Job Seekers Sue Employers Over Discrimination In Interviews. What’s Your Take?

By Elizabeth Benu,

How would you feel as a job seeker if you had the chance to know the reason why you were not selected for a position?

If this was the case, job seekers would not be seeking the court’s intervention to compel hiring organizations to give comprehensive reasons why a particular candidate was not fit for the job while the other qualified.

Job seekers want courts to set aside a provision where unsuccessful job seekers can appeal and the information shared on the reasons why they were not selected yet they met all the requirements.

Are HR professionals ready to disclose private and confidential information to the unsuccessful job seekers why they were unsuitable for the job?

Jackson Ouma, a HR and Operations Officer affirms that feed back is very important in the recruitment process.

He adds that, “By keeping quiet you will give unsuccessful candidates false hope that they are still in contention.”

“From my experience, nowadays candidates would like to get a feedback; be it positive or negative. Many call/e-mail endlessly for that feedback. It is good HR practice to give feedback as much as it may be costly in terms of time consumption,” says Odindo Jared, a Human Resource Manager.

Guiam Wainwright the Managing Director at Hallmark Recruitment backs up the job seekers saying, “Job-seekers are able (and should be able) to sue for discrimination, defamation etc when job seeking. But the duty is on the job-seeker to prove it, rather than expecting recruiters/companies to open data – which is not necessary or legal.”

Aisha Karanja, the Executive Director at The GBM opines that, “An applicant cannot have grounds to force a court of law to declare them the best candidate or for that matter to challenge their not being hired.”

She further adds that they cannot demand to be given confidential information like criteria and the decisions made by an organisation that just called them for an interview and nothing else.

“Some of the reasons as to why people get selected are not even quantifiable,” highlights Celestine Mbaluka, a HR & Admin Officer at ASA International adding that character, attitude and the way somebody answers questions or expresses themselves is something that can best be judged by another person not yourself.

And what do job seekers have to say about this?

Mercy Mumbi who graduated 4 years ago with a degree in Food Science supports the move to sue potential employers

” I have attended 5 interviews this past year  but I haven’t landed a job yet.  Most times,  you attend an interview feeling confident about your academic qualifications and working experience yet you fail to get the job. When you ask for feedback, none is given,” she shares.

She also adds that employers should have the heart to tell candidates why they were not picked for the vacancies so as to help them improve.

David Ouma a Senior Systems Developer at a bank in the CBD says job seekers should look for other avenues to lay their frustrations on or get better at their game.

“I tarmacked for three years, attended numerous interviews with no response but I opted to improve my job searching and interviewing skills.”

As a job seeker, do you think suing potential employers  is the way to go?

Contact Elizabeth at elizabeth@www.careerpointkenya.co.ke

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