Even the practice of finding new employees can give rise to liability for businesses, as a recent survey from CareerBuilder revealed that one in five hiring managers say they’ve asked illegal questions while seeking new employees.
“It’s important for both interviewer and interviewee to understand what employers do and don’t have a legal right to ask in a job interview – for both parties’ protection,” said Rosemary Haefner, chief human resources officer at CareerBuilder. “Though their intentions may be harmless, hiring managers could unknowingly be putting themselves at risk for legal action, as a job candidate could argue that certain questions were used to discriminate against him or her.”
It might seem obvious that questions about age, race, ethnicity, religion, or political affiliation should be off the interview table, but as many as one-third of hiring managers said they didn’t realize such questions are illegal. The same goes for asking whether an individual is disabled, married, pregnant or planning to have children, or a smoker or social drinker.
Other questions depend on the interviewer’s reason for asking. While an applicant can be asked about their long-term goals, asking when they plan to retire isn’t allowed. Asking where they live could be considered an attempt to discriminate based on location, but asking whether they would relocate is acceptable. In another example, looking for details on the nature of a person’s military discharge isn’t appropriate, but asking about skills, education, or work experience gleaned while in the service is. Finally, asking whether a person is eligible for employment in the U.S. is fine; asking about citizenship or country of origin is not.
CareerBuilder highlighted a few of the more unique questions being employed instead that might strike some as bizarre, but hiring managers say that such queries as “How would you wrangle a herd of cats?” offer insight into a candidate’s ability to motivate and lead and “What superpower would you like to have?” gives an idea of how a person views their own strengths and weaknesses.
Nearly 2,200 hiring and human resource managers across industries responded to the CareerBuilder survey.
Erin is the managing editor of Advisen’s Front Page News. She has been covering property-casualty insurance since 2000. Previously, Erin served as editor-in-chief of The Standard, New England’s Insurance Weekly. Erin is based in Boston, Mass. Contact Erin at [email protected].
