Employment legislation influences what you can write in your advertisements, questions you can ask applicants during an interview, as well as how you conduct your performance management during the employment period.

There are various legislative acts to comply with such as Human Rights Act 1993, Employment Relations Act 2000, Privacy Act 1993, Immigration Act 1987, Criminal Records (Clean Slate Act) 2004, Health & Safety in Employment Act 1992 and the additional amendments, to name a few.

The Human Rights Act 1993 seeks to protect those in and seeking employment by listing 13 grounds of discrimination.

You cannot discriminate on the grounds of: 

• Sex (including pregnancy & childbirth)
• Marital status (married, single, de facto, divorced, widowed, separated)
• Religious belief (or lack of)
• Ethical belief
• Colour
• Race
• Ethnic or National origins
• Disability (physical, intellectual, psychological, disability, impairment, illness or the presence in the body of organisms capable of causing illness)
• Age (16 years, with no upper limit)
• Political opinion (or lack of)
• Employment status (employed, unemployed, beneficiary)
• Family status (having children or not, relations)
• Sexual orientation (heterosexual, homosexual, lesbian, bisexual)

There are two forms of discrimination:

Direct: discriminating on the above grounds
In-direct: where the same conditions are imposed, however one person or group has little chance of succeeding

An employer may be able to justify discrimination if it is truly a requirement of the job, such as hiring a female assistant in a lingerie store.

There are various sections of the Act listing exceptions.

Examples:

a religious organisation may discriminate based on the requirement to be of that religion
regarding disability, employers must make reasonable accommodation for disabled persons, however a small employer of 5 staff may not be in a financially secure position to justify installing a lift
family status: in the employment of two people from one family where there is potential for collusion between them to the detriment of the employer


Should you have a specific query, I can investigate for you.

During the interview process, ensure you focus the questions on the job itself. Examples:

Avoid
Do you have children? Who will look after them?

Suggestion
We require someone to work XYZ hours, can you do that? 
We require someone to travel 1 week in 4, are you able to commit to that?

Avoid
Are you pregnant?

Suggestion
We require full time commitment for 12 months, are you able to do that?

Avoid
Are you involved in any sporting or religious activities?

Suggestion
We require someone to work Sundays, is that okay for you?