Hacker News Reader

Comment by codingdave | Hacker News Reader

The only job posted there says they want you to work in their office to start.

That is just a content problem, but I have mixed feelings about the site in general. As someone with medical problems that do impact my work, I love the idea of a site that has filtered the postings down to employers who will be supportive. But I don't see anything there that actually enforces that filter or proves that the employers understand the related issues. Also, the concept seems to be on shaky ground, legally, at least in the USA where employers are not privy to the medical status of their employees.

View on HN

RE: "Shakey ground legally" Are you talking about your particular case where a medical issue impacts your ability to work but isn't a true disability? Because otherwise, for a true disability - employers MUST comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act and not discriminate against a candidate who is qualified, disabled - and can work with a "reasonable accommodation" [1].

1 - https://www.eeoc.gov/facts/ada18.html

It's harder to prove discrimination during the hiring process than after.

I'm not sure what legal distinction you are referring to when you say a "true disability".

Nor am I sure exactly what the legalities are, which is why I simply said it felt "shaky". But I do know that in general, hiring processes don't ask about disabilities. They are one of the topics that are supposed to be unknown, to avoid discrimination claims. So putting up a site where the employers and candidates are volunteering to be put into that bucket is what I am questioning. IANAL, so I'm not trying to say whether the idea is OK or not... I'm just saying that I don't know how those answers would play out, but it feels like an area that deserves investigation.

Ok thanks. Yep I thought about it and better see your point now.

I think their point is that if you are referred by a site that is explicitly geared toward disabled candidates, any bias (implicit or explicit) will be magnified against those candidates. We can say ADA and EEOC all we want but at the end of the day the application process is not blind and implicit biases will creep in along with the occasional explicit bias. Why have an entire referral source that will amplify those issues?

I am working on adding a review of the jobs posted before making them public. This is v1.0 and hope to turn into a better/smarter platform.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com