Candidate for a job offer: authorized recruitment methods

Verified 30 July 2021 - Directorate for Legal and Administrative Information (Prime Minister)

An employer considering recruitment is not allowed to ask any questions of the candidate during the interview. The employer cannot use any evaluation method. The candidate has protection during the recruitment process, including privacy.

In a recruitment procedure, the employer does not enjoy complete freedom in the use of the methods and techniques used to assist recruitment. These must be relevant and serve to assess the candidate's qualifications.

The information requested from the applicant shall only be used to assess his/her ability to take up the proposed job or his/her professional skills.

This information can be requested in writing (recruitment questionnaire) or orally (interview).

They must have a direct and necessary link with the proposed job or with the assessment of his abilities.

Thus, the employer must not ask questions about the individual situation of the candidate concerning his state of health, his family situation, his membership of a union, his sex life, his housing, his leisure activities.

The employer may ask the applicant whether he has a driving license as soon as the job requires it.

The candidate must respond in good faith to these requests for information.

Warning  

the applicant recruited on the basis of false information may be dismissed for simple fault (or even serious misconduct, if this information was decisive in his recruitment).

The methods and techniques used to assist recruitment shall be made known to the applicant and to the Social and Economic Committee (ESC).

These methods and techniques for assisting in the recruitment or evaluation of candidates must be relevant to the purpose pursued. The use of astrology, graphology or numerology in particular is prohibited, unless there are relevant justifications.

The results obtained must remain confidential, except in respect of the candidate.

The choice of the recruited candidate is freely chosen by the employer.

However, it is forbidden to refuse to recruit a candidate on discriminatory grounds, that is to say justified by one of the following criteria:

  • Age
  • Physical Appearance
  • Genetic characteristics
  • Domiciliation
  • Health status
  • Pregnancy
  • Disability
  • Gender identity
  • Spoken language (ability to speak in a language other than French)
  • Place of residence
  • Morals
  • Name
  • Philosophical Opinions
  • Political opinions
  • Sexual orientation
  • Origin
  • Particular vulnerability linked to the economic situation
  • Loss of autonomy
  • Alleged race, ethnicity, nationality: membership or non-membership
  • Religion: belief or belonging or non-belonging
  • Sex
  • Family status
  • Trade Unionism

Any candidate rejected on these discriminatory grounds may to refer the matter to the labor council to claim damages for the damage suffered.

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