Employers warned over health employment screenings before Equality Act comes into force

The Equality Act will stop employers asking certain employment screening questions, warns People Management.

The Equality Act 2010 will come into force on October the 1st and will include section 60, which prohibits the use of pre-employment health questionnaires until a job offer is made.

The Act sets out restrictions that mean employers can only ask health-related questions to establish if any reasonable adjustments would need to be made during the application process; whether applicants can carry out functions that are essential to the job, such as heavy manual handling; to monitor diversity amongst applicants and help take positive action to assist disabled people, such as guaranteeing an interview to a disabled person.

The Act is intended to protect disabled job seekers from discrimination, and it means that employers can no longer send out health questionnaires or force applicants to have a medical assessment before a job is offered.

Any employer using pre-employment health questionnaires faces the risk of these questionnaires being used as evidence of discrimination. In this situation, the burden of proof is on the employer to prove they didn't discriminate against the candidate.

Employers are being reminded that they can still send out health questionnaires, but only if they contain questions relevant to the role advertised, and are only used if the employer wants to increase the number of disabled employees in the workforce.

Generic health questions may be asked after the offer of a job has been made, and a medical assessment can be requested following a conditional job offer.

However, People Management warned that it is unclear which questions would be contentious. Any employer who is worried about falling on the wrong side of the law should consider the employment screening services of an expert who knows employment law implicitly and can carry out the necessary, legal screening during the recruitment process.