Cafe owner advertises for younger staff, ignores discrimination laws

Saturday, 6 April 2019

A cafe owner who has advertised for younger staff because they 'work with us the best' says he doesn't care if it's illegal. 

The Black Pearl Cafe in Palmerston North was advertising for workers between the ages of 18 and 27 in a notice in the shop window.

Owner Paul Eak Leang told Stuff he knew it was illegal to include an age range but said it was not his intention to discriminate against anyone.

'I find that those ages [18-27-year-olds] work with us the best … It's about the nature of the business.'

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Leang said it was hard for younger and older workers to cooperate in a cafe environment and most people above the advertised age were not interested in hospitality work. 

Seventy-year-old Anthony Powell, a teacher from Wellington, is unemployed despite a lack of teachers in his specialist field. 

He said if the advertisement had said the cafe would only hire people from a particular ethnic group or gender, 'there would be hell to pay'.

Powell said it was easy to disguise age-based discrimination, as employers could give other reasons for not hiring an older person.

'It's very easy to fudge it; the system is very human,' Powell said.

Under the Human Rights Act 1993, it is illegal to discriminate on the base of age, unless it is a genuine requirement, such as if the person would have to work in a bar.

It is also illegal to display advertising material that demonstrates the intention to discriminate illegally.

Employers and Manufacturers Association employment relations and safety manager Paul Jarvie said aged-based discrimination was 'far more common than we appreciate'. He has researched what skills older workers have and what they can offer to workplaces.

Jarvie said most people are annoyed by seeing age-based discrimination, but often don't take their complaint further because they are unsure how to.

'The public accept it without knowing what to do about it.'

Discrimination complaints can be laid through the Human Rights Commission. If issues are not sorted through informal measures or mediation, people are able to go to the Human Rights Review Tribunal, which can award up to $350,000 in damages.

Jarvie said he had only heard of a 'small number' of ageism complaints to the commission and had not heard of any prosecutions.

Jarvie thought cafe owners might hire younger staff to fit with a particular image, but said there are benefits to hiring older employees, such as reliability and loyalty, that are often overlooked by employers.

'A mature person might like the flexibility and social contact in a cafe as well as the work.'

Although age-based discrimination seems to have flown under the radar, other types are common in New Zealand.

Last year, the Moulin Rouge advertised for people with a 'well-balanced figure' and 'tall, healthy, gorgeous girls' in its first New Zealand casting call. The Human Rights Commission did not take issue with the wording of the advertisement.

Sydney Heremaia disclosed his tā moko and tatau, a Samoan tattoo, when he applied for a job at Air New Zealand. Despite explaining the cultural significance of his tattoos and that they could be covered up with a long sleeve shirt, Air New Zealand rejected his application.

Its uniform policy says customer-facing staff cannot have any visible tattoos. The Human Rights Commission said tattoos could identify a person as belonging to a specific ethnic group.

Olivia Godfrey, a blind woman from Palmerston North, won a Human Rights Review Tribunal case against landlords Glenda and Philip Harvey.

The tribunal found she was treated differently than other applicants due to her guide dog.