marital status on job application?

[kinell]

is this a valid question to ask a job candidate?

i think it is and would never employ a divorced person.....

they either cant honour a promise or commitment

or

are a poor judge of character

attributes not beneficial to business i think

[B00]

"i think it is and would never employ a divorced person..... "

you have to be kidding....right?

[mollykins]

it might not be their fault their divorced, say their partner had cheated on them with their brother for several years, its not their fault, its the brother and wifes fault.

[ummmm]

Has to be....just has to be.

Poor judge of character.....people change you know.

[craft1948]

that's me buggered then...........

[ummmm]

ooooo errrrr Craft...

[ummmm]

lol....

Just to clear that up :-)

[webbo3]

so if the manager/owner of the business/company was divorced and the pay was very very good and business was stable and doing very well would you take the job or not ?

Dave.

[craft1948]

well being twice divorced I obviously can't honour a promise and once widowed I obviously should have married someone younger (but with less money) I have no chance of a job......I'm devastated.......

[kinell]

well, i am not allowed to reject an applicant on the grounds of race, colour, religion, age, disability or sex

at least until discrimination on the grounds of marital status is illegal it is an effective filter

[B00]

You sound like an ace employer......

[kinell]

i think your answers clearly show that asking for marital status details on a job application is of no practical use

that was the question

employers still ask it though, probably because they cant ask your age, sex, religion etc

[dothawkes31]

Basically you are eliminating candidates based on whether they are divorced or not, but what if you reject a gay black woman who is divorced and she accuses you of discrimination? How are you going to get round that one? What you need to do is only reject the divorcees that aren't gay, of an ethnic origin or female, then you'll be safe from any accusations. : ) Good luck with that one. Oh and don't foget not to rejecty any divorcee who is close to retirement either, that could be age discrimination,.

[kinell]

to be on the safe side i think i will have to reject candidates solely on subjective methods

i propose to hire with the principal overriding factor being what they smell like

i shouldnt think anyone would look forward to an employment court appearance where the sole matter of discussion and determination is how smelly they are

[buildersmate]

If you have any sense, you will hire on the basis of the discussion at an interview.
Asking for marital status is best treated as background information.

[alavahalf]

You're not applying for a job as a marriage guidance councillor...are you..?

[Androcles]

This is a wind- up isn't it?

Under the 1975 Act discrimination on grounds of marital status gives ground for an action, and this was updated by SI2001No 2660 see reference and scroll down to Para 4.

http://www.opsi.gov.uk/SI/si2001/20012660.htm

[kinell]

it was tongue in cheek of course

however its nice to remember the old days when you could choose your preferred candidate on the basis that you liked them and believed they could do a good job for you............

and not have to tiptoe around things just because someone you didnt offer the job to has an agenda

ultimately these two criteria only are key and totally irrespective of any other factors

businesses are just that, not charities or social engineers