The Dutch social affairs ministry is proposing new legislation that would fine as well as name and shame recruitment firms that discriminate.

The bill was announced by State Secretary of Social Affairs and Employment, Tamara van Ark. The ministry has also launched an internet consultation process for new rules covering discrimination in recruitment and selection.

If the current proposals become law, staffing firms and employers would face fines of up to €4,500 for not having a plan to tackle discrimination in their recruitment processes, according to Dutchnews.nl. The fines would also be made public, once any appeal process had been exhausted, so the companies concerned could be named.

The draft legislation follows research that showed that ethnic minority candidates were less likely to get a response to their CVs than native Dutch candidates.

“The government finds it unacceptable that people experience discrimination when looking for a job,” the Ministry stated. “Therefore, the employer must establish a working method in which he indicates how he approaches recruitment and prevents prohibited discrimination.”

“When an intermediary, such as an employment agency, is involved, he must check whether this also has a working method,” The Ministry added. “The Social Affairs and Employment Inspectorate can check whether employers have a working method and if the employer fails to impose a fine.”

The consultation for the draft legislation ends on 4 November 2019.