What kinds of questions should not be asked during an interview?

Questions that are not demonstrably related to the job should be avoided.

Federal law does not expressly prohibit pre-employment inquiries concerning a job applicant's race, religion, sex, national origin or age. Standing alone, inquiries that either directly or indirectly disclose such information are not illegal under federal law. But that doesn't make them appropriate, either. State laws may explicitly prohibit some of these questions. And, remember that the mere fact that a question was asked can be used in a trial as evidence of discrimination.

Questions about disability are another matter entirely. The Americans with Disabilities Act, and many state laws, impose an outright ban on asking disability-related questions before a job offer is made. A disability-related question is any question that is likely to elicit information about a disability.

Do not ask questions such as:

• Do you have any physical or mental disabilities?

• Is there any physical reason why you cannot do this job?

• Are you in good health?

• Have you ever been injured on the job?

• Are you pregnant?

• Do you currently take any medication?

• Do you have any unusual physical characteristics such as birth marks, scars or tattoos?

There are some topics that should be avoided completely. For these topics, there are no absolute nondiscriminatory questions or relationship to the job. These topics include:

Race or ethnic origin: the applicant's race or ethnic origin, or the race or ethnic origin of anyone else.

Religion: the applicant's religion or any discussion of religion or religious practice or beliefs.

Sex or sexual preference: the applicant's sex, sexual preference or the sex or sexual preference of anyone else.

Marital status: the applicant's marital status or the marital status of anyone else.

Children: whether or not the applicant has children, your children, anyone else's children or children in general.

Personal obligations: the applicant's personal obligations, such as caring for elderly parents or anyone's personal obligations or whether or not personal obligations are more important than job demands.

Health: the applicant's health, medical condition or any related topic including anyone's physical or mental condition.

There are certain topics that must be addressed carefully, and only in specific ways.

Availability for work outside or beyond routine working hours. If the job calls for the incumbent to be available beyond or in addition to routine working hours, then the following question is generally acceptable:

Since this position requires work outside of normal work hours, are you available to work [describe the hours and frequency]?

Do not ask questions such as:

• Do you have any obligations at home that would keep you from working odd hours?

• Do you have childcare arrangements for non-routine hours (or weekends)?

• What are your childcare arrangements?

• Are you planning to have a child soon?

• Will your husband (or wife) help with your home obligations?

• Who do you live with?

• Is [last name] your maiden name?

• Do you prefer Miss, Ms. or Mrs.?

Residence. In the past, some employers used questions concerning residency to try to gather information about an applicant's race or economic status. A prospective employer can ask an applicant what his or her address is since that information is necessary to communicate with the applicant; however, a prospective employer may not ask questions such as:

• Since I am not familiar with where you live, describe for me where it is.

• Do you own your own home?

• Do you rent?

• Do you live in an apartment or a house?

• How long have you been a resident of this city?

Age. You may ask an applicant if they can provide proof that they are at least 18 years old if that is a requirement of the job. You may also ask for documentation of those under age 18 in order to meet state child labor restrictions. In general, there are no other situations in which you may inquire into an applicant's age. However, if your job has an established and legal age criteria (such as airplane pilots), then you should advise every applicant of that fact in the same manner.

Do not ask:

• How old are you?

• You do not mind working with old (or young) folks do you?

• When were you born?

• What is your birth date?

• When did you graduate from high school (or college)?

Past criminal behavior. If the job requires bonding or for other job-related reasons, an employer may ask applicants about past criminal convictions. Most employers cannot inquire into past arrest records.

In addition, except for specific jobs such as law enforcement, generally there must be a relationship between the conviction and the job requirements. For example, unless an employee's driving record is important to the job, an employee cannot refuse to hire an applicant with a record of traffic convictions. Conversely, as a general rule, an employer may reject applicants convicted of theft if the job requires cash handling.

For more on criminal behavior, see also How and when should criminal background checks me made? at ¶27,150 .

Citizenship. It is discriminatory to refuse to hire foreign nationals. Yet, employers must verify whether or not all employees are eligible to work in the U.S. Employers may ask in the interview and on the employment application:

Can you provide proof of your eligibility to work in the United States?

Employers may not ask any questions concerning an applicant's nationality or ethnic origin, or direct questions concerning citizenship. For example, employers may not ask:

• Are you an American citizen?

• Where were you born?

• Are you registered to vote?

• Are you a naturalized citizen?

• What a lovely accent, where are you from?

• What an unusual surname, where are you from?

• Many of our employees are Spanish. Would you have any trouble fitting in?

Language. If job-related, an employer may ask if an applicant speaks any language other than English. If an employer asks whether or not an applicant speaks a language other than English, the employer must ask that question of every applicant.