News item | 01-03-2022 | 11:52
Minister van Gennip wants to add a reporting obligation for discriminatory requests to employment agencies to the ‘equal opportunities in recruitment and selection’ bill. In doing so, she wants to take a new step against discrimination in the labor market. This bill gives the Dutch Labor Inspectorate enforcement powers. To ensure that employers and intermediaries have a working method with sufficient guarantees to prevent discrimination and to realize equal opportunities. In addition, the minister is sending an investigation into the value of applying anonymously to the House of Representatives.
Everyone deserves equal opportunities in the search for a job, but too many people still have to deal with labor market discrimination. That is unacceptable, but also very unwise. Unacceptable because we ask everyone to participate in the labor market and equal treatment is the foundation of our society. Unwise because diversity pays off in any organization. Discrimination based on any characteristics must be addressed at the source. That is why I want to include a reporting obligation for discriminatory requests in the law.
Minister Karien van Gennip
Legislative proposal on equal opportunities in recruitment and selection
The bill, which was sent to the House of Representatives in December last year, states that companies will soon be given the legal obligation to conduct a policy aimed at promoting equal opportunities in recruitment and selection. Large companies must do this in writing, small companies initially explain their working method orally. In the second instance, they may be required to put their policy in writing. The equal opportunities standard applies to all organisations. Employers are expected to demonstrate demonstrable efforts to combat discrimination in the labor market. And now there is also an obligation to report.
Research on applying anonymously
Through the Labor Market Discrimination Action Plan, studies have been conducted into instruments that can be effective in promoting equal opportunities in recruitment and selection. The instrument of applying anonymously was also examined. The aim of this study was to answer the question whether omitting personal data from the CV leads to more equal opportunities for an interview invitation and an offer by an employer between candidates with a non-Western migration background.
Results
The results of this specific survey do not show that anonymous job applications work in the context in which the survey was conducted. That is, anonymizing resumes had no effect on the interview invitation rate or the hiring rate for candidates with a migration background. What was not foreseen, however, was that in the context of employment agency Unique, there appeared to be no (significant) difference in the chance of being invited or accepted between candidates with or without a migration background. This emerged during the data analysis, after the field study was completed.
Social norm Unique
This may have to do with the fluctuations in the labor market as a result of the Corona pandemic, after all, there is a major shortage of personnel. In addition, the facilitating employment agency Unique has a very strong social standard in the field of inclusive recruitment and selection. In this way they fulfill an exemplary role for other companies in the field of labor market discrimination, but it probably also explains why there was no difference between the group of anonymous applicants and the control group of employment agency Unique. This means that the results of this study are not readily applicable to a wide range of applications.
This research was conducted in the context of the Labor Market Discrimination Action Plan 2018-2021. The minister writes that he wants to send a new action plan for the coming period to the House of Representatives before the summer.