Location discrimination?
Discussion
Sheepshanks said:
AyBee said:
Really? That's not for them to say, the OP might be considering moving for all they know...
Maybe they've had bad experience with people from Bedford.Its a real bug, as it made no mention of it in the advert.
InnocentShadows said:
... its a national firm.
It might be a green thing - they want to minimise their carbon footprint type of stuff.InnocentShadows said:
I have been searching everywhere for a proven legal answer,
I wouldn't bother - it's not one of the discrimination classifications.The choice of words is a bit odd - saying "geographic location" rather than just "distance". It implies they wanted applicants from the local (to the office) area.
Contrary to pub myth, there is no general prohibition on discrimination. Employers lawfully discriminate all the time. They decide, for example, to employ X and not Y, because X is better than Y. Thus the employer discriminates against people who are less good than X. This is fine.
Discrimination may be unlawful if it relates to one or more of a list of characteristics. These are know as protected characteristics. Living a bit far away from the job location is not a protected characteristic.
If an employer decides that it will not employ A because A comes from a town where most people are, let us say, Welsh, then there might be a problem, but that is not this case.
In this case, the applicant for a job can say "Don't worry, I will get up early and make the commute", but the employer is entitled to say "I can't rely on that - what if the train is late, or the road is blocked, or whatevs?" The employer may or may not be making an unreasonable decision, but in most contexts employers are free to make unreasonable decisions if they want to.
Discrimination may be unlawful if it relates to one or more of a list of characteristics. These are know as protected characteristics. Living a bit far away from the job location is not a protected characteristic.
If an employer decides that it will not employ A because A comes from a town where most people are, let us say, Welsh, then there might be a problem, but that is not this case.
In this case, the applicant for a job can say "Don't worry, I will get up early and make the commute", but the employer is entitled to say "I can't rely on that - what if the train is late, or the road is blocked, or whatevs?" The employer may or may not be making an unreasonable decision, but in most contexts employers are free to make unreasonable decisions if they want to.
Breadvan72 said:
Contrary to pub myth, there is no general prohibition on discrimination. Employers lawfully discriminate all the time. They decide, for example, to employ X and not Y, because X is better than Y. Thus the employer discriminates against people who are less good than X. This is fine.
Discrimination may be unlawful if it relates to one or more of a list of characteristics. These are know as protected characteristics. Living a bit far away from the job location is not a protected characteristic.
If an employer decides that it will not employ A because A comes from a town where most people are, let us say, Welsh, then there might be a problem, but that is not this case.
In this case, the applicant for a job can say "Don't worry, I will get up early and make the commute", but the employer is entitled to say "I can't rely on that - what if the train is late, or the road is blocked, or whatevs?" The employer may or may not be making an unreasonable decision, but in most contexts employers are free to make unreasonable decisions if they want to.
that's the answer i have been looking for! Discrimination may be unlawful if it relates to one or more of a list of characteristics. These are know as protected characteristics. Living a bit far away from the job location is not a protected characteristic.
If an employer decides that it will not employ A because A comes from a town where most people are, let us say, Welsh, then there might be a problem, but that is not this case.
In this case, the applicant for a job can say "Don't worry, I will get up early and make the commute", but the employer is entitled to say "I can't rely on that - what if the train is late, or the road is blocked, or whatevs?" The employer may or may not be making an unreasonable decision, but in most contexts employers are free to make unreasonable decisions if they want to.
Thanks.
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