Avoiding Illegal Interview Questions

Title VII: Avoiding Illegal Interview Questions.

Race, Color, and Religion
Questions about a person’s color, race, and religion are prohibited and considered discrimination, so this subject should be treated with great care, and if possible, avoided at all costs.
Examples of illegal questions:
What religion do you practice?
Which religious holidays do you observe?
Do you belong to a club or social organization?
Legal alternatives
What days are you able to work?
Are you able to work with our required schedule?
Are you a member of a professional or trade group that is relevant to our industry?
Age
Questions about a person’s age must be avoided due to discrimination against people over 40 years of age. There are questions that can be asked to ensure an applicant is old enough to do the job.
Examples of illegal questions:
How old are you?
What year were you born?
When is your birthday?
What year did you graduate from college/high school?
How much longer do you plan to work before you retire?
Legal alternatives:
Are you over the age of 18?
What are your long-term career goals?
Marital and Family Status
In many companies, it is a requirement that employees are present full-time and avoid tardiness and absenteeism. You must be careful on how you broach the subject and stay away from inappropriate questions.
Examples of illegal questions:
Is this your maiden name?
Do you have or plan to have children?
Can you get a babysitter on short notice for overtime or travel?
Do you have kids?
Who is your closest relative to notify in case of emergency?
What do your parents do for a living?
If you get pregnant, will you continue to work and return after maternity leave?
Legal alternatives:
Have you worked or earned a degree under another name?
Are you available to work overtime on occasion?
Are you able to travel?
Travel is an important part of the job. Do you have any restrictions on your ability to travel?
Tell me how you became interested in “x” industry.
Gender
Questions about a person’s gender are inappropriate and prohibited; however, you must ensure you don’t make assumptions about a candidate’s abilities and you can ask some questions to clarify certain points, without offending your interviewee.
Examples of illegal questions:
We’ve always had a man/woman do this job. How do you think you stack up?
How do you feel about supervising men/women?
What do you think of interoffice dating?
Legal alternatives:
What do you have to offer our organization?
Tell me about a previous experience managing teams.
Have you ever been disciplined for behavior at work?
Nationality
As in any business, you must be sure that a person may legally work in your company, therefore, it is necessary to ask some questions around language and citizenship, but you must be very careful how you ask these questions.
Examples of illegal questions:
Are you a U.S. citizen?
What is your native language?
How long have you lived in the United State of America?
Legal alternatives:
Are you authorized to work in the U.S.?
What languages to do read, speak, or write fluently?
What is your current address and phone number? Do you have any alternative locations where you can be reached?
Health and Physical Abilities
It is important the employees’ abilities and health are good, but you have to be careful with discrimination and assumptions. These are some questions that can help you avoid legal troubles and get the information you need.
Examples of illegal questions:
Do you smoke or drink?
Do you take drugs?
How tall are you?
How much do you weigh?
How many sick days did you take last year?
Do you have any disabilities?
Have you had a recent or past illnesses or operations?
How did you get the scar/mar/other physical abnormality?
Legal alternatives:
In the past, have you been disciplined for violating company policies forbidding the use of alcohol or tobacco products?
Do you use illegal drugs?
Are you able to reach items on a shelf that is five feet tall?
Are you able to lift boxes weighing up to 50 pounds?
How many days of work did you miss last year?
Are you able to perform the specific duties of this position?
Are you able to perform the essential functions of this job with or without reasonable accommodations?
Military Service
You cannot make employment decisions based on a service member’s membership or active duty service in the military.
Examples of illegal questions:
Were you honorably discharged from the military?
How often are you deployed for your Army Reserve training exercises?
Legal alternatives:
What type of education, training, or work experience did you receive while in the military?
Do you have any reservist obligations? (NOTE: see above. An employer cannot make employment decisions based on the service member’s active duty service in the military.)