With growing evidence of a rise in hate crime, in the context of recruitment, Human Resources has an important role to play according to a recent study by Doris Weichselbaumer, a professor at Johannes Kepler of the University Linz, Austria.

The study showed that in Germany and Austria, bias in recruitment discrimination is high for those wearing headscarves, and it is even higher in high-status jobs. The experiment used different versions of resumes, all with the same skills. It used three fictitious female characters who held strictly identical qualifications, however different photos were attached of the same candidate. The resume that had a headscarf in the photo had to send 4.5X as many applications to receive the same number of call backs and interviews.

Weichselbaumer stated in an interview with Harvard Business Review, “Diversity trainers were telling me, ‘Nothing is more controversial with employers than religion at the workplace.’ Companies have become accustomed to addressing issues like age discrimination or gender bias, but not religion. Moreover, given current migration and refugee movements, it is important for Western societies to fully integrate Muslims and Muslim migrants.”

She goes on to suggest the best way to address bias is to tell applicants not to submit photos or stop encouraging applicants to attach photographs to their résumés. She acknowledged that in German-speaking countries it is standard to attach photos to an application.

Earlier this year the European Union’s highest court ruled that, as long as employers banned all religious wear, they could prohibit employees from wearing visible religious symbols at work and it did not single out a particular religion. The case related to two Muslim women who had been sacked for refusing to remove their headscarves while at work. The ruling was seized on by politicians in Germany, France, and the Netherlands as a “headscarf ban.” See our Europe Legal Update Q1 2017 for more information.