Should we reveal everything to the employer? The problem of age disclosure during the recruitment process

Abstract

Recruitment is a process that usually leads to an employment relationship. It is the phase during which the potential employee and employer gather information that will determine the establishment of a contract. The party interested in presenting him/herself in the best possible way is usually the applicant, who wants to obtain the desired employment. To achieve this, he or she diligently prepares documents that include information required by the employer. Over the last few years, the scope of this required information has changed considerably — there has been a gradual move away from providing data typically regarded as unnecessary for the recruitment process, and an objective approach has been adopted instead. Currently, finding data like criminal records, marital status, or even a candidate’s image in application documents is uncommon. Sometimes employers recommend limiting the scope of information and even implement anonymizing processes in which applicants indicate their experience and skills only. The reason for this can be attributed to the development of anti-discrimination and data protection legislation, and the willingness of employers to comply with these laws. Considering the above, all practices and regulations that allow the processing of data unnecessary for the recruitment process should be viewed critically. An example of such legislation is the Polish Labor Code, which allows for the date of birth (age) of every applicant to be obtained. This essay critically analyzes this regulation through several supporting arguments.