When a man in Gothenburg applied for a job with the Church of Sweden, the question appeared: “Are you a member?” up.
The answer was no – and the job went to someone else.
Now the discrimination ombudsman has started an investigation, reports Siren.
The man, who applied for a job as an IT technician at the Church of Sweden, went through an entire application process and was finally called for an interview. There he was told about the organization at his potential workplace.
Then the interviewers suddenly wanted to know if he was a member of the church.
“I thought it was something that was meritorious for the position, rather than a requirement,” says the job-seeking man.
In order not to blow his chances, the complainant refrained from questioning why it would be relevant, but simply told him that it was not the case. He then allegedly had to explain to himself that, among other things, he needed to be baptized in order to get the job.
DO questions the relevance
Two weeks later, the call came: The church had gone ahead with another candidate.
The Discrimination Ombudsman, DO, is now investigating the incident according to the Discrimination Act, reports the news agency Siren.
The man describes in the report that it felt discriminatory to even be asked the question. And even DO questions the relevance of having to be a member of the Church of Sweden for an IT technician.
“If such a requirement applies to the service in question, what relevance does it have to that particular service?”, they write in a form sent to the church concerned.
The manager: “Important regardless of position”
According to the complainant, he asked why the job went to the other applicant, and was told that the person had more experience in the organization of the Church of Sweden.
The recruiter is said to have said that she had no obligation to explain why it would help in her job as an IT technician. Even the head of the unit must have called and said that membership is important “regardless of position”.
The church has until August 22 to respond to the allegations.