AI at work, by industry · HR staff, recruiters, hiring managers, registered managers and small business owners
AI in HR and recruitment: fair, lawful and open to challenge
When a tool is really making the decision, what candidates must be told, and how to keep discrimination out.
- 2modules
- 1.5CPD hours
- 90guided minutes
- Freeto study
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About this course
AI now writes job adverts, sifts applications, scores video interviews and ranks candidates. Much of it is sold as support for a human decision. On 31 March 2026 the Information Commissioner's Office reported, after working with more than thirty employers, that many had underestimated when a tool was in fact making the decision, with no meaningful human involvement at all.
The law changed in February 2026. Solely automated decisions with a significant effect are now permitted on ordinary personal data, but only with safeguards: the person must be told, and must be able to make representations, obtain human intervention and contest the decision. The Equality Act 2010 applies to a tool's outcome exactly as it applies to a person's.
This course shows a hiring manager how to tell which side of the line a tool sits on, what a candidate has to be told, and how to check for unfairness before a claim does it for you.
What you will be able to do
- Describe where AI is used in recruitment and people management
- Tell a solely automated decision from one with meaningful human involvement
- State the safeguards the UK GDPR requires for solely automated decisions
- Explain what candidates must be told
- Explain how the Equality Act applies to a tool's outcomes
- Check a tool for unfair outcomes and for inferring protected characteristics
- Make reasonable adjustments where a tool disadvantages a disabled candidate
- Say what the EU AI Act adds for employers recruiting in the EU
Modules
Assessment and certificate
Knowledge check after each module and a final assessment at 80 per cent, with unlimited attempts.
A digital certificate, issued the moment you have passed and paid, showing 1.5 CPD hours with a verification code. It evidences knowledge of the fair and lawful use of AI in recruitment. It is not a regulated qualification, it is not legal advice, and it does not certify that any tool or process complies with the law.
Questions
Is it legal to let software reject job applicants?
It can be, with safeguards. Since 5 February 2026 a solely automated decision with a legal or similarly significant effect is permitted on ordinary personal data if the person is told, and can make representations, obtain human intervention and contest it. Stricter conditions apply if special category data is involved, and the Equality Act applies to the outcome.
A manager clicks approve on the tool's shortlist. Is that human involvement?
Not if it is a formality. The ICO's draft guidance says human involvement must be active rather than tokenistic, by someone trained to understand the system's logic, outputs, limitations and risks, with the authority to change the outcome. Someone who built the system does not count either.
The supplier says the tool is unbiased. Does that protect us?
No. The employer is responsible for the decisions it makes and for discrimination in its recruitment, whoever built the tool. Ask the supplier for evidence and monitor your own outcomes.
Do we have to tell candidates we use AI?
Yes. Candidates must be told that automated decision making is being used and how it works in terms they can understand, and how to challenge a decision and ask for a human review.