Employment law solicitors’ groups have expressed their concern over the results of a survey this week that suggests that many companies are still using health questionnaires to find out about the past medical history and sickness records of potential employees before an offer of employment has been made. This revelation comes despite the fact that the Equality Bill is set to outlaw this practice in October this year, except in situations where the health problem might directly affect the job role.

Employment law solicitors reacted with shock and concern on discovering that 65 of 100 companies surveyed openly admitted that they still ask candidates about their health before making a job offer and 48 admitted to asking candidates for details of medical problems and sickness absence records. From October candidates will no longer be expected to declare their medical issues during the recruitment process unless a medical problem would specifically affect a job role.

Equality campaigners and employment law solicitors’ groups have long claimed that the practice of asking candidates to disclose such information before job offers are made allows employers to discriminate on the grounds of mental health, disabilities and long term health problems. This in turn makes people with these problems less inclined to apply for jobs, widening the chasm of inequality.

From October, failure to comply with the stipulations of the Equality Act can result in investigation of an offending company by the Equality and Human Rights Commission. What is known as the ‘burden of proof’ has also been reversed by the Act, effectively meaning that where an employer rejects a candidate’s job application after discovering information relating to health or a disability, it will be assumed that the rejection was due to discrimination unless the employer can point to another reason for not choosing the candidate in question. Employment law solicitors are therefore urging employers to review their practices as a matter of urgency.