Chinese hospital that said ‘would-be mothers need not apply’ for nursing jobs removes clause from advert after string of complaints
- Applicants for temporary positions at Xinning County People’s Hospital had to agree to not get pregnant for two years
- Offending detail had not been approved and was included by mistake, press officer says
A string of complaints has prompted a hospital in central China to remove a requirement in a job ad for temporary nurses that successful applicants not get pregnant for two years.
The advert, produced by Xinning County People’s Hospital in Hunan province, was first published online on Monday, Beijing Youth Daily reported.
As well as asking candidates to provide information such as their age, height and professional experience, it suggested that would-be mothers need not apply.
In a report by Women Today Weekly magazine published on Thursday, hospital director Xu Yuguang defended the no-pregnancy clause, saying it was used as a filter in the recruitment process.
“Hospital nurses are relatively scarce,” he said. “If they are going to become pregnant, I’m better off not hiring them.”
However, the hospital said in a statement on Friday that the “no pregnancy” clause should not have been included and that the text of the advert had not been approved by the relevant authorities.
Yang Jian, director of the press office for Xinning county, confirmed to the South China Morning Post that the inclusion of the clause was an oversight and that it was removed after several people contacted the hospital and related government departments to complain.