Outrage was sparked on social media after an Australian woman in her twenties expressed her disbelief at a local company’s CEO asking her questions about her relationship status during a job interview.
“I came across the mother of all red flags,” she said in the video, telling her viewers to “run away” if they're asked to disclose similar information while looking for work.
The options provided included: married, single, in a long-term relationship, married with children, in a new relationship, and, surprisingly, “I don't know what I am in, I am confused.”
The conflict escalated after the woman reached out to her potential employer, confronting him for inquiring about personal matters unrelated to the job. The CEO’s answer, however, would anger her even more.
An Australian woman went viral after revealing the “inappropriate” relationship questions she was asked during a job interview
Image credits: Drobot Dean/stock.adobe.com (Not the actual photo)
“Obviously, I immediately knew this was highly inappropriate, and I absolutely wasn’t going to answer that. It has nothing to do with the job or my ability to perform in the role,” the woman explained.
That’s when the woman, who goes by Sash and Lady on TikTok, decided to confront the CEO, telling him that the questionnaire was crossing her boundaries.
Far from acknowledging the woman’s feelings, the CEO passively-aggressively “thanked” her for her message and doubled down in defending his questions, arguing that they were essential to allow his company to know the mental state of potential employers.
Image credits: sashandlady
“I still ask it anyway because from our culture perspective it is important for me to know what kind of mental stability someone is in when they are planning to look after our team and in that knowing their ability to manage a relationship shows a lot for myself,” the CEO argued.
He then asked if she considered the questionnaire a “deal breaker,” to which she replied with a “F–k yea my guy, that's a deal breaker,” ending their exchange for good.
Her video received widespread support from her viewers, who urged her to report the CEO to Australia’s workplace regulator
Image credits: sashandlady
The TikToker then told her viewers to avoid working for people capable of asking such personal questions when they have nothing to do with the job they’re going to do.
“If anyone asks you questions that are irrelevant to the job, absolutely run. These individuals clearly have no boundaries. If they lack boundaries between personal and professional life, they will keep pushing those limits in the workplace,” she said.
Image credits: sashandlady
The grand majority of her viewers agreed with her, expressing disbelief at the questions being asked. Many asked the TikToker to report the CEO and his business to Australia’s Fair Work, the country’s workplace legal regulator.
“He was so kind as to put it all in writing for you, straight to Fair Work with that evidence,” one user said.
“Even if nothing happens now, it’ll be on file if needed later,” another replied.
According to experts, Australian legislation prohibits employers from inquiring about an employee's marital status or plans
Image credits: Yurii Zimovin/stock.adobe.com (Not the actual photo)
According to Cristian Lagos, a lawyer specializing in employment law, the CEO's questionnaire may indeed be infringing upon Australian legislation.
"Australia has something called the Fair Work Act, which entered in force in 2009," Lagos explained to Bored Panda.
"This law specifically states that an employer must not discriminate against a potential employee for reasons of, among others, marital status and sexual orientation," he added.
"There's also the Sex Discrimination Act of 1984, which also prohibits employers from asking prospective employees about their family plans."
Image credits: sashandlady
Despite this, some users outright defended the business owner’s approach, agreeing with his logic and stating that a person’s relationship status can be a legitimate question to ask, depending upon the position being applied for.
Image credits: sashandlady
“Single/partnered, children/no children should be the only responses. These can affect your role if there are remote work aspects," one user argued.
“It could be a good question to ask if the position requires a lot of travel or the employee being out of the house for a long time,” another stated.
“It’s an age-old question to determine whether maternity leave is likely in the near future so they can plan accordingly,” a viewer said.
While most of the TikToker’s viewers empathized with her outrage, others defended the CEO, saying they would’ve done the same in his place
Image credits: sashandlady
“If I’m an employer then I’m definitely putting this question in, as anybody who loses their minds about it is definitely not worth employing,” one reader wrote.
“Yet government forms ask about multiple genders, ethnicity, minority groups, and all sorts of nonsense…”
“He should add a pronoun question too so we can start discarding these people before they come into our workplaces and cause trouble by focusing on things that don’t matter,” another said.
“The fact that she posted this to TikTok tells me all I need to know about this person.”
"Isn't that illegal?" Viewers debated the appropriateness of the CEO's questionnaire, with some defending it and others criticizing it
