Wednesday, June 13, 2007

Experts 'shocked' at Apprentice show


Officials at the Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC) have raised concerns over the interview practices of Alan Sugar's employees on the Apprentice, stating that they may be falling foul of anti-discrimination legislation.

In particular, doubt has been thrown over the extent to which Sir Alan's employees are compliant with discrimination laws following televised interviews in which questions were asked in reference to a woman's ability to work and care for her family.

REC director of external relations Tom Hadley stressed that employers need to be in full compliance of anti-discrimination laws.

"It simply isn’t acceptable to assume that only women have caring responsibilities in the modern world," he said. "From what was shown on the programme, it’s doubtful that Sir Alan's and his employees were compliant," he continued. "Recruitment professionals know only too well their responsibilities to ensure that interviews do not lead to discrimination."

The International Labour Office reports that workplace discrimination remains a significant problem, surrounding a range of factors including sex, race, religion, sexual orientation and disability.

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