Did anyone see the "Too fat to work" segment on ITV's This Morning today? Pretty appalling.

http://www.itv.com/thismorning/life/...o-work-debate/

It should have been called "too fat to be hired" - as one woman claimed she couldn't get work because she was fat (22 stone) and another woman claimed she would never hire anyone who was overweight (didn't clarify by how much). I think the thin woman - Katie Hopkins - is currently making her living by being a controversialist, but ITV treated her as if she were representative of employers everywhere.

I can't watch it since it's only viewable by people in the UK, boo.

Is 22 stone 308lbs?

That is hardly too heavy to work (is she getting government benefits by claiming her weight is her sickness?), if that were the case we'd lose a lot of the workforce all over the world!

And to say you wouldn't hire anyone overweight, who decides who is overweight? The look? The BMI chart? The scale? Sounds like a real witch!

Edit to add---sorry, I didn't realize you posted this in the UK section. I click on "new posts" and read everything!

Yep 22 stone = 308lbs

The heavy woman, Jay, said she'd been looking for work but no one would hire her because she was too fat.

She was a fairly low-skilled worker... but sounded willing to work.

She lives on benefits...and yes, you can get disability benefits because of being too fat to work (if it causes major mobility issues). But in this case, she was receiving regular benefits for those not working. And I don't think her weight was her only barrier to employment, but possibly a contributing factor.

Since I live outside of the UK, I was unable to view the video. However, I did read an article posted on the dailymail website that talked about the interview. According to that article, she says she is sending out resumes all the time but has only been to 12 interviews in 5 YEARS! That is a long time with very very few interviews. With the current economy, I hear of people going to several interviews a month and still not getting work.

If the information in the article is correct, then I do not think its because of her weight that she is still unemployed. I think its because shes only attending about 2.4 interviews a year and has little work experience. I am assuming that when you apply to jobs, you do not send in your photograph in the UK.

Sadly, this type of discrimination does exist. Many employers may not admit to it and they might not even make a conscious decision to do it. But I don't think it comes as a surprise that all things being equal, people who are more physically attractive will get a job over those who are not. Years ago I saw a documentary on this - ironically while I was in the hospital doing a sleep study for sleep apnea brought on by my weight.

Exactly. And no one will listen when I say I want to lose weight before seriously looking for work, as a uni drop out with depression, I think it's fair to say what people's reactions to me will be.

I have looked for some work, but my boyfriend is offering to look after me (he has a well paid job) and I'm going to spend the next few months losing weight, concentrating on perfecting easy, healthy cooking and also doing 'low-key' work experience, e.g. charity shop work and any voluntary admin roles I can find. Also, I would like to go on the Fairbridge programme.

I think it can be done, and I can kind of understand why some people do act like that, particularly if you're applying for jobs in a customer facing role. Not saying that's how I'd act as an employer, but I have heard some people claim you can't be overweight and work for Costa, for example, because it's unofficial company policy to not hire 'fatties'.

(I'm about 17 and 1/2 stone for those curious).

I do also agree that this type of discrimination exists. I doubt people consciously do this. I weigh about that much, I got my first big job though. I work without issues, my feet just swell when I'm on them all day with this extra weight. I also got a variety of internships and research ops in college being overweight. If you have the guts you can get places.

But yes I admit, if I was interviewing people - and two equal candidates walked through my door (same age and gender and experience levels), if one was trim and one was morbidly obese, I would be likely to hire the trim one. I bet this would be the case often. That's why us "fatties" have to work so much harder. Story of our life?

I think this was followed up by more information a couple of weeks afterwards.
Apparently the police recognised her from her appearance on 'This Morning' on CCTV. The was arrested for shop-lifting. I think she was stealing cakes and champagne amongst other things. It is unlikely to have been her first time. It is possible that she also had a criminal record that was also putting prospective employers off.

Ooops!!!

Yeah! It all back-fired a bit for her...

Honestly, criminal record aside, it all depends on what jobs she was applying for. Were these labor intensive jobs? Then the employer probably figured she wouldn't be able to do it. Can't really say I blame the employer for thinking that way.

But if these were desk jobs or jobs with not very much labor involved, then it's just discrimination. People always assume that if you're overweight, you don't care about yourself and thus you won't care about anything else. That might be true for some, but not all of us.

Unfortunately, in the job I have now, an extremely overweight person would not get the job. It is a very physically demanding occupation. I work for a veterinarian in a large and small animal practice. Cows, horses, dogs, cats, and so on.

When you are working with a 1200# horse or a 1000# cow or a cranky 100# dog or an only half tame farm cat, you have to be able to move, not only for your own safety, but for the safety of your co workers.

I'll give, that my profession is very specific, and we do depend on each other to keep us all safe.

Office jobs, customer service and all kinds of other things it should not matter.

After looking at other info in the thread, it seems that her weight may not be her only issue.

Kind of sounds like it started out as one side of the story and as it unfolds there is more to it.

Most likely, we will never know the whole truth about both sides of this "one" issue. That's too bad, because if it is wrong, we could help correct it. If it's a false hood, we could also enlighten the public.

I remember seeing a job description from the 1980's that clearly said the person must be fit. It was for an office job, so it wasn't requiring them to be fit to ensure they could handle sitting at the desk all day.

There is silent discrimination over body size these days.