llaollao apologises for discriminating against local candidate

Frozen yogurt chain llaollao Singapore has apologised after the company's staff turned away a local job candidate for not being able to speak Mandarin.

The Tripartite Alliance for Fair and Progressive Employment Practices (TAFEP) is looking into the matter, and whether there was a breach of the regulated guidelines.

The incident came to light after Karish Kaur, who approached the West Mall branch for a walk-in interview for a part-time position, posted her experience on Facebook. Upon arriving at the branch, she was led to the back entrance, where a member of staff was waiting.

"Without even asking me for my name, age, or qualifications, all she asked was (in very broken English) 'Do you speak Chinese?' to which I laughed and said 'No' and she said 'My manager is from China and only speaks Chinese. Sorry' and she was about to walk away," Kaur explained in a Facebook post.

"So I said 'So….I cant apply?” and she just shook her head and walked away."

Below is a screenshot of Kaur's post on her Facebook timeline:

TODAY also reported TAFEP is looking further into the details of this complaint.

"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," the paper quoted TAFEP's spokesperson as saying.

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