As an employer, you want to make sure you have the most qualified candidates possible before extending a job offer. However, there are certain questions that are not only offensive, but illegal for interviewers to ask a potential future employee.
So, before you go looking for your next candidate, here are some questions to avoid and some better options to replace them with:
Questions About Disabilities
Before a job offer has been made, you can’t ask questions about an applicant’s disability or questions that are likely to reveal whether an applicant has a disability. This is true even if the disability is obvious. You can ask the applicant to describe or demonstrate how they would perform specific job tasks, but you can’t ask directly about their disability.
You also cannot ask questions surrounding an applicant’s genetic history, such as their medical history, any genetic testing or counseling.
This includes questions such as:
- Have any of your close relatives had a heart attack or been diagnosed with a heart condition?
- Do mental health conditions, such as bipolar disorder, depression or schizophrenia, run in your family?
- Have you had genetic tests to determine whether you are at risk for cancer?
However, you can ask an applicant if they would like to voluntarily report a disability for affirmative action purposes. You can also ask applicants if they will need a reasonable accommodation during the application process or while on the job if hired. You can also ask applicants with an obvious disability—or one the applicant already disclosed to you—if they will:
- Need assistance with or a modification for the application process.
- Need a change to the work environment or to the way a job is usually done.
Remember, requests that qualify as reasonable accommodations must be provided to employers to provide an accessible environment for potential and current employees.
Questions About Race, Religion, Gender or Sexuality
While these questions may not necessarily be illegal, questions about an applicant’s personal identities can be discouraging, offensive or considered to be an intent to discriminate, as outlined by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC).
Inappropriate questions around identity include:
- Are you biracial?
- Are you gay?
- What languages do you speak at home?
- Which church do you attend?
If you’re looking for information on a person’s skill sets and experiences, stick to the standard questions around the applicant’s work and school experience and volunteer work. You may ask if they are fluent in any other languages besides English and what those languages are. These will give a much more detailed and non-biased answer to the candidate’s qualifications.
Questions surrounding age can be asked, but only to verify that the applicant meets any age-related legal requirements for a job. If an applicant expresses the skill set and competency to perform a job’s tasks, you cannot deny employment to someone of a legal age because they seem “too young” or “too old,” according to your own definition.
Questions About Pregnancy
Interviewers cannot ask their applicants questions surrounding their pregnancy status or their plans to start a family. These questions can be discriminatory in the hiring process and cannot be used as a reason to hire or not hire a qualified applicant. Pregnancy questions should be avoided altogether.
If your concern is about a potential employee’s availability, you may ask specific questions regarding scheduling and what your company requires in terms of work hours.
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