Today I came across a vacancy that made me wonder if employers here have any idea that we are in the year 2010...and further more, that there's an Equal Opportunity Act and Equal Opportunity Commission, which is very up and running, in Trinidad and Tobago!
***Please click to enlarge.
Here's the link to the full ad:
http://www.caribbeanjobs.com/Trainee-Administrative-Assistant-Job-24639.aspx
In case you missed the source of my concern, I'll do a breakdown :)
1) It is ILLEGAL to discriminate on the grounds of a person's sex.
So Employer Confidential, yuh start bad with that "SHE must be".....ESPECIALLY since it's a Trainee Administrative Assistant position and the rest of the job description gives NO indication that the job cannot be adequately performed by a male. Maybe the company subscribes to the "men can't multi-task" train of thought, but I highly doubt that's a defense that can stand up before a Tribunal.
2) Attractive??? Seriously??!!!
Employer Confidential, are you really going to turn away someone who possesses the required qualifications and character traits because "SHE" isn't "attractive" enough?!.....And what criteria will be used to determine whether or not "SHE" is attractive?! Her skin color? Her hair type? The size of her bumpa? The size of her breasts? Who her parents are?.....RIDICULOUS!
3) WE IN AH MESS!
That someone actually read the copy for that ad and either did not recognize (or care) that it contained discriminatory elements is sad and also telling of the fact that in many aspects we still DO NOT HAVE A CLUE when it comes to matters of discrimination.
Evidence of the above is actually very easy to find daily in some of our classifieds.
You're probably thinking, "But people have a right to rent to whoever they want"...and that's true. HOWEVER, according to the EOA, the minute sex, race, disability, marital status, origin/geographic origin, ethnicity, or religion becomes the factor upon which whoever they want/don't want is chosen/not chosen, discrimination has occurred....and that's the bottom line!Unfortunately, the scope of the EOC does not extend to ads placed in the newspapers or online. In the case of the job vacancy, a guy would actually have to apply for the job and be turned away on account of being male before any complaint can be lodged and action taken against this conveniently (and wisely) unidentified company.
Until the law evolves to close the loopholes I'll just have to accept that I will continue to see, hear about and be disturbed by the (unpunished) acts of discrimination that are all too commonplace in Sweet T&T...
5 comments:
In the case of renting an apt to a particular sex, I cannot fault someone for wanting either of the sexes in particular. Most likely the availability is due to neighbours or the associated tenants/landlord preferring female based upon unprinted criteria. For example, I have a 12 yr old daughter. If I were to rent a room, it would definitely go to a female tenant, and here in the UK, no one would fault me for that.
Oh I certainly understand why no one would fault you. There's a certain assumption of safety with female tenants, and in a country like Trinidad where crime is a major factor, most people would lean towards whatever option they deem safer/safest.
The question then is "Is it legal to reject someone looking for housing on the grounds of their sex?"
Even the EOA seems to acknowledge that in cases of accommodation (18.3) there are some exemptions.
The problem is that these exemptions aren't completely clear. I'm still trying to figure out if:
(3) Nothing in this section applies to—
(a) the provision by a person of accommodation in any premises if that person or a relative of his resides, and intends to continue to reside, on the premises;
means that as long as I live on the premises I'm allowed to reject a prospective tenant because he's Muslim, or from Laventille, or in a wheelchair...
I sure hope it doesn't...
So we do have an Equal Opportunity Act and Equal Opportunity Commission. I always wondered because some of the ads I read makes me shake my head!!!
You beat me to this post. I'll be doing a more in-depth analysis very soon. My dissertation is also on this topic.
Very nice, TR. I look forward to reading your piece :)
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