A woman applying for a job in eastern China was appalled and humiliated when she was asked if she used any contraception and to provide proof.
The newly married woman, surnamed Hong, from Dongying, Shandong province, was asked to provide photographic evidence so a prospective employer would be reassured she was not pregnant, or planning to be.
She had responded to a paralegal job advertised on social media that offered attractive benefits, but when she reached out for more information, she was interviewed by a representative who asked her a number of personal questions.
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“Since I had posted my wedding photos on Xiaohongshu, he enquired about my plans for pregnancy. I told him I had none,” according to a social media post she shared online.
The recruiter blatantly enquired whether she used contraception during sex and even remarked: “You probably wouldn’t be willing to get an IUD if I asked.”
“If we hire you, can you commit to providing proof of contraception? This would mean taking a photo and noting the date after each sex activity,” he added.
The recruiter justified his intrusive questions by saying: “Do you know how much money the company would lose if an employee got pregnant? The economy is really bad. My requirement is ‘forced’ by labour law.”
Despite becoming increasingly uncomfortable with the line of questioning, Hong stuck with it for a while.
“I understood that many companies naturally have this concern, so I continued chatting with him,” Hong wrote in a post shared on kandian.china.com, a mainland social media outlet.
Alarmingly, what followed were even more bizarre requests.
“He mentioned that there would be one or two business trips per month, and in some cases, I might have to share rooms due to budget constraints,” Hong revealed.
“I thought if it was a female colleague, sharing a room wouldn’t be a problem, but he was a man. I felt that something was not right, and it made me uncomfortable and disgusted,” she said.
“Such behaviour towards women is deeply disrespectful and impolite. Jobseekers, please go to reputable job-seeking platforms,” Hong urged in her post.
Her ordeal elicited outrage among mainland Chinese online.
“I’m shocked that this is coming from a law firm,” one person remarked.
“The recruiter is essentially engaging in blatant sexual harassment,”another commented.
One took the view: “Nowadays, newly married women can’t pass the initial resume screening. Also if you’re already employed, you get married this month and get fired the next. Otherwise, it would be hard to fire you when you’re pregnant.”
Chinese labour laws mandate that unlawfully terminated pregnant employees must receive double the standard economic pay. This compensation is calculated based on the employee’s average monthly wage over the preceding 12 months, multiplied by their years of service, and then doubled.
Yet, this protective legislation has inadvertently heightened concerns among businesses about hiring married women without children.
According to a report by Jiupai News, in March, a Shenzhen-based company came under scrutiny for including a requirement in its job advertisement that stated they would only consider candidates who were either married with children or completely single, excluding married individuals without children.
This discriminatory policy sparked widespread outrage online, with many people condemning it as an act of discrimination.
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