Last reviewed: 22 June 2022
- Separating criteria into ‘essential’ and ‘desirable’ is important to let candidates – and yourselves – know what you will need to assess.
- Make sure that any essential criteria are specific and genuinely relate to a core requirement of the role.
- If you run an ‘Offer an interview’ scheme, make sure that you are actually able to offer an interview to all disabled candidates who meet the essential criteria.
Why have ‘essential’ and ‘desirable’ criteria?
Separating out the criteria you’re looking for into ‘essential’ and ‘desirable’ clarifies what the core requirements of the role will be. This is useful for both the employer and applicants.
Without this, employers can needlessly exclude candidates who are accomplished in the core competencies of the role but might perform it differently from how the employer expected. Employers can also end up focusing on how the job should be done rather than what they need to be done.
How to decide what is ‘essential’
Focus on what the core outputs of the role will be, not how you want them to be performed.
Avoid requiring competencies that apply to every position in the organisation, such as ‘will be a team player’. If working in a team is not core to a job role you could risk discriminating – for example, against an individual with autism, who has the competencies for the position but could find it hard to work in a team that requires a lot of interaction.
Some key points to remember:
- Focus on what is to be achieved not how it is done.
- Ensure that the ‘essential’ criteria clearly describe the core purpose, tasks and responsibilities attached to the role.
- Think about the different ways the core outputs of the role could be achieved and make sure the ‘essential’ criteria don’t exclude any of them.
- Ensure that your expectations of the post-holder are reasonable in relation to the salary and benefits offered for the post.
- Identify any inherent risks associated with the demands of a post and ensure mechanisms are put in place to support the successful candidate when appointed.
‘Offer an interview’ schemes
Some employers participate in ‘Offer an interview’ schemes – where disabled applicants are guaranteed to be offered an interview if they meet the essential or minimum criteria for the role. This is one of the commitments that employers make when participating in the Disability Confident scheme.
If your organisation provides an ‘Offer an interview’ scheme or something similar (they can also be called ‘guaranteed interview schemes’ or something similar) then deciding what is ‘essential’ and ‘desirable’ is all the more important. See the resource ‘Offer an interview’ schemes’ in this Toolkit for more information.
If you use a failure to meet ‘essential’ criteria as a reason for declining to interview an applicant, you must ensure that these criteria do not discriminate against disabled applicants. See the examples below for common criteria that could be discriminatory.
Alternatives
Some organisations run their schemes slightly differently – for example, offering an interview to all disabled candidates who best meet the essential criteria. This can be useful when doing mass recruitment (for example large graduate schemes) or when you expect to receive a high number of applications – such as graduate schemes. This can be a good way of making sure you can actually interview all the people you guarantee to offer to interview.
However, you should have clear criteria about how you select the applications that ‘best’ meet the essential criteria. These should be carefully checked to make sure they don’t discriminate against disabled people. For more advice, see our resource ‘What do we mean by “best”?‘
Examples
‘Must touch type’
This does not explain why touch typing is essential and may exclude a capable candidate with a hand tremor or arthritis or who uses speech-to-text software.
Replace with, ‘you will need to produce accurate reports using a word processing package’.
This will allow a candidates to demonstrate their ability to meet the criteria using voice- activated software.
‘Must have driving licence’
This does not explain why a driving licence is essential and may exclude a candidate with sight loss who cannot drive. If used in an advertisement, it may also mean that you are advertising in a discriminatory manner and in breach of the Equality Act 2010.
Replace with, ‘extensive travel throughout the UK to meet clients is essential’.
The candidate may be able to demonstrate how they will meet this requirement by using alternative methods of transport.
Under the Equality Act 2010 and indeed in terms of organisational effectiveness the outcome is more important than the process. Whenever preparing job descriptions and candidate specifications, keep in mind that a disabled person may carry out a task differently but with the same result.
‘Must work in X office or location’
The experience of multiple lockdowns and prolonged periods of remote working has demonstrated that many jobs can be done remotely. Requiring someone to work in-person may therefore discriminate against someone who could do the job remotely but would find it harder to do in an office or other workplace environment.
This is not to say that every job has to be remote – there are still many jobs where being physically present is a genuine requirement. However, you should make sure that it is a genuine requirement before you make it an essential criterion.
Consider how feasible it would be for someone to do the job wholly or partly from home. If it is possible to allow this – potentially with other adjustments to allow them to work from home – then this criterion could be discriminatory.
‘Four GCSEs required/2:1 or higher degree’ or ‘Work experience required’
When including minimum educational qualifications and specific work experience as core criteria for a position, consider whether these are indeed essential. Good disabled candidates may have received a less formal education or experienced discrimination in the education system. Similarly, they may have less work experience because employers have not been willing to offer them a chance.
If you do use minimum criteria, it’s important to state that you will consider candidates who can demonstrate that they have, by other means, acquired the skills of which qualifications or work experience are an indicator.
Further information
For tailored advice and guidance about designing criteria for a specific role or roles, contact our Advice Service.
Read next
- Inclusive job design
- Being a disability confident employer
- ‘Offer an interview’ schemes
- Blog – What do we mean by “best”?
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