Ad description
Ten job vacancy ads on a recruitment website, viewed in September 2011, labelled as "Salary negotiable" for the following roles: two "Catering/Restaurant/Bar Staff", two "Telecoms & Broadband Sales Representatives", one "Retail Sales Assistant/Customer Service Assistant", two "Retail Store Staff" and three "Sales Assistant/Sales Advisor".
Issue
The complainant challenged whether the ads were misleading, because they believed:
1. the vacancies were for self-employed door-to-door sales people; and
2. that the earnings were based on commission only.
Response
1. & 2. Parker Worldwide stated that they represented the job roles based on the preference of the client and depending on what worked best for them. They said that they clarified on the phone and in person what their current campaign was and what would be entailed when they contacted respondents. They quoted a line from one of the ads being investigated which stated "We're looking for people who are excited to develop business to business, business to consumer, res or event based field sales, business development and business management". They explained that each job board varied in the way they could display pay and that they displayed the most common range of pay. They said that in the body of each ad they had stated "Earnings are accumulated on a daily basis, and rewarded only on completed sales". Because the earnings could vary substantially from person to person they chose not to state the salary in the ad and stated the default option on the job board of "Salary Negotiable".
Assessment
1. & 2. Upheld
The ASA acknowledged that Parker Worldwide said they produced ads according to the preference of the client and that they clarified the details of the job on the phone and in person. However, we noted that the complainant stated that was not the case in their experience. We noted the text in the ads stated "Catering/ Restaurant/ Bar Staff Experience Wanted!", "We currently have openings suitable for people looking to become a marketing professional", and "Retail Store Staff Skills Wanted" but did not state that positions were door-to-door sales. We acknowledged that one of the ads stated "We're looking for people who are excited to develop business to business, business to consumer, res or event based field sales, business development and business management" but considered that most people would not interpret that to mean that the job would involve door-to-door sales.
We noted in all ads the pay was stated as "Salary Negotiable" and that Parker Worldwide said earnings could vary substantially. We noted that in the body of each ad, which could only be viewed when the initial ad was clicked on, the text stated "Earnings are accumulated on a daily basis, and rewarded only on completed sales". Nevertheless, we considered that, although the website would enable them to do so, Parker Worldwide had not stated in text alongside the "Salary" box that earnings were based on commission only.
We considered that the overall impression of those statements and descriptions was not sufficient to convey that the positions were door-to-door sales and that earnings were based on commission only. Because of that, we concluded that the ads were misleading.
On both points, the ads breached CAP Code (Edition 12) rules
3.1
3.1
Marketing communications must not materially mislead or be likely to do so.
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) and
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).
Action
The ads must not appear again in their current form. We told Parker Worldwide to ensure that their future ads stated when positions were door-to-door sales and when earnings were based on commission only.
