Hiring & Firing - Hiring
Keep Hiring Legal

Keep Hiring Legal

In the United States federal law prohibits employers from discriminating against job candidates on the basis of race, color, national origin, religion, sex, physical handicap, or age. In some states or localities additional characteristics, such as sexual orientation, may also be prohibited from entering into the hiring equation.

Although the actual law seems straightforward, court interpretations have more narrowly defined what constitutes discriminatory hiring practices. Even questions that negatively affect a protected class of applicants may be, and often have been, deemed illegal.

As a rule of thumb, job interview questions should focus specifically on the applicant's ability to successfully perform the duties inherent to the position being applied for.

These questions are examples of the most commonly asked illegal questions. Other questions of the same type may also have been deemed illegal, but because of the broad interpretations of the courts, it would be impossible to list all questions that might be considered illegal.

Are you married?
Many questions that relate to the sex of the applicant are illegal, including any question about marital status.

Do you have children?
It is illegal to ask an applicant any questions about children, primarily because such questions can lead to discrimination against women.

How old are you?
It is illegal to ask an applicant his or her age. This law is designed to protect applicants over the age of forty. You may ask the applicant if he or she is over the age of eighteen-if the applicant is not, you may need to know the applicant's age to ascertain the applicability of federal, state, and local child labor laws.

Did you graduate from high school or college?
An educational degree should not be a job requirement and should not be asked about in an interview unless the employer can demonstrate that successful performance on this job requires a specific level of education. Otherwise, this requirement and line of questioning can be construed as discriminatory because some minorities have less educational background than nonminorities.

Have you ever been arrested?
You should not ask an applicant if he or she has been arrested. You are generally well advised not even to ask about felony convictions, unless such a conviction would be unusually relevant to the position being sought. These questions can be discriminatory, because some minority groups have, on average, higher records of arrest and convictions than nonminorities.

How much do you weigh?
All questions about physical appearance are illegal because they tend to discriminate against women and some minorities.

What country are you from?
This question is clearly illegal because it discriminates on the basis of national origin.

Are you a U.S. citizen?
This question is illegal because it may be used to discriminate against people who have legally immigrated to the United States but have not become citizens.

What is your native language?
This question discriminates on the basis of national origin.

Are you handicapped?
You cannot ask about an individual's possible handicaps. Furthermore, employers are generally required to make special accommodations for physically challenged applicants.