Possible gender discrimination - asked questions about marital plans in a job interview. | Legally India

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Possible gender discrimination - asked questions about marital plans in a job interview.

byGuest

Hello all,

My friend recently gave an interview at a very well known Law Firm in Delhi. The first 5 minutes of it was just related to her marital status and how she will "take leave" for marriage, which was a problem. She politely responded that this is not an issue for her, and will not impact her work.

She didn't get through but obviously felt that this was the reason. Is there any recourse here?

How is it okay for this to be a question at all?

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byGuest

It is discriminatory, and men too take leave for their marriage. But I guess in an Indian context, a lot of women aren’t permitted to work long hours post marriage and hence the reason for the query. I’m not justifying, I’m just trying to make you feel better.

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byGuest

Unless they made this the reason, youre just speculating and throwing stones in the mud pit.

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byGuest1

In fairness to original poster, it can be difficult to prove discrimination that is enforced in practice but unwritten in policy.

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byGuest1

This is an interesting conundrum. On one hand, it is improper to discriminate on the basis of one’s sex. On the other hand, the employer is within their rights to want to assess the suitability of a prospective employee’s performance in terms of their skills, experience, and avalability at the workplace. Now, to the extent that a prospective employee can be trusted (and they should be unless there is a factual reason not to) when they say that their availability at work will not be impacted by their marital relations, then that is no longer a criterion to disqualify them. But if they do acknowledge otherswise, then the employer should be free to take that fact into account with other criteria in determing their suitability in the firm.

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byJSA ggn

Is this JSA gurgaon by any chance? A senior (female) partner always ask this to all her new woman hirees. Standard question in her interview - what plans to get married, what plans to have babies.

FYI - she does give mat leaves, recently 2 women have been on mat leave in her team. In hindsight, maybe she is trying to anticipate that mat leaves/ wedding leave of diff people dont clash.

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byGuest1

Ah! So maybe (speaking provisionally, of course) there is more to the story than one realised.

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byGuest

nobody is so considerate. The questions she ask are outrightly invasive and offensive, and she does give all the taunts for those going on mat leaves, which too she does out of compulsion because she doesn't really have an option

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byGuest1

If true, this is such a bizarre way to behave. To do what one condemns others for doing.

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byGuest

stop playing the victim. I am a 33 YO single male. Even I get questions asked about my marital status.

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byGuest1

No reason to be so spiteful. In a forum of strangers like this, please engage with empathy.

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trollish

A 17-word comment posted 1 year ago was not published.

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byGuest

By your stupid logic, employers can refuse to hire pregnant women also. Why they do not ask the same question to men? You’re just a guy being threatened by women, wallow in mediocrity.

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byGuest

Let's be realistic here. If you were a partner in a small team of 2-3 associates, would you really hire someone who'll likely take an extended leave of absence, comparable to a sabbatical or maternity leave, disrupting the team's workflow and impacting finances? I think not.

Partners being responsible for the finances and bottom line of the team have to prioritize efficiency and financial sustainability, and such an absence can significantly impact the team's success. It's not about equality, it's about making practical decisions.

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byGuest

>It's not about equality, it's about making practical decisions.

Doesn't make it right. No one asked why did they ask the question. The entire point was that it should be about equality or are you saying it is justified that Law as a career is closed off to females who want to marry?

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byGuest1

You are missing the point. Marriage is not the disqualifying criterion. It is the decrease in work performance that can result from the demands of factors such as marital relations that is the problem. At the same time, if the prospective employee has already stated that their marital relations will not affect their work performance then that should be the end of conversation.

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byGuest1

There is a difference between not hiring someone based on the fact of who they are (in your example, a pregnant woman) and which is definitely impermissible and not hiring someone based on the fact that they cannot contribute to the job in the same measure as everyone else. A candidate, on account of her pregnancy (or, in another example, their disability), can then be disqualified, not because she is pregnant (or disabled) but on the basis of difference between what is expected of them and their actual performance. It is easy to dismiss this as semantic trickery but it is not. At the same time, companies can (and should) also come up with policies to assist those whose performance is affected not from their lack of skills or experience but due to factors not entirely within their control. There is a solution to this but it requires us to first acknowledge the real problem at play.

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trollish

A 22-word comment posted 1 year ago was not published.

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byGuest

You canhave a transparent leave policy and enforce it uniformly across the board without asking for individuals plans. This is just a lazy excuse for misogyny.

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trollish

A 52-word comment posted 1 year ago was not published.

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