevant organization and should be freely available on the Intranet of the organization. Best Practice Guidelines in Recruitment and Selection Best practice can be viewed as a well defined procedure, technique, method, process, activity, incentive or reward that is known to produce near optimum results .It is usually regarded as more effective at delivering a particular outcome than any other technique, method, process, etc. When applied to a particular condition or circumstance. It also focuses on delivering the best results with the least amount of effort, by applying procedures that have proven themselves over time. A specific best practice guideline is generally applicable to a specific Data Protection The Data Protection Act 1998 places responsibility on any organization to process personal data (whether in manual records or in electronic form) in a fair and proper way. Failure to do so may result in a criminal offence being committed. The data contained in applications for employment may be used only for the purposes of short-listing, conducting an interview and, if the application is successful, establishing an HR record and for compiling Higher Education Statistics. Information must not be retained any longer than is necessary for these purposes. It is also important to remember that under the Data Protection Act, candidates can request to see short-listing and interview notes as they form Part of a set of information about the candidate. All such requests must be made to the University Data Protection Officer. Personal data provided on the equal opportunities monitoring form must not be used for selection purposes. This form will be removed by Human Resources before the application forms are forwarded for short-listing. Such data will be retained by Human Resources only for as long as is necessary to provide equal opportunities monitoring statistics. Interviews Chairmen of interview panels are responsible for ensuring that they have received appropriate information and training in recruitment and selection including knowledge of relevant policies. The interview process is intended to give the panel an opportunity to assess the relative merits of the candidates measured against the job description and person specification to establish which candidate is most suitable for the job. So, interviews must be conducted in a fair and equitable way. Panel members should take time, together, to prepare questions in advance, designed to test whether candidates meet the person specification and to ensure that every candidate is not only asked the same questions but given every opportunity to give a good account of them.

Panel members should take notes during each interview to evidence their decision. When the selection process is complete, the next step is to consider in turn whether each candidate is appointable. If more than one is appointable, the appointable candidates should be ranked. If the top ranked candidate subsequently turns down the offer, it is then possible to work through the list of appointable candidates. In conclusion, The recruitment process though not meant to be discriminative, taking into account the myriad legislations and ethical standards put in place has raised several issues that are discriminative. Therefore legal safeguards have to be put in place to protect the potential employees from blatant discrimination.

ETHICSINRECRUITMENTANDSELECTIONBYPOOJA.CANDRAVINDRA The Commission for Racial Equality has published a useful guide on this topic Racial Equality and the Smaller Business A practical guide

Top Tips for small employers: A guide to employing disabled people gives. Disability Rights Commission,

Armstrong, M. (2004). Strategic Human Resource Management: A Guide to Action. 2nd Ed. London: Kogan Page Limited

Barratt, E., (2003). Foucault, HRM and the Ethos of the Critical Management Scholar. Journal of Management Studies, 40:5, pp 1069-1087 Steyaert, C. Janssens, M. (1999) Human and Inhuman Resource Management: saving the subject of HRM. Organization, 6:2, pp 181-169

Townley, B. (1993). Foucault, Power/Knowledge, and its Relevance for Human Resource Management. Academy of Management Review, 18:3, pp 518-545