Ad description
Two online recruitment ads on 12 August 2011, advertising for Teaching Assistant / Trainee Teachers:
a. An ad on the Total Jobs website stated "Deflated in your current job? ... Looking for a Career change?? HAVE YOU THOUGHT ABOUT TEACHING??? We are looking for both qualified and unqualified teachers interested in working in schools or willing to train within the profession ... Would you like to be earning £125 a day as a supply teacher? ... If you are interested and would like to be a teacher we currently have partner schools willing to train the most eager and willing candidates who show the foundations of a good teacher. If you do not already have a teaching qualification but do have the right passion, we will work with you to train you in the necessary skills and knowledge you will need before you work within schools be it Primary or Secondary. If you are a qualified teacher in any subject please send us your cv. We work with many schools in and around East London ...".
b. An ad on the fish4jobs website contained similar text, along with statements such as "Should your application not be sufficient for the current vacancies your CV will be forwarded to the RDS Teaching Academy for assessment" and "RDS work with schools who are willing to accept individuals who are dedicated to following a career in Teaching".
Issue
1. A trainee teacher challenged whether the ads were misleading, because it did not state the cost of a vocational course that was compulsory to progress with an application.
The ASA challenged whether:
2. the ads related to genuine vacancies and accurate quoted earnings; and
3. the ads gave a misleading impression of the potential for employment that might follow the completion of the training course.
Response
1. Recruitment and Development Solutions Ltd (RDS) said a training issue may have meant the complainant was told that the course was compulsory in error, but it was stated on their website that the course was optional. They said they would reiterate that to all their consultants. They said recruitment consultants reviewed applicant CVs and if they considered a candidate was not suitable for the position advertised they would pass the CV over to their training personnel for review.
2. RDS said the salary stated was general and an average across trained teaching assistants, high level teaching assistants, and potential supply teachers because the ads covered all three.
3. RDS supplied screen shots from their database of schools that they were in communication with to supply teachers to, and supplied copies of e-mails from RDS to schools that were recruiting, with candidate CVs attached. They said they were in constant contact with schools and that their course was only part of their business.
Assessment
1. Upheld
The ASA acknowledged RDS's statement that the complainant may have been told incorrect information by one of their consultants. However, we did not see any statement on their website that indicated the course was optional, and noted the website heavily promoted the course, with the "Recruitment" page stating "Candidates - If you are a Qualified Teacher ... why not join our growing bank of quality staff? There are various courses run in each of our geographical locations which we would be happy to recommend".
We also noted the automated e-mail that the complainant received from RDS in response to her application for an advertised vacancy. Text stated "Your CV has been selected for consideration, however due to the high level of applicants we are unable to speak everyone [sic] directly. In order that we follow our 'code of conduct' accurately we need to assess all selected candidates to obtain their Academic standard ... Our mission is to train you to a high standard and then secure you a placement in your chosen field ... What Now? The Course details are outlined above. You DO need to pass a test in Numeracy and Literacy ... If successful after you have been contacted by your Consultant to discuss your plans, a placement onto the course will be offered by our academy, this means the sole & only cost to you for the full training & professional recruitment services that will be continuously provided is £295 which is the enrolment fee, this is payable upon confirming your placement onto the course".
We considered the information on the RDS website and the automated e-mail showed applicants were required to complete the course before progressing their application. We therefore considered the cost of the course should have been included in the ads, and concluded the ads were misleading.
On this point the ads breached CAP Code (Edition 12) rules
3.1
3.1
Marketing communications must not materially mislead or be likely to do so.
and
3.3
3.3
Marketing communications must not mislead the consumer by omitting material information. They must not mislead by hiding material information or presenting it in an unclear, unintelligible, ambiguous or untimely manner.
Material information is information that the consumer needs to make informed decisions in relation to a product. Whether the omission or presentation of material information is likely to mislead the consumer depends on the context, the medium and, if the medium of the marketing communication is constrained by time or space, the measures that the marketer takes to make that information available to the consumer by other means.
(Misleading advertising),
3.7
3.7
Before distributing or submitting a marketing communication for publication, marketers must hold documentary evidence to prove claims that consumers are likely to regard as objective and that are capable of objective substantiation. The ASA may regard claims as misleading in the absence of adequate substantiation.
(Substantiation),
3.9
3.9
Marketing communications must state significant limitations and qualifications. Qualifications may clarify but must not contradict the claims that they qualify.
(Qualification),
20.2
20.2
Employment marketing communications must relate to genuine vacancies and potential employees must not be asked to pay for information.
Living and working conditions must not be misrepresented. Quoted earnings must be precise; if one has to be made, a forecast must not be unrepresentative. If income is earned from a basic salary and commission, commission only or in some other way, that must be made clear.
(Employment),
20.3
20.3
Employment agencies and employment businesses must make clear in their marketing communications their full names and contact details and, in relation to each position they advertise, whether it is for temporary or permanent work.
(Employment Agencies and Employment Businesses), and
20.9
20.9
Marketing communications for vocational training or other instruction courses must not give a misleading impression about the potential for employment that might follow.
Marketing communications must make clear significant conditions for acceptance onto vocational training or instruction courses, such as the level of attainment, and significant conditions likely to affect a consumer's decision to embark on a course, such as the cost or the duration of a course.
(Vocational Training and Instruction Courses).
2. Upheld
We noted the salary stated was an average across three positions, but considered we had not received evidence to substantiate the pay rates that would have made up the averages for those three positions. We therefore considered the claim had not been substantiated and was misleading.
On this point the ads breached CAP Code (Edition 12) rules
3.1
3.1
Marketing communications must not materially mislead or be likely to do so.
and
3.3
3.3
Marketing communications must not mislead the consumer by omitting material information. They must not mislead by hiding material information or presenting it in an unclear, unintelligible, ambiguous or untimely manner.
Material information is information that the consumer needs to make informed decisions in relation to a product. Whether the omission or presentation of material information is likely to mislead the consumer depends on the context, the medium and, if the medium of the marketing communication is constrained by time or space, the measures that the marketer takes to make that information available to the consumer by other means.
(Misleading advertising),
3.7
3.7
Before distributing or submitting a marketing communication for publication, marketers must hold documentary evidence to prove claims that consumers are likely to regard as objective and that are capable of objective substantiation. The ASA may regard claims as misleading in the absence of adequate substantiation.
(Substantiation),
3.9
3.9
Marketing communications must state significant limitations and qualifications. Qualifications may clarify but must not contradict the claims that they qualify.
(Qualification),
20.2
20.2
Employment marketing communications must relate to genuine vacancies and potential employees must not be asked to pay for information.
Living and working conditions must not be misrepresented. Quoted earnings must be precise; if one has to be made, a forecast must not be unrepresentative. If income is earned from a basic salary and commission, commission only or in some other way, that must be made clear.
(Employment),
20.3
20.3
Employment agencies and employment businesses must make clear in their marketing communications their full names and contact details and, in relation to each position they advertise, whether it is for temporary or permanent work.
(Employment Agencies and Employment Businesses), and
20.9
20.9
Marketing communications for vocational training or other instruction courses must not give a misleading impression about the potential for employment that might follow.
Marketing communications must make clear significant conditions for acceptance onto vocational training or instruction courses, such as the level of attainment, and significant conditions likely to affect a consumer's decision to embark on a course, such as the cost or the duration of a course.
(Vocational Training and Instruction Courses).
3. Upheld
Whilst we noted RDS had supplied evidence that showed they had had some schools express an interest in working with RDS, we noted we had not seen evidence that any school had used RDS to fill a vacancy, and noted that e-mails supplied as evidence that RDS had put forward candidates for jobs appeared to have been sent "cold" to the schools, with no indication that the schools had asked for RDS to recruit for them.
We also noted that ad (a) stated "we currently have partner schools willing to train the most eager and willing candidates who show the foundations of a good teacher". We understood that it was RDS and not partner schools who would provide the training courses. We considered the ad implied RDS could provide a career path that enabled applicants to join a school, be trained by the school, and end up employed by the school, when that was not the case.
Because we had not seen evidence that RDS worked with schools to fill their vacancies or had partner schools that would train candidates, we considered the claim had not been substantiated and concluded it was misleading.
On this point the ads breached CAP Code (Edition 12) rules
3.1
3.1
Marketing communications must not materially mislead or be likely to do so.
and
3.3
3.3
Marketing communications must not mislead the consumer by omitting material information. They must not mislead by hiding material information or presenting it in an unclear, unintelligible, ambiguous or untimely manner.
Material information is information that the consumer needs to make informed decisions in relation to a product. Whether the omission or presentation of material information is likely to mislead the consumer depends on the context, the medium and, if the medium of the marketing communication is constrained by time or space, the measures that the marketer takes to make that information available to the consumer by other means.
(Misleading advertising),
3.7
3.7
Before distributing or submitting a marketing communication for publication, marketers must hold documentary evidence to prove claims that consumers are likely to regard as objective and that are capable of objective substantiation. The ASA may regard claims as misleading in the absence of adequate substantiation.
(Substantiation),
3.9
3.9
Marketing communications must state significant limitations and qualifications. Qualifications may clarify but must not contradict the claims that they qualify.
(Qualification),
20.2
20.2
Employment marketing communications must relate to genuine vacancies and potential employees must not be asked to pay for information.
Living and working conditions must not be misrepresented. Quoted earnings must be precise; if one has to be made, a forecast must not be unrepresentative. If income is earned from a basic salary and commission, commission only or in some other way, that must be made clear.
(Employment),
20.3
20.3
Employment agencies and employment businesses must make clear in their marketing communications their full names and contact details and, in relation to each position they advertise, whether it is for temporary or permanent work.
(Employment Agencies and Employment Businesses), and
20.9
20.9
Marketing communications for vocational training or other instruction courses must not give a misleading impression about the potential for employment that might follow.
Marketing communications must make clear significant conditions for acceptance onto vocational training or instruction courses, such as the level of attainment, and significant conditions likely to affect a consumer's decision to embark on a course, such as the cost or the duration of a course.
(Vocational Training and Instruction Courses).
Action
The ad must not appear again in its current form. We told RDS to include the cost of the course in their advertising, not quote salary levels that had not been substantiated, and to ensure they did not mislead consumers about the potential for employment that the course might give.
CAP Code (Edition 12)
20.2 20.3 20.9 3.1 3.3 3.7 3.9
