{"id":627,"date":"2025-08-28T09:51:35","date_gmt":"2025-08-28T09:51:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.konnekt.com\/about\/?post_type=resource&p=627"},"modified":"2026-10-14T14:56:12","modified_gmt":"2026-10-14T12:56:12","slug":"discrimination-in-recruitment-dos-and-don-ts-to-prevent-hiring-discrimination","status":"publish","type":"resource","link":"https:\/\/www.konnekt.com\/about\/discrimination-in-recruitment-dos-and-don-ts-to-prevent-hiring-discrimination\/","title":{"rendered":"Discrimination in recruitment: Dos and don\u2019ts to prevent hiring discrimination"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Ensuring that you have a fair hiring process<\/a> is not just about following the law, but it is essential for reputation and success<\/a>. To attract the best employees, avoid large fines, and create a more creative team, companies must understand and prevent hiring discrimination.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unfairness can hide in seemingly normal hiring steps that actually hold some people back. This can harm a company’s reputation, cause it to lose good employees, which impacts your business. As Malta’s workforce becomes more diverse and the fines for breaking employment laws increase, it is more important than ever for leaders to use correct, fair and inclusive hiring practices.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This guide provides clear do\u2019s and don’ts to help you build a hiring process based on best practice and equal opportunity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Understanding hiring discrimination<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Hiring discrimination happens when a job applicant is treated unfairly because of who they are, rather than what they can do. This can be obvious or it can happen indirectly, through hiring preferences that put certain groups at a disadvantage. It is illegal to discriminate based on things like a person’s sex, gender, family situation, marital status, pregnancy, age, religion, race, skin colour, political views, union membership, disability, sexual orientation, or gender identity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Malta’s laws against discrimination are based on several key regulatory pillars, including the Constitution of Malta<\/a>, the Employment and Industrial Relations Act (EIRA)<\/a>, and the Equality for Men and Women Act (Chapter 456)<\/a>. These are also supported by EU regulations related to employment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2025, the penalties for breaking these laws increased and now range from \u20ac2,000 to \u20ac7,000<\/a>. Also, a new EU Pay Transparency Directive<\/a> due to come into force by June 2026 will require employers to state salary ranges early in the recruitment process and will ban them from asking about a candidate’s current or previous pay.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Common types of bias in recruitment<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Unfairness in recruitment often comes from mental shortcuts our brains make, not from a desire to cause harm. These are called unconscious biases, and they can be dangerous when hiring someone. Common examples include:<\/p>\n\n\n\n