I stumbled across the following article and was both amused and a little shocked. The efforts the Brits will go to these days to protect the rights and easily offended sensibilities of those less fortunate than us is exceptional. If you advertise for help wanted, "hard working" may not be a requirement for the job, because you may be discriminating against the lazy:
A businesswoman has been banned from asking for 'hard-working' staff in a job ad because it discriminates against the lazy.Posted by Random Penseur at September 24, 2004 09:46 AMBeryl King was told by a Jobcentre that her advert for warehouse workers discriminated against people who were not industrious.
Beryl, 57, told the Daily Mirror: "I couldn't believe my ears. Has our world gone mad?
"I've been running my business for 27 years and it's getting harder to find people who want to do a fair day's work for a fair day's pay.
"How long before someone says you can't pay people for working because it discriminates against those on benefit who are paid for not working?"
Beryl, who owns two job agencies in Totton, Hants, offered £5.42 an hour for "warehouse packers who must be hard-working and reliable".
The Southampton Jobcentre is investigating. A spokesman said: "Words such as 'hardworking' can be accepted if used with a clear job description."
I suppose my boss shouldn't have asked me if actually knew how to run a printing press, as that would have discriminated against the unskilled.
Whacky stuff.
Posted by: Tuning Spork at September 24, 2004 12:24 PMThis can't be true! Are you putting us on???
Posted by: Mick at September 24, 2004 03:45 PMI believe that it's discriminatory to not pay me for work that I planned on doing but never quite got around to it. That and charging me a fine for something that I did that disregarded some law that I was too lazy to learn about.
Posted by: Oorgo at September 24, 2004 04:29 PMLiving in Britain (for most of the year anyhow) I can say that this certainly is no surprise.
Posted by: Andrew Cusack at September 24, 2004 07:07 PMThanks for your comment. I appreciated it at this difficult time.
Posted by: Steve the mildly unwell bastrd at September 25, 2004 07:09 AMCan I just get paid for thinking that maybe I would like to do some work if I could find something that would suit me and not interfere in my life too much? I mean "get up at noon and off to work at 1. Take an hour for lunch and then by 2 were done!" Emergald city all the way!
Posted by: Rachel Ann at September 25, 2004 04:07 PMNext they'll be protecting the competent as well. Where will it end? And won't someone think of the children?
Posted by: Simon at September 27, 2004 04:57 AMThis was actually true. Hard to believe, huh?
Posted by: RP at September 28, 2004 11:16 AM