December 4, 2024

Interviewers, Are You Breaking the Law?

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Are you hiring? There are several reasons to consider enlisting the help of professional recruitment agency consultants. For one, many workers — even those among upper management — accidentally commit interview faux pas. Indelicate (and often illegal) questions may be overlooked, but they could also get your business or firm in serious trouble. Avoid these illegal interview questions:

“Are you married?”

“Do you have kids?” is similarly off limits. Questions about marital and family status are illegal. Law firms with in house legal recruitment, for example, need to make certain interviewers are fully informed about appropriate interview questions and ethical matters. “Any questions that reveal your age, race, national origin, gender, religion, marital status and sexual orientation are off-limits,” Business Insider reminds management and recruiting services. Instead, ask quality, pertinent questions. Ask how applicants plan to manage the work-life balance, for example. Time management questions (as long as they do not explicitly mention family or partners) are perfectly reasonable.

“How Many Religious Holidays Do You Observe?”

It is against the law for employers to ask whether candidates will be celebrating religious holidays. The question will likely lead interviewees to revealing their religion, which violates the law. Instead, professional legal recruitment consultants advise interviewers to ask about availability and expected vacation time.

“How Many Years Have You Been Working?”

It may seem obvious not to ask a candidate’s age, but it is also illegal to ask questions that will reveal an interviewee’s age in a roundabout way. “Similarly, they [interviwers] can’t ask you what year you graduated from high school or college or even your birthday,” Business Insider advises. You can ask applicants whether they have experience and qualifications relevant to the job at hand. It is also permissible to ask how long a candidate has been working in a particular field.

Don’t risk legal issues down the line. Carefully train interviewers or consider taking on legal recruitment consultants to guide you through the hiring and interviewing process. Good refereneces.

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