Why do some employes add the line “We are an equal opportunities employer” to their recruitment advertisements?
Including an Equal Opportunities Employer statement in a job advertisement is a way of ensuring that a job advertisement does not indicate that an employer intends to commit, or which might be reasonably understood as indicating that an employer intends to commit, an act of unlawful discrimination when determining who should be offered employment or promotion. While it is unlikely that any employer will attempt to publish an advertisment which is intentionaly and blatantly discriminatory, discriminatory advertising still occurs, often inadvertently. Employees can take steps to ensure that job advertisements do not unlawfully discriminate, although where it is not possible, for example, to avoid using a job title or description which has a sexual connotation then a prominent equal opportunities statement should be added to the advertisement to indicate that the employer welcomes applications from all suitably qualified men and women. For further information, see Recruitment Advertising:
