Yilan Cafe's recruitment "limited to women with size S and makeup required" involves discrimination, Labor Department: The heaviest fine is NT$1.5 million

A well-known literary and youth cafe in Yilan recently posted a part-time vacancy online, offering an hourly salary of 280 yuan, but clearly stipulated that job seekers "must wear makeup" and "only provide women's size S uniforms." It also restricted college students in specific areas, which was discussed by netizens. The Labor Department of the Yilan County Government stated that the recruitment process was suspected of multiple discrimination and could result in a fine of up to 1.5 million yuan.

The store recruits weekend part-time workers through social platforms to be responsible for cashiering and ordering. Netizens believe that the controversial point is that in order to maintain the brand image, the store forces employees to wear makeup to work, and specifies that job seekers must use public personal IG private messages to apply. It even states that it only has small-size women's uniforms, which in disguise deprives men and people with a certain body shape of the right to apply for jobs.

It is reported that the owner of the cafe is a Korean who has been in Taiwan for many years and is not familiar with Taiwan's employment regulations. The industry revealed that part of the content of the recruitment copy was generated by AI. Unexpectedly, it caused an uproar after going online. After realizing the seriousness of the situation, they urgently took down the post. They were shocked and helpless at the huge fine they might face.

The Labor Department of Yilan County pointed out that the recruitment document requires makeup, only women's size S uniforms, and restricts specific college students, etc., which has touched upon gender, appearance and age discrimination. If a job applicant is rejected because he is male, has no makeup, or has an inappropriate body shape, it may constitute a violation of the law. Employers are urged not to violate the law.

The Labor Department emphasized that ensuring equal employment opportunities is a basic labor right, and would send personnel to conduct an in-depth investigation into the case. According to Article 5 of the Employment Service Act, employers must not discriminate against job applicants on the basis of gender or appearance. If the violation is proven to be true, the county government will impose a heavy fine of 300,000 to 1.5 million yuan in accordance with the law, and the industry will lose more than the gain.