When the Intent and Effect of HR Laws Diverge

At a recent job, I was regularly taking part in the interview process for prospective new hires. I was instructed to keep no written records of my thoughts on candidates because there was a concern that inappropriate or misinterpreted notes would expose the company to discrimination lawsuits.

We would regularly have later discussions about a position we were having trouble filling, someone would bring up a specific interviewee, and we would all go "hmmm, I can't quite remember why I didn't like him".

Supposedly candidates in BC have the right to request all documentation created regarding a job application at any time, but I'm not sure how accurate that is.

Anyway, the point is that we still were free to make decisions based on "illegal" criteria (I don't think we did, but I'm not a labor expert) - but we made sure we covered our tracks, just in case.

I suppose that means it is only a matter of time before there are laws requiring standardized documentation to be kept for all interviews. And the companies will respond by having a lawyer prepare those documents based on informal input from the interviewers...