Jobseeker petitions for anti-ghosting law in recruitment

Published 14 March 2023 | 2 min read

MPs lament lack of courtesy from recruiters after young jobseeker petitions for anti-ghosting law

A young jobseeker has won praise from MPs after she petitioned Parliament for laws requiring recruiters be honest with applicants they turn down for jobs.

Petition: Complete transparency in recruitment

Ana Briggs from St Heliers in Auckland petitioned Parliament after applying for multiple jobs, but in almost every case recruiters didn’t even bother to acknowledge her applications.

MPs on Parliament’s Petitions Committee praised Briggs for her efforts and determination, but declined to recommend new laws, with ACT MP Nicole McKee saying: “You can’t legislate courtesy”.

But National MP Todd Muller said recruiters should behave with more courtesy to job applicants.

Muller said one of his jobs before entering Parliament was at Kiwifruit cooperative Zespri, where he was responsible for recruitment.

“I think at times businesses like that are just too focused on efficiently getting to perhaps the final five to have a conversation with, and don't give the courtesy of a response, and some reasons, as to why they are not progressing with an individual,” he said.

He told Briggs: “What you are asking for is courtesy. People should be treated with courtesy.”

Briggs felt employers were not completely honest with job applicants, and that in some instances were illegally discriminating against people.

“For all we know, discrimination happens all the time and nobody will ever find out because employers don’t have to say,” Briggs told MPs.

Briggs was also concerned recruiters were wasting people’s time by advertising jobs that they already had someone lined up for.

Charlotte de Freijter, principal policy adviser from the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment, said it would be difficult to pass laws requiring recruiters to be honest with applicants.

But she did say applicants could use the Privacy Act to request any notes recruiters had made about them during the application process.

It was possible that employers were discriminating illegally against people, but disguising it, she said.

The committee heard that the Human Rights Commission Te Kāhui Tika Tangata received complaints about the job application process from people who thought they had been unlawfully discriminated against.

In the three years from January 2020 to December 2022, the commission said, it received more than 60 such complaints. Four were about being rejected for a job and not receiving sufficient feedback or explanation from the prospective employer.

The MPs on the committee promised to help Briggs in her job search by helping her connect with organisations in her area that helped people find jobs.

Labour MP Rachel Boyack told Briggs: “I really appreciate your petition, and for bringing this to us. It’s a really tricky one to solve.

“It’s really amazing that you really want to get a job, and hopefully somebody might be watching this, or someone somewhere might know someone who can connect you to a job.”

Labour MP Sarah Pallett said it would be great if employers would recognise they had a responsibility to provide feedback to applicants.

McKee lamented the lack of courtesy shown by some employers.

She said she was the mother of four children, and too often they had not even been shown the courtesy of a response when they applied for some jobs.

Click here to read the article by Stuff NZ.