Illegal Interview Questions

Friday, March 8, 2013

Welcome again to Lets Get Working. Today I would like to talk to you about illegal interview questions.

Recently a list of questions that employers should not ask during a job interview have been released. They hope to help job-seekers with disabilities to fully understand how employment-related laws can protect them from discrimination during their job search in the US. I thought I would share them with you.

These laws make it illegal to discriminate because of a person's race, colour, sex, national origin, religion, age or disability when hiring. This makes it illegal for an employer to ask any questions that can be used to discriminate against hiring you.

These questions are:

What is your age?

Are you married?

What is your religious background?

Do you have any children?

Do you have a back injury?

Have you ever been on Workers' Compensation?

Are you disabled/do you have a disability?

Do you take any medications?

How many sick days did you take last year?

How long have you had your disability?

Answers to these types of questions may cause an employer to decide you are too slow, will not be working for many more years, may re-injure yourself on the job, or it will be too costly to accommodate you. If you are ever asked one of these questions, you should always address the concerns, not the question.

Respond with "I am sure my excellent work experience and years of dependability will be an asset to your company" or "I have had this disability my whole life and I have held many jobs. I am excellent at finding ways to work around my disability, and this makes me a more creative thinker and problem solver."

Until next time,
Enjoy the journey!
Martha!

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