Whether you currently have employees or are preparing for your first hire, it’s important to know the rules when it comes to interviews. You don’t want to inadvertently ask the wrong question and find yourself subject to a discrimination lawsuit. While there are obvious questions to avoid – such as questions about religion, national origin, and race -there are other not-so-obvious ones that could land you in hot water. Here are a list of 8 questions you should avoid during an interview:
1. MartialStatus. It may seem like a simple, friendly question, but asking a candidate about their marital status during an interview could be considered discrimination. For example, a married woman may think she wasn’t given the job because the company was concerned she may get pregnant and request leave to give birth, or that a single father may have to take off regularly to care for his children. Avoiding this discussion altogether alleviates these concerns.
2. Graduation Date. Asking a candidate when they graduated opens up the door for age discrimination. A high school graduation date would generally indicate someone’s age, which could be the basis for a discrimination claim.
3. Pregnancy. Never, ever ask a female candidate if they are pregnant or plan to become pregnant. It’s not just rude, it’s discriminatory – the obvious reason being that you didn’t hire the person because you were concerned they would need to be out when giving birth.
4. Accent. A candidate may have a very unique and lovely accent but asking them about it could be the basis for a discrimination claim. By asking about their accent, you could be discriminating based on national origin.
5. What Do You Do When You’re Not At Work? While you may be trying to find some commonality with the candidate, the candidate may say something about religious views (such as “I spend a lot of time at my church”). This has the potential to lead to a claim of discrimination, so try to avoid it.
6. Have You Ever Been Arrested? Although criminal records may be used in the hiring decision process, an arrest does not mean a criminal conviction. Just because someone may have been arrested doesn’t mean they were necessarily convicted, and by asking about arrests, you could be discriminating against them.
7. Health Related Questions. This should go without saying, but you cannot ask a candidate about their health status. Aside of potential HIPAA violations, it could be considered discriminatory.
8. Do You Have A Car? While your intention may be to ensure the candidate can reliably come into the office, in reality this question has nothing to do with job performance and could be considered discriminatory. Instead, ask what you really want to know – Do you have reliable transportation to the office? This could be a car, a friend, a bus, a bike, etc. How they get to the office isn’t your concern. If you’re looking to hire and would like to discuss your potential interview questions, please give us a call. We’d be happy to go over them with you and make sure you don’t ask the wrong questions.