The West Mall outlet of popular frozen yoghurt chain Llao Llao is being investigated by the Tripartite Alliance for Fair and Progressive Employment Practices (TAFEP) for allegedly turning away an Indian woman applying for a job, because she couldn't speak Mandarin.
In a Facebook post that's gone viral, Ms. Karish Kaur said she'd visited the outlet on Jan. 7 and had asked if she could get be interviewed for a part-time position. She was directed to the back entrance, where the manager apparently was. There, she met instead with an older-looking woman, who asked her if she could speak Mandarin.
Ms. Kaur said she laughed and said no, to which the woman replied, "My manager is from China and only speaks Chinese. Sorry.""Are you serious?" Ms. Kaur wrote. "I got turned away from a part-time job I am adequate for, simply because I was not able to converse with the manager in Chinese. I'm sorry but when did Singapore go from English-speaking to Chinese-speaking, because I didn't get the memo. "Why is it that the onus is now on me to learn a whole new language just so I am able to attain a part-time job at an F&B outlet?"
According to TODAY, the woman Ms. Kaur spoke to was the wife of a franchise owner, not the manager.
“What (she) did is totally wrong. She should have referred Karish to the franchise owners instead of turning her away, said Llao Llao country manager Edwin Ferroa. Mr. Ferroa also said the management has issued a stern warning to all franchisees to restrict entry of unauthorised personnel to their kitchens.
TAFEP, which revealed to the local daily that it was alerted to the incident on Jan. 12, said, “According to the Tripartite Guidelines on Fair Employment Practices, if a job entails proficiency in a particular language, employers should justify the need for the requirement. In this case, there was a potential contravention of the Guidelines."
On Jan. 13, Llao Llao posted an apology on its Facebook page:
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Post by llaollao Singapore.
Photo: Llao Llao Facebook
The West Mall outlet of popular frozen yoghurt chain Llao Llao is being investigated by the Tripartite Alliance for Fair and Progressive Employment Practices (TAFEP) for allegedly turning away an Indian woman applying for a job, because she couldn't speak Mandarin.
In a Facebook post that's gone viral, Ms. Karish Kaur said she'd visited the outlet on Jan. 7 and had asked if she could get be interviewed for a part-time position. She was directed to the back entrance, where the manager apparently was. There, she met instead with an older-looking woman, who asked her if she could speak Mandarin.
Ms. Kaur said she laughed and said no, to which the woman replied, "My manager is from China and only speaks Chinese. Sorry.""Are you serious?" Ms. Kaur wrote. "I got turned away from a part-time job I am adequate for, simply because I was not able to converse with the manager in Chinese. I'm sorry but when did Singapore go from English-speaking to Chinese-speaking, because I didn't get the memo. "Why is it that the onus is now on me to learn a whole new language just so I am able to attain a part-time job at an F&B outlet?"
According to TODAY, the woman Ms. Kaur spoke to was the wife of a franchise owner, not the manager.
“What (she) did is totally wrong. She should have referred Karish to the franchise owners instead of turning her away, said Llao Llao country manager Edwin Ferroa. Mr. Ferroa also said the management has issued a stern warning to all franchisees to restrict entry of unauthorised personnel to their kitchens.
TAFEP, which revealed to the local daily that it was alerted to the incident on Jan. 12, said, “According to the Tripartite Guidelines on Fair Employment Practices, if a job entails proficiency in a particular language, employers should justify the need for the requirement. In this case, there was a potential contravention of the Guidelines."
On Jan. 13, Llao Llao posted an apology on its Facebook page:
(function(d, s, id) { var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0]; if (d.getElementById(id)) return; js = d.createElement(s); js.id = id; js.src = "//connect.facebook.net/en_GB/all.js#xfbml=1"; fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs); }(document, 'script', 'facebook-jssdk'));
Post by llaollao Singapore.
Photo: Llao Llao Facebook