Algorithmic discrimination against women in the recruitment process

Abstract

Prohibition of Discrimination in Employment: Although it is accepted that as a requirement of the principle of freedom of contract the employer has the freedom to choose the other party to the contract, modern legal systems have imposed certain limitations on this freedom. Indeed, one such limitation is the prohibition of discrimination. Therefore, employers cannot refrain from concluding an employment contract on the basis of discrimination ( , , Bozkurt Gümrükçüoğlu Yıldız 2008 Türe 2021 and Yakacak 2023). Antidiscrimination rules in recruitment protect human dignity (Straker 2024) and require that the entire process, commencing with the job advertisement, is conducted without risk of discrimination. For this reason, the language used in job advertisements should be independent of gender or other discriminatory elements (Karb 2024), and the selection process of candidates should be conducted in accordance with antidiscrimination laws. Since the prohibition of discrimination also constitutes a limit to the employer’s right to information, the employer’s right to ask questions cannot exceed the limits of this prohibition (Karb 2024). The same limit should be observed with regard to information obtained through methods that don’t involve asking the candidate, such as social media scans. The criteria used to select candidates should also not contain discriminatory elements. It should be noted that the prohibition of discrimination in access to employment should not be limited to the conclusion of the contract but should be evaluated together with other legal requirements. In this context, the employer must comply with the prohibition of discrimination, in particular when determining wages and work conditions (Karb 2024)...