London recruitment agency criticized for advertising jobs only for “beautiful” people

In a practice described by the UK Equality and Human Rights Commission as "appalling, unlawful and demeaning to women," a London-based employment agency sought candidates for a personal assistant role with "a classic look, brown long hair with b–c cup."  

Under the 2010 Equality Act, it is against the law in the UK to say, or imply, that you will discriminate against anyone. Employers are also not allowed to question a candidate’s age, sexual orientation, marital status, number of children (or plans to have children), disability, race, or religion.

When it comes to specifying clothing sizes, the employer has to be able to show that it is essential to the nature or context of the work. In this case, which went as far as to specify bra size, the BBC reports that the client requested a woman with a smaller cup size to fit into “a specific outfit he designed.” Whether this qualifies as essential is questionable.
The company’s founder, Nathalie Jansen, justified her recruitment practices by saying: “A lot of clients want their employees to look a certain way as well as having the right qualifications and experience.”

Eva Sierminska has explored whether it pays to be beautiful for IZA World of Labor. She writes that “[i]t is a well-established view amongst economists that good-looking people have a better chance of employment and can earn more than those who are less physically attractive.” However, the number of employment-related discrimination claims based on employees’ physical appearance is increasing. And, whilst policies to counter such discrimination are being introduced in a number of countries, if they do not take into account the channels through which physical appearance is affecting labor market outcomes—such as employer discrimination, customer discrimination, productivity, and occupational sorting—they may fail to achieve their goals.

Related articles:
Does it pay to be beautiful?, by Eva Sierminska
Beauty pays but does investment in beauty?, by Soohyung Lee
Anonymous job applications and hiring discrimination, by Ulf Rinne
Read more on workplace discrimination