A job seeker recently took to Reddit to share a bizarre email they received from a potential employer. A dog rescue centre told the applicant that they can only bring vegan food to the workplace.
The applicant shared parts of the email on social media and wrote: "Applied for a job, received this in an email. Can they force this upon me or not hire me based on this?"
The email said: "Thanks for your application. To help us shortlist, please reply to the following question: Our workplaces are strictly vegan. You do not have to be vegan away from work, but you do need to bring a vegan lunch and have plant milk to eat on-site or eat lunch off-site. Can you confirm you are fine with this?"
Social media users are divided on the matter. Many slammed the unusual demand and others said it is no different from a Jewish Community Centre asking to follow Kosher rules.
"There's a vegan market here that has the exact same rules for employees. They don't want to risk any cross-contamination from your lunch," wrote one user. "I once applied to a restaurant that was the same. They said I could eat non-vegan foods somewhere outside with some distance or at home but forbidden on site," wrote another. "This is stupid. So if I work for Honda, I can only drive a Honda?" asked another user.
However, some people said that not even vegan brands enforce such rules. "I work for a pretty well-known vegan food company, and we have no such rules. The food and snacks in the office are all vegan but you can bring whatever you want to eat yourself. People bring non-vegan treats to share all the time too," wrote one user. "My wife sells lots of products to Impossible and Beyond Meat, and they have no requirements like this," commented another.
Some people also said that a company can prohibit any food they want on their premises. "I mean, you can prohibit whatever you want on your own premises. You can have zero meat, dairy, egg, seafood, etc. allowed on this property rule. Food preference is not a protected class. Yes, they can choose not to hire you because of this. It is perfectly normal for companies not to hire people who do not share the same view as the company."