Employers have been warned over the use of pre-employment health questionnaires by Sandra Wallace, employment partner and head of the equality and diversity at law firm DLA Piper.

Following the Equality Bill entering the statute book this week, Wallace says: “Under the new rules, pre-employment questionnaires are not allowed, except in very specific circumstances, such as where medical fitness is crucial for the particular job, eg driving jobs. Asking general questions about a person’s health not related to intrinsic functions of the job will generally be prohibited.

“Employers will need to be very confident that an exemption applies to allow them to ask questions about a prospective employees health, or potentially face enforcement action from the Equality and Human Rights Commission.

“Asking questions about a candidate’s health also raises the possibility of them claiming disability discrimination if they are not appointed. Under the new rules, the onus will be on the employer to prove that any health issues were not relevant to the decision not to appoint.

“Employers won’t be prevented from asking questions about an employees health after a job offer has been made, for example, by making an offer conditional on completion of a medical. However, this provision means that employers will need to completely overhaul their existing recruitment processes.”