Elite Careplus Limited recruitment investigation
Our action
We investigated the care agency, Elite Careplus Limited, after receiving evidence that it was asking pre-employment health questions during its recruitment process.
What this covered
We asked Elite Careplus Limited to tell us whether:
- the health questions on its application form were allowed by a relevant legal exception
- there was some other reason to justify asking the questions
See the full terms of reference.
Why we were involved
We opened a formal investigation, using our powers under the Equality Act, after receiving evidence that Elite Careplus Limited was asking pre-employment health questions on its job application form.
The Equality Act 2010 makes it unlawful, unless allowed by a relevant legal exception, for employers and employment agencies to ask questions about a job applicant’s health or disability:
- before it has made a conditional or unconditional offer of employment
- before including them in a pool of successful applicants to be offered a job when a position becomes available
The result
Our investigation found that Elite Careplus Limited asked pre-employment health questions on its job application form, between 21 November 2018 and 20 June 2019. It failed to show that there was a lawful reason for asking the questions. It therefore committed an unlawful act that breached section 60 of the Equality Act 2010.
The care agency has now removed the questions from its job application form and confirmed that it uses the updated version of the form in its recruitment process. We have reviewed the form and acknowledge that the questions have been removed.
