The Workplace Fairness Act (WFA) requires employers to make hiring decisions based on merit and prohibits discrimination based on protected characteristics, including age, nationality, sex, marital status, pregnancy status, caregiving responsibilities, race, religion, language ability, disability and mental health conditions. This includes how job advertisements are written.
When writing a job advertisement, employers must not state or imply that a protected characteristic is a job requirement or disqualification, unless there is a genuine job requirement for doing so.
This practical guide helps employers write fair, merit-based job advertisements by providing side-by-side examples of acceptable and potentially discriminatory wording across six common areas.
