Has the world gone mad?

Question

Or the UK at least.

A local company has won a large long term contract from Germany. They would like to hire a German speaking employee to service this contract. They have been told by the local employment authorities that they cannot specify this requirement in their advert because it is discriminating against non-German speaking applicants.

Are other countries afflicted by such barmy laws that have been foisted on them by such short-sighted politicians.

Answer 1

that is batty. I was told by one employment agency that I couldn't specify a "person of fitness and good health" as our fire safety officer because it discriminated against the disabled. I explained the duties involved possibly having to run up and down stairs, as the lifts would be disabled if we did actually ever have a fire ... but no good, the (very young and very politically correct) recruitment officer was insistent. Where has the common sense gone?

Answer 2

This can't be a correct interpretation of the Law.

Surely the job description should be able to indicate that the post holder 'must be able to speak fluent German'. This way if applicants request a Job Description and Application form - they will just (or should choose not to) 'not apply' if they cannot fullfil the 'must have' specifications of the post! I'm sure there is a dlause that works-around these 'must have' skills required in certain jobs that DOES allow such specification in ads. (SEE ADDITION BELOW - The Circumstance where such language requirements inclusion is acceptable)

Sound like a mis-informed 'jobsworth' in a local civil service post has been advising them.

ADDITION:

Maybe this helps:QUOTE:

"...Indirect discrimination
Indirect discrimination occurs when rules, requirements, or conditions that appear to be fair — because they apply equally to everyone — can be shown to put people from a particular racial group at a much greater disadvantage than others, and the rules cannot be objectively justified. A racial group may be defined by race, colour, nationality (including citizenship), or national or ethnic origin.

Example: An advertisement asks for ability to speak Bengali. This requirement discriminates indirectly against people who do not speak Bengali, and will be unlawful unless it can be justified by the nature of the job. For example, it would be justifiable to ask for a Bengali speaker if the job involves working with people who can communicate well only in Bengali.

Example: An advertisement invites applicants who speak English as their mother tongue. This requirement, too, discriminates indirectly against people who speak English fluently, but not as their mother tongue. This kind of requirement will rarely be justifiable. If an especially high standard of English is needed for a particular job, it would be better to ask for just that: ‘a very high standard of written and spoken English’, or, alternatively, ‘fluent English’..."

http://www.cre.gov.uk/gdpract/employ_ads.html

Answer 3

This cannot be correct. I work in recruitment and almost all of our positions are advertised specifying what languages the applicants need to speak.

Answer 4

It makes sense if you're working for Germans to speak German.

Answer 5

I think that the wording could be a little less discriminating,
example, instead of saying they would like to hire a German
speaking employee, they could have worded it, a knowledge
of the German language would be appreciated.

Answer 6

We call it "Equal Opportunity" laws here in America. Except the problem is not everyone is treated equally.

Answer 7

I agree with Iain (here) ... you must be careful how you word things ....sometimes you can work around something that otherwise is a stumbling block...T'was always thus!

Answer 8

it is mad, yes but i have come across more than one position where it says you must speak english to mother tongue standard

Answer 9

equal rights

Answer 10

i don't see why they can't require people to speak german.

pretty stupid if you ask me.