Monday, July 26, 2004

LAZY PEOPLE MUST NOT BE DISCRIMINATED AGAINST

Or so the British government service designed to place people in jobs seems to think:

"When Pauline Millican wanted to hire a receptionist for her family's busy opticians practice, she thought it reasonable to include the phrase 'hard-working' in the advert. But when she phoned the vacancy through to a Jobcentre she was shocked to be told: "Sorry, you can't say that. It's discriminatory." A bewildered Mrs Millican persisted and said she wanted to get across the message that this was not a job for the workshy. But she was even more flabbergasted when told: "We will only include 'hard-working' if we can say that you insisted on it."

In the politically correct world of the workplace, it seems, it is wrong to discriminate against lazy people. When Mrs Millican received a letter from the Jobcentre confirming that the vacancy was being posted, she was astonished to find that, against her wishes, the term 'hard-working' had been left out.

At the Huyton branch, where the 5 pounds-an-hour vacancy was advertised, she said: "I find it remarkable that to state 'hardworking' is discriminatory. It is just silly - political correctness gone over the top. "I want my staff to be courteous, helpful, to arrive at work on time and to be prepared to lend a hand to whatever needs doing. But it seems you daren't ask for a good day's work in this day and age. "Who am I discriminating against? Lazy people? I don't want lazy people, but then this is not a sweatshop. It is a relaxed workplace.... "Some staff have worked here up to retirement so we can't be that bad a company.""

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