California is not an easy place to be an employer. Even an employment interview can be fraught with danger given California’s often pro-employee laws. What types of questions are fair game during an employment interview? What questions should be avoided? This article will explore certain questions that should not be posed while interviewing job applicants.
First, questions about martial status or children are never a good idea. Employers cannot ask whether an applicant is pregnant, has children, or is planning to have children. If you know that an applicant has children, you are prohibited from asking if the applicant has made provisions for child care.
Tread carefully when asking about hobbies or social activities. It is discriminatory to ask about clubs, societies, or organizations to which the applicant belongs that might indicate race, religion, sex, age, etc.
In addition, do not ask what languages an applicant knows unless the job requires the applicant to speak and/or write a particular language fluently. In any event, applicants who can speak more than one language will usually volunteer that information in their resume or cover letter.
In some cases it is proper to ask an applicant’s age. If required for the job, an employer may ask whether the applicant is over a particular age (e.g. a bartending job). Otherwise, do not ask an applicant’s age.
Finally, questions regarding an applicant’s education, while important, can create risky situations. Some questions about an applicant’s education may be interpreted as seeking information about their age. While it is of course permissible to ask where an applicant went to school and what degrees he or she has attained, questions such as “What year did you graduate?” and “Are you a recent graduate?” may be deemed discriminatory.
Job applicant interviews are a necessary part of the hiring process, and employers need to gather pertinent information from applicants before deciding whether to hire them. Yet, certain questions do pose risks. Employers can save themselves serious headaches by avoiding these pitfalls.
