There is a collateral effect to the bill against age-related discrimination that came into force on October 1, 2006: there is censorship in classified ads. Robert Walters, one of the biggest British recruitment companies, has just excluded from its vocabulary about twenty litigious words, and, in the whole recruitment industry, the watchword remains precaution. (Ref. 061107)
The list of taboo words not only comprises objectively discriminating adjectives – such as young, old, or mature – but also terms and expressions considered debatable – such as vigorous, active, energetic, quick learner, high-flyer, self-starter, recently graduated, experienced, ambitious, and so on. The company is introducing these measures as “a simple precaution.” Earlier on, an insurance company had prohibited birthday cards, fearing that office jokes regarding Viagra or the senior citizen’
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