How to Handle Prohibited Interview Questions (Part 3)
Forbidden Questions about Race
Examples:
What is your skin color?
What is your race?
Is your spouse Caucasian/Hispanic/African American/Asian, etc?
Exceptions:
There are no fair questions about race in an interview or application, but an employer can allow you to voluntarily indicate your race on your application.
Forbidden Questions about National Origin
Examples:
You sound like you have an accent; where are you from?
Where were you born?
Are you an American citizen?
Exceptions:
Employers are required to hire only those employees who can legally work in the United States. For that reason, employers can ask whether you are eligible to work in the United States.
Suspect Questions about Age
The Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 protects workers over 40 in private companies of twenty employees or more and government organizations.
Examples:
When were you born?
When did you graduate from high school?
How old are you?
Exceptions:
The act does not prohibit interviewers from posing questions about age, but does prohibit discrimination on these grounds unless age directly affects the job. An employer can rightfully inquire whether the candidate meets the minimum federal age requirements for employment (usually 14-17 years old).
March 19th, 2008 at 8:09 am
This week the Oregon Court of Appeals reversed the trial court’s finding of unconscionability and upheld a mandatory arbitration clause in an employment contract, sending an employee’s discrimination and other claims to an arbitrator instead of a jury. Upon initial employment with the defendant, plaintiff signed an agreement to arbitrate all disputes rather than file suit in civil court. Both federal and Oregon law favor arbitration, but the enforceability of any arbitration agreement in Oregon is governed…