Bona Fide Occupational Qualification

What Is A Bona Fide Occupational Qualification?

A legally permissible restriction on recruiting and employing a person based on their sex, country of origin, or religion, is known as a bona fide occupational qualification (BFOQ). The requirements must relate to both the fundamental job tasks of the position and the necessary business activities for them to be deemed legitimate or "bona fide."

In other words, the BFOQ law permits reasonable employment discrimination based on sex, religion, or national origin if the operations of the specific company or the responsibilities of the job role so warrant.

What Are Some Permissible Examples Of Bfoq?

Examples of acceptable BFOQ include:

• Bus drivers and airline pilots must retire by a certain age.
• Employees of churches must be members of the organization to perform their tasks.
• Actors or models who must convey authenticity in a role.

As you can see, there are very few bona genuine job credentials that are acceptable, and race is never one of them.

Here Are Some Examples Of Invalid Bfoq Statements For Further Context:

• Women cannot perform the work.
• For women, the job is either too hazardous or disagreeable.
• Even when a job role is not dependent on a certain gender to be filled, the employer or its management, other employees, clients, or consumers prefer men or women.
• There aren't any separate bathrooms or changing rooms accessible.
• It takes too long and is difficult to qualify male and female job applicants.
• The applicant must be an Israeli citizen because the job specification specifies that they must be able to speak, read, and write Hebrew with ease.
• Because the work involves hard lifting, a younger person is needed for the job.
• Because they are Catholic, the company owner doesn't want to work with Scientologists.

When a BFOQ claim is submitted, the employer is required to take the following actions to support their position:

• List the justifications for excluding a person.
• Determine the "essence" of the company.
• Determine how the loss of BFOQ might compromise the "essence" of the firm.
• Find out if the job has ever been successfully completed by another person who possesses a BFOQ, whether that person worked for the employer or other similar employers.
• Ask those who hold the position now or have held it in the past if the BFOQ is necessary for carrying out the work successfully.

Conclusion

Employers are permitted to take into account sex, religion, national identity, or age when making employment-related choices, with the exception of a legitimate vocational qualification.

BFOQs rarely work as a defense against a charge of discrimination and have a very narrow scope of application. They only apply in cases where a quality is required for both the running of the business and the performance of the job.