Recruiting in the care sector comes with a unique challenge:

👉 How do you protect vulnerable people while staying compliant with the law?

Many providers get this wrong — either by asking too much too soon, or avoiding health checks entirely.

This guide explains what you can (and cannot) do, and how to build a safe, legally defensible recruitment process.

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The core legal rule (Equality Act 2010)

Under Section 60 of the Equality Act 2010, employers must not ask about a candidate’s health before making a job offer, except in very limited circumstances.

This includes:

• Medical conditions
• Disabilities
• Medication
• Health history

👉 The purpose is simple: prevent candidates being screened out before their skills are assessed.

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What you can ask before an offer

You can still ask functional, role-related questions, such as:

• “Can you safely carry out moving and handling duties?”
• “Are you able to work alone?”

These focus on capability, not medical diagnosis.

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Asking about disability before interview (for adjustments)

There is an important exception that many employers misunderstand.

👉 You can ask about disability before interview — but only to enable reasonable adjustments for the recruitment process.

This is allowed so candidates are not disadvantaged when applying or attending interviews.

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✅ What you can ask

You can ask questions such as:

• “Do you require any reasonable adjustments to take part in the interview?”
• “Do you need any support, equipment, or additional time during the selection process?”
• “Are there any accessibility requirements we should be aware of?”

These questions are about access to the process, not suitability for the role.

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❌ What you must not ask

At this stage, you must not ask:

• What disability do you have?
• What medical conditions do you have?
• What treatment or medication are you on?
• What adjustments would you need to do the job?

👉 The key rule:
You can support access to the recruitment process — but not assess capability for the role.

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⚖️ The critical distinction

There are two clearly separate stages:

• ✅ Before interview: adjustments to attend and participate
• ✅ After conditional offer: adjustments and health information relating to the job

This distinction is essential for legal compliance.

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✅ Best practice wording

Include a simple statement in your recruitment process:

“We are committed to providing an inclusive recruitment process. If you require any reasonable adjustments to participate in the application or interview, please let us know.”

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🔑 Simple rule

👉 Support access, not assess capability.

Before interview = access
After offer = capability

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When full health questionnaires are allowed

Once you make a conditional job offer, everything changes.

At this stage, you can lawfully request:

• Full health questionnaires
• Occupational health assessments
• Immunisation records
• Fitness-to-work confirmation

👉 This is standard across the NHS and regulated care providers.

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Does this create risk for care providers?

No — because the law still allows you to:

• Make offers conditional on health clearance
• Require occupational health approval
• Withdraw offers if the candidate is not fit for the role
• Require immunisations where necessary

👉 The key difference is timing — checks happen after the offer, not before.

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The safest recruitment process (simple model)

✅ Stage 1: Application & interview

• Ask capability-based questions
• Ask about adjustments for interview (only)
• Do not ask medical or health history questions

✅ Stage 2: Conditional offer

• Issue offer subject to checks
• Send health questionnaire
• Obtain occupational health advice

✅ Stage 3: Final clearance

• Confirm fitness for work
• Proceed to onboarding

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When you can withdraw a job offer

You can lawfully withdraw a conditional offer if:

1. The candidate cannot safely perform the role’s intrinsic duties, and
2. No reasonable adjustments would reduce the risk

This is lawful because the decision is based on objective safety, not assumptions.

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The legally defensible approach

To protect your organisation:

✔ Use clearly conditional offer letters

State that employment depends on:

• Occupational health clearance
• Ability to perform essential duties

✔ Get an occupational health opinion

Avoid making decisions without clinical input.

✔ Consider reasonable adjustments

Examples:

• Equipment
• Shift changes
• Duty modifications

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Intrinsic Duties and the Limits of Reasonable Adjustments

A key point that is often misunderstood in care recruitment is this:

👉 You are not required to remove or fundamentally change the intrinsic duties of a role.

While employers must consider reasonable adjustments under the Equality Act 2010, this duty has clear limits. Adjustments are intended to help someone perform the existing role — not to create a different one.

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What are “intrinsic duties”?

Intrinsic duties are the core, non‑negotiable functions of a role.

In a care setting, these typically include:

• Moving and handling clients
• Providing physical support
• Responding to emergencies
• Maintaining continuous supervision
• Working alone where required

These are essential to safe care delivery — not optional tasks.

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Why removing them changes the job entirely

If adjustments require you to:

• Eliminate moving and handling
• Remove lone working
• Avoid emergency response responsibilities
• Permanently reduce physical duties

…then you are no longer adjusting the role — you are creating a different job.

👉 A care worker role without manual handling, emergency response, or supervision responsibilities is simply not the same role.

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Adjustments vs redesigning a role

Reasonable adjustments may include:

• Assistive equipment
• Additional training
• Minor task modifications
• Limited flexibility in scheduling

However, there is no legal requirement to:

• Remove essential tasks
• Redistribute core duties permanently
• Create an alternative role
• Restructure your workforce to accommodate one person

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The “creating another job” reality

In practice, excessive adjustments often result in:

• Core duties being shifted to other staff
• Increased operational pressure
• Risk gaps in care delivery

👉 At that point, you are no longer adjusting — you are effectively creating another job.

The law does not require this.

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The correct legal position

Employers must:

• Consider adjustments in good faith
• Assess whether safe performance is possible

But are not required to proceed if:

• Intrinsic duties cannot be performed
• Adjustments would remove those duties
• The role would be fundamentally changed

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A practical test

✅ Would this still be the same job after the adjustment?

If not, the adjustment is unlikely to be reasonable.

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Bottom line

Reasonable adjustments support someone in the role — not outside it.

If the role would need to be changed to accommodate the individual:

👉 It is lawful to decline or withdraw the offer.

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Why this protects you

This approach demonstrates:

• Compliance with the Equality Act
• Fair recruitment practice
• Evidence-based decision making
• Protection of service users

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Final thought

Health questionnaires aren’t the problem.

❌ Asking them too early is
✅ Using them correctly protects everyone

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✅ Need help building a compliant recruitment process?

At cvminder.co.uk, we help care providers manage recruitment, compliance, and onboarding safely — all in one place.