SZ reader Ilka W. asks:
I applied for a public service position that I thought I had good chances of doing. The profile described was a perfect match for my qualifications. To my surprise, I got a rejection. When asked, I was told that my application had been rejected because I had not completed any of the four courses specified in the advertisement (social sciences, psychology, educational sciences, economics). I studied sociology and did my doctorate on a topic relevant to the position. I now ask myself: Was my application even allowed to be excluded?
Ina Reinsch answers:
Dear Ms. W., I can understand your disappointment and irritation. Isn’t it a bit formalistic to sort you out in the application process despite the related field of study and your professionally appropriate doctorate?
Ina Reinsch is a lawyer, author and speaker in Munich. She mainly deals with the subject of labor law.
(Photo: Christoph Vohler)
Public service employers are obliged to draw up a profile of requirements for the position to be filled before making a selection decision. It describes the qualifications and skills required for the position. How an employer tailors his positions, which responsibilities he assigns to them and which specialist knowledge he considers necessary is at his discretion. This must be fundamentally respected; the courts may only check whether irrelevant considerations played a role, i.e. whether the decision was arbitrary, for example.
The requirement profile is not only an essential part of a job advertisement, but also forms the basis for the employer for the preparation, implementation and evaluation of the applications. The mandatory and easily verifiable requirements include school and university degrees or language skills. Qualifications that are not mandatory, on the other hand, are often identified by additions such as “as possible” or “desirable”.
If an applicant does not meet a mandatory qualification requirement such as a degree in a certain subject, the employer will not consider his application. This also takes place against the background that once a requirement profile has been drawn up, it is binding for the entire duration of the selection process. If an applicant were hired who did not meet the mandatory requirements specified in the advertisement, that would in turn be unfair to the other applicants; they could take action against the vacancy.
Presumably those were the considerations that guided this employer. Even if sociology is part of the social sciences and you also had a suitable doctoral topic – your subject was not mentioned in the advertisement. The employer also did not write in it that he would accept a comparable qualification.
One could argue about whether the required subject is to be understood as mandatory or only as descriptive information. One could argue that the characteristic “study of social sciences, psychology, educational sciences, economics” is far too unspecific to be able to represent a mandatory criterion. Here it would depend on the exact content of the job description, i.e. on the specific tasks that have to be mastered in the job.
This can be clarified in court in the context of a “competitor lawsuit”. The court then reviews whether the employer is making a lawful selection decision. However, once the position has been filled, the matter is, so to speak, settled. There is only the possibility of obtaining compensation. However, the requirements for this are very high.
Do you also have a question on a labor law issue? Then write a few lines to [email protected]. Your letter will of course be anonymized.