Ad for native English speakers
A job advertisement for a Dunedin bookstore asking for applicants with English as a first language has been criticised because it implies the business only wants Kiwi staff.
Being obedient, having a thick skin, and speaking English as a first language are listed as requirements in an ad published by the Hard to Find (But Worth the Effort) bookstore in the Otago Daily Times on Wednesday.
While the ad reads as quirky and playful in parts – ‘‘expertise in small talk, drinking coffee, nodding wisely and going to the shop for milk essential’’ – it borders on discrimination by stating that English must be a first language, employment lawyer Ros Webby said.
The Dundas Street Employment Lawyers partner said if someone’s first language was not English, they could still make themselves understood adequately.
Because it was illegal to discriminate on the basis of race or ethnic origins, and immigrants or people of different races may speak other languages, there was potential for an indirect discrimination claim to be made by someone who missed out on the job, Webby said.
‘‘There’s a clear possibility that it’s unlawful. And it’s just not cool either,’’ she said.
Belong Aotearoa (formerly ARMS Charitable Trust) migrant advocate Rochana Sheward said the advert read like the store only wanted Kiwis and would probably put off applicants who spoke English well, even though it wasn’t their first language.
‘‘We work with people who have very mild accents that lack the confidence to go for interviews because they think that [the employer] will complain about it, because one person has said ‘what?’,’’ Sheward said.
‘‘I would struggle with that unless there was some very technical reason why English needed to be the first language,’’ she said.
‘‘I cannot think why that would be required, particularly in a Hard to Find Bookshop.’’
The ad also stated the bookshop expected at least two years’ tenure from applicants.
Webby said no employer could stop someone from leaving if they wanted to.
‘‘That’s the hallmark of employment – you’re not bound in servitude to your employer,’’ she said.
The advert may indirectly discriminate against people who might become pregnant in that time and the statement was ‘‘unwise’’, Webby said.
Owner of Hard to Find, Warwick Jordan, said he was looking for people who could speak clearly and be clearly understood.
‘‘Our business hires all ethnicities, all religions . . . I’m not against immigrants. I’m not against anybody,’’ he said.