mr mover

It used to be organ grinder....?? What have pipers and monkeys got in common??.........mm

pompeyblonde

yeah, who wants to be able to own their own property, vote, have human rights, have equal pay, not be potentially subject to legalised domestic violence, and live independently if you so wish...... when you have to open the door for yourself??!!

Burbage

I thought all the call centres were in India?

AlliF

I think you have missed the point here JTL- it is not about having a day off, it is the principle of the thing that only the women are being told to go.

I do find Australians are a bit behind on the equal rights issues. I was recently asked in a job interview if i had kids and when i said no, if i was planning to start a family. I was fuming! They wouldn't have asked a bloke those questions and it is really none of their business anyway.

emelems

Its the same in England.. I was told not to bother to go for a job as I had kids in primary school as they needed someone who is flexible with the hours and can work until all the work is done. Horses for courses .. didnt actually offend me either... I could even see her point..

I just considered it their loss! haha!

Em x

PS And hows this for sexist?! I prefer working for and with women who had children themselves! They understand the pressures of having to go to the school play (even tho it drives you mad!) or taking the kids to the doctors to get their injections etc.. etc... one of my best bosses was this way... we worked extremely well together as we some understanding of each others pressures... and we ran our office very well together because of it..

AlliF

Well lucky for you that you can have children. Sometimes its not through choice that people dont have them so I find your sexism pretty hard to swallow. I was fuming because i had just had a miscarriage.

wildbriz

Some great points,
Nice to hear the other side of the story for a change.

pompeyblonde

and in the UK they shouldn't be doing it, they could be legally in trouble...here, well Ive known people be sacked or basically forced out of a job for wanting to go part time after a baby, all sorts of stuff which I just couldn't believe when I got here, the divorce laws can be somewhat "old fashioned" too.....

Dorothy

And the interviewer should have known this how? I've been asked in an interview if I would be willing to grant 'favours' when the boss' wife is away. So what! Does that make the whole country sexist? Of course not! And neither does asking if you have children in my opinion. Perhaps the interviewer was just making conversation and had no ulterior motive. Now, there's a concept that a lot of people overlook.

Disclaimer: This is MY opinion only and not that of a moderator.

AlliF

I didn't at any point say the interviewer should have know this. But I totally disagree with you - In MY opinion I thought the question was inappropriate as it had no reflection on my ability to do the job or otherwise. I also spoke to several HR law specialists on the subject both here and in the UK and they all thought that it was inappropriate to be asking a total stranger that in an interview situation. In fact in the UK it is illegal to ask. If it had been conversation at the coffee machine with someone I knew then fair enough. but it wasnt.

I also did not say the whole country was sexist. But in my opinion opting not to work for someone because they dont have children is not giving people a 'fair go' as they say here. Just because a boss doesn't have children does not mean they will not try and accommodate your needs.
Just my opinion.

JackTheLad

I really hate to break this to you, but all people get treated differently. Equal rights does not mean everyone is equal. Otherwise everyone who applied for the job would get it.

Some criteria, like experience, skills, etc are allowed to be used. Others such as sex, age, family, disabilites aren't supposed to be. But you've been living in la-la land if you think they aren't..... They always are, and not just Australia.

I had a boss in Germany once who got drunk one night and told my female colleague he only hired her because she had nice legs. She was in tears for days (she was a good programmer too).

So if you want to generalize about entire continents, try Europe. Why pick on Oz?

JTL

emelems

Sorry to hear about your miscarriage..

Em x

Fenton Beasley

Don't you have to pay the piper to get the monkey off your back?

...or summat like that?

pompeyblonde

Well, no because being treated "equitably" does not mean being treated "the same" it means that nobody gets an unfair advantage/ disadvantage, and peoples differences are respected.

But I take your point, it does happen everywhere, working closely with HR here though, I don't feel that you have the legislation to back you up, that you do have in the UK. Here a lot of people act like UK employers of the
1970's.... at least in the UK they had to try and show they had follwed equal opps (though it can always be manipulated I know)

ozzieeagle

Why would anyone not want to be retrained in any job that was possible on the edge of a recession ?

Personally I'd jump at a call center job if I were at centerlink. Even at age plus 50, although I'll qualify that and say especially at age plus 50.


What ever happened to the concept of using a crap job as a jumping board to another job ?

No wonder they call people dole bludgers.

The gender issue in this thread is a furphy.... Aka Bullsheet.

Last time and I may add the only time I was unemployed, was back in 1996, when I worked parttime piece rates doing Data entry, there was only one other bloke there, and he was gay.... The majority were Filipino women with English as a second language.... So too right I'd be happy to be trained at Call center Work.

I've got no respect for anyone that wont take anything that comes their way, especially in a job market like this.

BTW I'm also a union official at Aus post now, so it's not like I'm a rabid right wing employer.

Being fussy in this job market is madness and an affront to tax payers.


This thread has annoyed the hell out of me, with peoples feelings of entitlement. I actually had to read it three times to believe it.