Salon owner told to amend job advert asking for ‘happy’ staff

A SALON owner has said she was told to remove a recruitment advert for a “happy” stylist after a government official allegedly said it was discriminatory.

Alison Birch, 54, posted a vacancy online for a part-time hairdresser at AJ’S Unisex Hair Salon in Stroud, Glos.

The ad asked for applicants with at least five years’ experience after the business reopened on July 4. It read: “Part-time fully qualified hairdresser, must be confident in barbering as well as all aspects of hairdressing. This is a busy, friendly small salon, so only happy, friendly stylists need apply.”

Mrs Birch said an official from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) contacted her within an hour of the advert going live to say she “couldn’t use the word ‘happy’ as it discriminated against people who aren’t happy.”

She said: “I thought it was a wind-up and someone was pulling my leg. I thought, he’s going to tell me it’s a joke – but he didn’t. He was deadly serious.”

She claims that she was told the word “happy” featured among a list of discriminatory terms not to be used when publicising vacancies. Government guidance on recruitment warns employers they can “discriminate against someone even if you do not intend to”, by offering rules or working conditions that disadvantage particular groups.

Mrs Birch said: “In this day and age, with Covid worrying us all, our customers really need to see happy smiling eyes. Our eyes are all they can see while we have to wear masks and visors so I don’t think there is anything terribly wrong in advertising for someone of a happy disposition.”

Last night, the DWP apologised to Mrs Birch and offered to post the ad with its original wording. A spokesman said the official who told Alison the ad was unacceptable had made a mistake.

Ahair salon owner in Stroud, Gloucestershire, says that he was asked to remove an advert for a “happy” stylist because the word happy “discriminated against people who aren’t happy”. The Department for Work and Pensions has since apologised, calling it a mistake.

One could follow woke logic to its ultimate conclusion and ban the advert for discriminating against those who can’t cut hair, or against anyone who doesn’t want a job. So long and broad is the list of “problematic” words that adverts in the future might have to be just a picture of something associated with the position, such as a pair of scissors and a large question mark.

We voted to leave the EU because we thought it discriminated against common sense. It turns out to be a very British prejudice as well.