4 Jul 2017

Ad for vet job that discouraged parents changed

3:40 pm on 4 July 2017

An advertisement for a vet job in Auckland that said the position would not suit someone who would take a lot of time off for parenting has been changed.

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Photo: 123rf.com

Vet Mark Robson, who's setting up a new clinic on the North Shore, put the ad up on the New Zealand Veterinary Association website.

It said strong preference would be given to applicants who were intending to stay in Auckland long term and would take over as the senior clinician with time.

The original ad went on to say: "Looking to the future, this is not a position who [sic] would suit someone who plans to take long period of time off for parenting, due to the likelihood that the medicine team will always be small".

The ad has since been changed and the statement has been deleted.

Mr Robson wouldn't comment to RNZ, but said in an email: "I will retreat below the parapet and make sure all job ads in the future are resolutely inoffensive".

New Zealand Veterinary Association president Caroline Robertson said she was disappointed the ad ended up on their website.

She said processes would be changed to ensure it didn't happen again.

Dr Robertson said there were a lot of employers in the veterinary sector who were offering parents flexible work options.

"Employers will have to offer good terms and conditions to get the best employees. At the end of the day, if you're not offering the ability to work flexible hours or to allow life balance, you won't get the employees that you want."

The Human Rights Commission said it had not received any complaints about the ad.

Employers can't discriminate people because they do - or do not - have children or other dependants.

Last year, the then-Chancellor of Massey University, Chris Kelly, ended up standing down from his position after he made comments to Rural News about vet schools being dominated by women, rather than men.

"That's fine, but the problem is one woman graduate is equivalent to two fifths of a full-time equivalent vet throughout her life because she gets married and has a family, which is normal. So, though we're graduating a lot of vets, we're getting a high fall-out rate later on," he told the publication.

Mr Kelly apologised for causing offence and said the information he gave in the article was incorrect.