Questions to Avoid During Employment Interviews

Questions to Avoid During Employment Interviews

What is asked or stated in an advertisement, on an application or during an interview can create liability for an organization. It is important that all persons who serve as a part of the interview process be familiar with employment discrimination laws in order to avoid discriminatory hiring practices.

Questions to Avoid During an Interview:

Age or Date of Birth? If the applicant appears to be underage, state that proof of age would be required if the applicant were hired.

Height or Weight? (When not relevant to the job)

Race or Color? Do not ask

Citizen of U.S.? It is preferable to ask whether the individual is lawfully authorized to work in the U.S.

Children? Do not ask if the applicant plans to have children, already has children or children’s ages. Do not ask about arrangements for childcare.

Marital Status? Do not ask.

Arrests? A past arrest that did not lead to conviction is not relevant to the applicant’s ability to perform the job. While an applicant may be asked whether he/she has been convicted, refusing to hire a person with a conviction record is illegal unless the conviction is directly related to the job applied for.

Religion? Do not ask.

Gender Related? Many questions are typically only asked of women. In general, questions such as “How do you feel about supervising men (women)? or? Where does your husband (wife) work?” should not be asked.

Smoker? Although you should not ask if the person smokes, you may inform applicants of any smoking bans or rules your organization has.

Union Status? Do not ask whether the applicant has ever been in a union or how they feel about unions.

Disabilities? During the Application State, questions related to disability or impairment are unlawful. After a conditional offer of employment is extended, the employer may conduct a physical exam to determine whether an individual is qualified and some questions regarding disability may be lawfully asked.