The businessman said his rationale behind the controversial advert was simple
A restaurant boss, who advertised for female part-time staff, because he said ‘women are better at cleaning than men’.
Ridvan Das, owner and manager of Mediterranean restaurant and takeaway Mazi in Croydon, south London, spoke out after a notice appeared on the recruitment website Indeed.
The advert included a picture of a sign in one of the restaurant’s windows which says ‘part time staff required (female)’.
The businessman said his rationale behind the controversial advert was simple. Ridvan said: ‘The reason was we needed to hire a dishwasher and women are obviously better at cleaning than men – that’s what I think anyway.
‘I know from my mum that women are better at cleaning and I know that my girlfriend has to pick up around the house.’
The 24-year-old denied that the advert was sexist, and stressed that he did hire men and women – but when it comes to roles involving cleaning, he preferred women.
Ridvan said: ‘That’s just how I feel; I’m messy myself and a lot of the males I know are messy themselves and their wives, girlfriends, mum or auntie will keep them neat.’
Ridvan said the single vacancy – which was posted on Indeed by someone else – had already been filled.
When asked whether he was aware of UK discrimination laws and whether he would have considered a man for the role, Rivdan added: ‘We hire as long as they have had this type of job before and as long as they have experience in the trade.
‘It’s not discrimination; we have 14 people who work here and it’s pretty much equal numbers. There’s a few more men than women.’
When pressed further on his view that women are better at cleaning, Ridvan pointed to the fact that the restaurant has the highest possible food hygiene rating.
After a Food Standards Agency inspection on May 24, the restaurant was given a rating of five out of five.
Ridvan, who lives on London Road, said: ‘I’m not taking any chances when it comes to the food and cleanliness of the restaurant.
‘I have four people who work only to keep the restaurant clean; three female and one male. The male will help the women pull the fridges around.
Ridvan Das, owner and manager of Mediterranean restaurant and takeaway Mazi in Croydon, south London, spoke out after a notice appeared on the recruitment website Indeed
‘There is a woman at the head of this team and she will come and check everything is spotless and, if not, they start again.’
The law in the United Kingdom is quite clear on discrimination both during recruitment and employment.
The Government’s website says: ‘It is against the law to treat someone less favourably than someone else because of a personal characteristic (such as) religion, gender or age.
‘Discrimination can include not hiring someone, selecting a particular person for redundancy or paying someone less than another worker without good reason.
‘You can discriminate against someone even if you don’t intend to. For example, you can discriminate indirectly by offering working conditions or rules that disadvantage one group of people more than another.’
The office and kitchen are situated downstairs at Mazi, while the diners eat upstairs. Food is brought upstairs through a food lift.
Men and women wait on tables at the London Road restaurant, with all the men upstairs and all the women downstairs.
Rivdan said: ‘We took over the restaurant about six months ago, and it was like that (all men upstairs and all women downstairs) so we kept it like that.’