Illegal Interview Questions

taktsoi

I got a site forwarded by my friend. After checking it out, I am surprised that at least 1 of the questions was asked during interview, but questions are illegal.

Check this out. http://www.resume-templates.com/Tips/Illegal/

Guys, comments here are welcome. Answers to those questions are welcome. Thank you.

sprkymrk

Are you a U.S. citizen?

For example, if you are asked if you are a U.S. citizen, you might respond that you are authorized to work in the United States.

This one HAS to be asked for certain government jobs requiring a clearence, including contractors working within the DoD. Many positions do not allow FN's (Foreign Nationals) to fill the role. The only other way to get around that would be to ask "Is there anything that would prohibit you from obtaining a security clearence?", but even that wouldn't work because in some cases FN's can obtain a clearence for certain roles and positions.

sir_creamy_

I'm waiting for the day to hear to this one:

Interviewer: That's a great answer! Now, what would you have said if you were on your medication?

JDMurray

What can't be asked seems to be controlled as much by state laws as Federal laws. This makes it difficult in knowning what questions are illicit when interviewing for a job in a different state, or by a recuirter in a different state. For example, in California you must disclose if you have ever been arrested--not just conviceted of a felony--but arrests for possession of under one ounce of marijuana doesn't count as an arrest (thank you 9th circuit court of appeals). I once filled out an employment app for an very large aerospace company that had an entire page of "don't answer this" instructions broken down state-by-state. A very interesting read indeed.

There is also the question of knowning when yoiu can opt-out of answering specific questions, such as your age or ethnicity. There are also business privacy concerns when potential employers ask for your salary history and the names of your managers that you are not giving as references. These questions aren't illegal, but answering them might violate your current or past employer's privacy policies.

garv221

taktsoi wrote:

I got a site forwarded by my friend. After checking it out, I am surprised that at least 1 of the questions was asked during interview, but questions are illegal.

Check this out. http://www.resume-templates.com/Tips/Illegal/

Guys, comments here are welcome. Answers to those questions are welcome. Thank you.

Those are all questions I do not have a problem answering. I do think one should be allowed to ask if you're a US citizen.

Also JD is right, verify with state and federals laws.

147

I started out minoring in HR when I was in college (then someone smacked me upside the head until the fog cleared). Most of these questions are associated with protected classes according to Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, Age Discrimination Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act. You can't ask, directly or indirectly, about anything concerning protected classes as defined by those statutes. Various states have additional regs concerning things like pregnancy (not protected on a federal level- yet). Citizenship is covered by the "national origins" protected class of Title VII, so that's why an employer can't legally ask if you are an American citizen.

Sprkymrk mentioned that you can ask about citizenship with government jobs. That's true- so long as the job description establishes that for security purposes the individual must be an american vitizen, which, if I'm not mistaken, the majority of fed level jobs do. Typicaly, the court system will uphold ANY job description qualifications that cross the protected classes as long as the employer can show a reasonable justification as to why. National security...sounds reasonable!

There are other ways around this for small employers, though. An employer CAN ask "Are you legally allowed to work in the United States?" In fact, an employer is OBLIGATED to ask this question to avoid the legal liabilities involved with employing illegals- dependent on local regs.

Despite the laws being broken, I have heard of companies breaking these rules all the time. In MOST cases, if you politely point out that you do not wish to discuss these issues out of a concern that the information might affect the end hiring decision, most interviewers will backtrack pretty quick and move on to something relevent.

Of course, if you're a jerk about it your application will probably get the "File 13" treatment before you reach the parking garage...

Kasor

This is a very tough to ignore such question in U.S because there so many illegal and aboard student want to work in US.

Just make sure you know how to answer.