Can't figure it out myself. Why would a guy running a firm in England, want a PA who could speak excellent English?A company boss has slammed the government's Jobsmatch service after his ad for a personal assistant who could 'speak excellent English' was refused because it breached the Equality Act.
Paul Scully, who runs a communications firm called Nudge Factory based in Croydon, south London, said he tried to place the ad on the government's Universal Jobsmatch website last week. But rather than the job being listed on the site - which has hundreds of thousands of jobs around the UK - Mr Scully received a response questioning his requirement.
After he asked for an ad stating that the successful candidate should 'speak excellent English', he was sent an email asking 'why the applicant needed to speak a particular language'. The site - run on behalf of the DWP - said a 'justification' would be needed for exempting the ad from the Equality Act 2010, passed to protect against discrimination. Mr Scully said he was 'stunned' by the refusal, which he branded 'a ridiculous example of politically correct red tape'. He said: 'We want a personal assistant and said in the advert we wanted someone with good communication skills, experience as a PA and that they speak excellent English.
'When I heard back from Universal Jobsmatch they told me that in order to comply with the Equality Act I would need to explain why the successful candidate would need a good command of English. 'It's political correctness at its worst - there are thousands of small businesses out there who would benefit from this site, but if they are met with these sorts of questions and barriers it's not really worth the effort.'
The Department of Work and Pensions has admitted its checks may have been too strict in this case
Mr Scully has now withdrawn the ad from Universal Jobsmatch and is advertising elsewhere for the £18,000-£24,000 job.
Mind your language
Mind your language
“If you trust in yourself, and believe in your dreams, and follow your star. . . you'll still get beaten by people who spent their time working hard and learning things and weren't so lazy.”
Re: Mind your language
"speak excellent English" is such an ugly way of expressing that idea.
He deserves a dope slap just for that.
yrs,
rubato
He deserves a dope slap just for that.
yrs,
rubato
Re: Mind your language
Missing capitals, poor punctuation, and the use of the term; "dope slap". I'm sorry, but you are unsuccessful in getting this job, as it requires “excellent English”.rubato wrote:"speak excellent English" is such an ugly way of expressing that idea.
He deserves a dope slap just for that.
yrs,
rubato
“If you trust in yourself, and believe in your dreams, and follow your star. . . you'll still get beaten by people who spent their time working hard and learning things and weren't so lazy.”
Re: Mind your language
I occasionally forget that many people don't have an ear for language. Thanks for the reminder.
yrs,
rubato
yrs,
rubato
Re: Mind your language
rubato wrote:I occasionally forget that many people don't have an ear for language. Thanks for the reminder.
yrs,
rubato
I'm constantly reminded that some people have no inkling of humour, no idea of correct grammar, and an unerring ability to shoot themselves in the foot while displaying these traits.
Many thanks yet again.
“If you trust in yourself, and believe in your dreams, and follow your star. . . you'll still get beaten by people who spent their time working hard and learning things and weren't so lazy.”