REWARD
The importance of treating job applicants fairly
Nicola Mullineux, senior employment specialist for Peninsula, explores the interesting outcomes of three different recent employment law cases
AECOM Limited v Mallon Here, whether the respondent had made reasonable adjustments in the application process for a job applicant with dyspraxia was considered by the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT). The claimant wanted to apply for a position with the respondent which required him to create an online account. The claimant’s medical condition dyspraxia, however, made this difficult. The claimant, therefore, emailed the respondent’s human resources (HR) department indicating that he was interested in applying for the role. In his attached CV, he disclosed his dyspraxia and explained how this can generally
affect people. He also asked if “because of my disability” could they do “an oral application” as “a five-to-ten-minute phone call to talk about my experience”. He requested this be arranged by email, to which he would respond with his telephone number.
In their reply, the respondent’s HR department asked the claimant what part of the online form they were struggling with, as help could be provided to complete this. This offer of help was in fact repeated several times across various emails. However, the claimant didn’t
“The fact the respondent didn’t know exactly what the difficulty was with completing the online form didn’t mean that the duty to make reasonable adjustments didn’t arise, as there was sufficient information available for the respondent to realise that this was a disability-related issue”
| Professional in Payroll, Pensions and Reward | November 2023 | Issue 95 48
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