A Pizza shop boss has come under fire for posting a job advert specifying that applicants should be female and need to send in a photo of themselves to apply for the job.
The advert for Pizza Soprano, a restaurant based in Meath, Ireland, was posted on Facebook by Grzegorz Grzegorzewski.
The job post read: “I’m looking for a bright open and hardworking girl. A girl that is not afraid of challenges and is very open to people. She also needs to be outgoing and positive.
“Please contact me if interested and send me your CV and a photo of yourself.”
Within minutes of the job post going online, it caused a backlash.
One Facebook user commented: “Why do you need it to specifically be a girl and why on earth do you need to see a photo of any applicants??? That’s incredibly sexist of you and shallow to ask for a photo.”
According to the Irish Sun, who reached out to the manager also known as ‘Greg’, he defended the advert, stating that he didn’t want to waste anyone’s time.
He explained: “It’ll be kind of a person representative of our business, going between offices, hospitals, schools and the position will be particularly suited for a girl. I don’t want to waste anybody’s time when they come over for interview. That’s why there was a question about the picture.”
He later issued an apology on the restaurant’s Facebook page, posting: “Anyone who knows me from coming into the restaurant, knows that I am a warm and friendly guy with a big heart and knows that I would not knowingly offend anyone.”
Whilst many firms are taking action to better their diversity and inclusion, specifying for a certain gender could constitute discrimination. According to ACAS guidelines, the Equality Act 2010 protects candidates from unfair discrimination, and this also applies to job advertisements.
The guidelines state that “an advertisement cannot discriminate on the basis of any 'protected characteristics' - such as age, race, sex, disability, pregnancy and maternity, religion or belief.” Under these definitions, Greg’s advert falls foul of the principles.
Furthermore, whilst asking for a photo with an application is not illegal, if looks are the basis on which a hiring manager makes a decision, it could also constitute discrimination.
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