Rejected petition Compel companies to remove candidates' names from job application forms.

Rejected on 21 July 2020

Job seekers from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) backgrounds are discriminated against because they do not have "white-sounding" names. Removing names from job application forms could make it easier for some job seekers in the initial stages of hiring.

People from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic backgrounds are less likely to be shortlisted for jobs simply because of their names. White-sounding names receive 50 percent more callbacks for interviews (American Economic Review, Vol. 94, No. 4, September 2004). The same research determined that having a white-sounding name is worth as much as eight years of work experience. People from BAME backgrounds should not suffer discrimination simply because their names don't sound 'white'.

Why was this petition rejected?

There’s already a petition about this issue. We cannot accept a new petition when we already have one about a very similar issue.

You are more likely to get action on this issue if you sign and share a single petition.

You may wish to sign this petition calling for the same action: https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/331511

We have also published several petitions about race and equality more widely, which you can view here: https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions?state=open&topic=race-and-equality

We only reject petitions that don’t meet the petition standards.