Agent asked for Date of Birth

[bellymonster]

Just had an agent call and go through a potential contract.
At the end of the conversation he said he just needed to take some extra details and asked me for my DoB.

Am I right in thinking they are not allowed to do this (age discrimination). When challenged he firstly didn't know anything about the age discrimination law and then went on to say that he was allowed to ask but was not allowed to pass it on to anyone.

I would have thought he's not even allowed to ask the question?!?

[northernladuk]

Your date of birth could be required for a whole host of checks and information needs. To check your SC status you need your DoB as a must for example.

I think you are being a bit touchy about a non issue here. Do YOU know the age discrimination laws? DoB is a standard question. Asking anything isn't against the law as he says. It is what he does with it and you have to trust him to some extent.

Did you refuse to give your first name in case he spotted you were male or female as well???

[pmeswani]

Just had an agent call and go through a potential contract.
At the end of the conversation he said he just needed to take some extra details and asked me for my DoB.

Am I right in thinking they are not allowed to do this (age discrimination). When challenged he firstly didn't know anything about the age discrimination law and then went on to say that he was allowed to ask but was not allowed to pass it on to anyone.

I would have thought he's not even allowed to ask the question?!?

A possible reason for them asking your DOB details is to register your application with the client to avoid potential duplication. There's nothing stopping you from lying about your age though. There are other reasons, but this is one possible reason.

[ilovehr]

Imagine they have half a dozen John Smiths on the books....the DOB is normally just needed so they can find you on their database.

[snaw]

It's illegal to ask for this in the UK, I believe.

SOme of the tulip I see in Singapore job ads is funny though, what age, have you got photo and the best, seen a few times now for management positions - must be a man!!!

[TheFaQQer]

Your date of birth could be required for a whole host of checks and information needs. To check your SC status you need your DoB as a must for example.

WHS - I had to give mine this week for an interview for an SC role and they needed to check my status.

Wouldn't worry too much about it, to be honest.

[TheFaQQer]

It's illegal to ask for this in the UK, I believe.

SOme of the tulip I see in Singapore job ads is funny though, what age, have you got photo and the best, seen a few times now for management positions - must be a man!!!

You believe wrong. It isn't unlawful to ask for a person's age on an application form or during the recruitment process. What is unlawful is to discriminate against someone based on their age (Employment (Age) Regulations, 2006), unless it can be shown that such discrimination is objectively justified.

[cojak]

A possible reason for them asking your DOB details is to register your application with the client to avoid potential duplication. There's nothing stopping you from lying about your age though. There are other reasons, but this is one possible reason.

Be careful how far you take this, however.

I've knocked a few years off Jobsite because it's public and DOB is valuable to fraudsters (my reasoning and I'm sticking to it.. ), but I'd give my real DOB if I thought there was a real job in the offing (and look anyone in the eye if they mentioned the discrepancy).

Start the way you mean to go on, particularly if you're looking at an SC role.

[Darren_Test]

We are discussing a non-issue...DOB & NI number some times asked for agencies to upload their CV to the client ..I know a Berks based Telco asking both info atleast for last 4/5 years. Any one to upload CVs to their system need these 2 information...

[snaw]

You believe wrong. It isn't unlawful to ask for a person's age on an application form or during the recruitment process. What is unlawful is to discriminate against someone based on their age (Employment (Age) Regulations, 2006), unless it can be shown that such discrimination is objectively justified.

Sounds like you know. Just know from my missus, who's in recruitment, that it's illegal to use a whole host of words which could be construed as age related (Young, dynamic etc) because they're treading a fine line so my understanding based on this was that's it's illegal to ask specifically for someone's age.