Ethical hiring is one of many terms used to describe how a company engages with its potential workforce. Ethical employment practices ensure that all employees are treated fairly and ethically by providing legal work conditions and do not cause physical or psychological harm to staff. This is regardless of job role, gender, race, religion, background, or economic status.

In general, it has been widely acknowledged that the four fundamental ethical principles are honesty, fairness, care & respect for others. Ethical hiring and employment practices and processes, when appropriately implemented, are there to guide employees as well as employers on what is expected of them both during the hiring process and in the workplace.

Ethical Hiring and Employers

Employers have both moral and legal obligations when it comes to their employees (and potential employees). It’s the employer’s responsibility to provide a salary and safe working conditions, as well as look out for their employees’ welfare. This starts during the hiring process and continues until that employee’s last day with the company.

There are 5 things employers need to consider if they want to recruit ethically.

1. Never post misleading job ads: this includes fake job ads, misrepresenting the role’s requirements, or other information such as working conditions, company information, or salary.
2. Do not discriminate: if you want to adhere to international best practices when reviewing CVs or interviewing candidates, it is essential not to discriminate against someone based on their gender, age, marital status, religion, or nationality.
3. Review your suppliers: if you use recruitment agencies, recruitment brokers, or other recruitment suppliers to help hire your workforce, build an ethics agreement into your contract. Alternatively, ensure you use ethical employment platforms, such as EduPloyment.
4. Interview your candidates directly: don’t take the recruiter’s word for it, take the time to interview the shortlisted candidates to ensure they match the job requirements. This is also your opportunity to explain the role, the requirements, and other vital information about the job description or company.
5. Build ethical agreements into your job offers: when hiring your new employees, build your company’s ethics and values into your offers to ensure unanimous agreement.

Why do you need to recruit ethically?

So why recruit ethically? After all, if there are people who will work no matter what the conditions or the money, then shouldn’t you let them? In short, the answer is no. You shouldn’t.

Unethical hiring can affect your business from the inside out. Here are 4 reasons why you shouldn’t hire unethically.

1. Performance: ethical hiring is central to recruiting great candidates. Don’t gamble your company’s performance on dubious hires.
2. Costs: while you may have got ten waiters for the price of five, there is a high chance that you’ve sacrificed skills and experience for cheaper salaries. When eventually your customers complain, replacing staff will increase hiring costs.
3. Reputation: a brand’s reputation is arguably its most important asset. The value of a company can decrease overnight following an employment, staff safety, or employee well-being scandal.
4. Profit: Research shows that ESG concerns influence half of all consumers, with generation Z and millennials significantly more likely to consider these factors when shopping. For anyone doing the math, that’s half of anyone under 42 years old reviewing your company’s ethics before deciding to do business with you, work with you, or purchase from you.

Ethical hiring and candidates

When discussing ethical hiring, we don’t often focus on the candidate’s responsibilities. However, candidates have just as much responsibility during the hiring process.

Here are 5 ways that candidates can ensure they stay ethical during their job hunt.

1. Make sure your CV is accurate:  while adding a few extra skills here and there on your CV may seem like it will help you get the job, in the long run, it will cause you more harm than good when you turn up and can’t perform the job required.
2. Apply for the jobs you are qualified for: job hunting can be challenging, but applying for jobs that you aren’t qualified for will only waste your time and the recruiters. It may even affect your chances of getting more suitable roles in the company.
3. Be honest: if it doesn’t look like you can fulfill the job role, commit to the start date, the salary isn’t what you want, or you simply are no longer interested in that role, be honest. It’s better to bow out of the process than get to the final stage and turn down an offer.
4. Show up and be on time: being late for a meeting, or not showing up will significantly decrease your chances of getting a role. If it looks like you can’t make the interview, contact the person conducting the interview to let them know as soon as possible.
5. Prepare for the interview: take the time to understand the company, the role, the location, and the requirements. And don’t forget to dress appropriately for the interview.

So, whether we call it ‘decent work’, ‘ethical employment’, or ‘good jobs for good’, ethics in employment and recruitment are vital to your business inside and out. Un-ethical employment practices just aren’t worth the risk to your organization.

As a social impact enterprise, EduPloyment is a global online recruitment platform empowering skilled and unskilled staff with English and fair work, thereby uplifting them and their dependents into a lifetime of upskilling and employment.

We know that when an underprivileged person is educated, employed, and empowered they will be uplifted from their current economic state. Their family members and dependents, which number seven on average, are also uplifted and have a better chance of breaking the cycle. EduPloyment’s purpose is to deliver this empowerment to every Candidate and perpetuate this ripple effect to their communities.

EduPloyment helps Candidates gain English language and soft skills, and connects them directly with employers providing fair work, safe working environments, and fair pay.

For Employers, EduPloyment addresses recruitment challenges of time-consuming processes, Candidates not meeting job requirements, and expensive placement fees, while providing a direct and tangible social impact.

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