Recently, one of our favorite blogs from the UK wrote about sexism in recruiting, citing a case in which the hiring manager of a pharmaceutical company made remarks about only hiring beautiful women. In Lucia Pagliarone v. Immuno Biotech (2016), the plaintiff accused the hiring manager of keeping sexist notes on her resume following her employment offer with the company. The notes were to the effect of “high heels – good, wearing a dress – excellent”.  @MpmLegal offers a list of ideas to keep your company out of hot water when it comes to sexism in recruitment. Clearly with cases such as this still out there in the business world, the struggle for women facing equality in hiring does indeed exist even in 2016. These, tips can help protect your company from unequitable hiring choices.

1. Start with a job ad that does not target certain demographics. Avoid the use of words such as “young” or “mature” and do not list high heels as a job requirement.
2. Use standard interview questions for all candidates. Questions should be the same for everyone, and fair across the board. Don’t play favorites, and don’t change things up in the initial interview. In the U.S., several government employers operate under the merit system, in which all panel interview questions are exactly the same, scoring is done in one way for all interviews, and scores are calculated with a strict method. This ensures that everyone who goes through the selection process is treated fairly from start to finish, arguably ensuring that the most qualified applicant will be hired.
3. Do not make any personal comments on interview notes. See example above. Dress, high heels, makeup, wrinkles, hemline, and clothing brands – all of these are hands-off topics (amongst many others!).
4. Managers should receive training on what discrimination is, and how to avoid it. This is a must for all employers!
5. Monitor email and the company website to make sure statements made on company property (including employee email and company cell phones) are not discriminatory.
6. Make sure your social media policy is up to date and adequate for today’s technology-driven world.
7. Construct a solid anti-harassment and zero tolerance policy for discrimination. Make sure it is included in the employee handbook and that all employees sign off on this policy. Signature sheets should be kept in your human resources records.
8. Follow through with any complaints – do a thorough investigation or hire someone who knows how to do these investigations to make sure the job is done correctly.

Unfortunately, even in 2016, the struggle is real for women in the workplace. Of course, women are not the only targets as we have many categories of minorities and differences amongst our employees that can be subject to discriminatory behavior. Be mindful of the choices you make in hiring, and train your managers to do the same!