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Communications boss seeking PA with “excellent English” told he might be breaching the Equality Act (11 August 2014)

Date: 11/08/2014
Duncan Lewis, Immigration Solicitors, Communications boss seeking PA with “excellent English” told he might be breaching the Equality Act

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has conceded that its job seeker service Universal Jobmatch might have been “too strict” when staff questioned a company boss who tried to recruit a PA with the requirement they spoke “excellent English”.

Company boss Paul Scully – who runs a communications company – submitted an advert to the DWP-run job site, which listed experience as a PA and excellent spoken English; only to receive an email in response saying that he needed to state why the candidate would need to speak a particular language, in order to comply with the Equality Act 2010.

Mr Scully told the Daily Mail that he was “stunned” by the website’s response – and its refusal to run his advert unless he amended the advert to explain why the candidate needed to speak English.

Mr Scully said that the response from Universal Jobmatch was “a ridiculous example of politically correct red tape”.

Universal Jobmatch is the job site which all those claiming Jobseeker’s Allowance or Universal Credit as a job seeker must register with to complete a daily search for work, which is logged online for DWP staff to inspect.

Those claiming out-of-work benefits who are not fluent in the English language may also be offered help to improve their English if poor English language skills are considered to be harming their prospects of finding work.

Failure to attend classes to improve English language skills or failure to attend job interviews or attend three appointments as required by the DWP may mean a claimant has their claim suspended.

Failure to complete a weekly job search may also mean a claimant’s benefits claim is suspended.

Mr Scully said:

“We want a personal assistant and said in the advert we wanted someone with good communication skills, experience as a PA and that they speak excellent English.”

”When I heard back from Universal Jobmatch, they told me that in order to comply with the Equality Act I would need to explain why the successful candidate would need a good command of English.

“It's political correctness at its worst – there are thousands of small businesses out there who would benefit from this site, but if they are met with these sorts of questions and barriers it's not really worth the effort.”

Job seekers not registered with the Jobcentre can also register with Universal Jobmatch and apply for jobs – including EU job seekers.

Mr Scully said, however, that he has withdrawn the advertisement he intended to place from the DWP job site and is advertising the post elsewhere.

A spokesman for the DWP admitted that the response to Mr Scully’s proposed advertisement might have been “too strict”.

“Universal Jobmatch is successfully helping people into work with around half a million employers now registered.

“We have robust procedures in place to ensure that vacancies comply with equality legislation and that jobseekers are not discriminated against.

“In this case, those checks may have been too strict and we are now reviewing our procedures.”

The DWP’s Universal Jobmatch website is run by Monster Jobs at a cost to the government of £6 million annually.

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For expert legal advice on immigration law and asylum in the UK – including right to work in the UK – contact Duncan Lewis immigration solicitors on 020 7923 4020.


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