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April 13, 2006
Illegal Interview Question: Are You a US Citizen?
Hire the Best People,
but don't get sued
The law is an *ss -- an idiot...Your Business Blogger once ran the Human Resource function for a 14,000 employee enterprise. The boss demanded, "Get the best talent!"
Charles Dickens
And don't get sued. It was like playing defense. You can't win it, but you can lose it.
Anyway, when interviewing job candidates, a series of trick questions are necessary to:
1) Get answers and
2) Stay within the Law
Sometimes mutually exclusive, because the law is, well, an *ss.
So. During the interview, I would say, not ask, to the job candidate,
"That is a beautiful ring [on the third finger on the left hand]..."
"I have the five best kids on the planet..."
"I love California! I was born in San Diego..."
"I've been married to Charmaine for 16 years this May..."
This work is best left to your anti-personnel, personnel department. The HR professionals have become as vital as lawyers. And can kill a contact or contract even faster.
Here's more from our friends at Military.com,
Illegal: Are you a U.S. citizen? Where were you or your parents born?Legal: Are you authorized to work in the United States? What other languages do you speak? This question is okay as long as it relates to the job you are interviewing for.
Illegal: How old are you? When is your birthday?
Legal: Are you over 18 years of age? Again, this question is considered legal if it relates to the job.
Illegal: What's your marital status? Who do you live with? Do you plan to have a family? How many kids do you have? Do you have childcare arrangements?
Legal: Travel is an important part of the job, would you be willing to travel as needed?
Illegal: Do you belong to any clubs? What are your affiliations?
Legal: Do you belong to any professional trade organizations that you consider relevant to your ability to perform this job?
Illegal: How tall are you? How much do you weigh?
Legal: Are you able to lift a 50 lb weight and carry it more than 100 yards for this job?
Illegal: Do you have any disabilities? Have you had any recent or past illnesses or operations? If so, please list the dates of these operations.
Legal: Are you able to perform the essential functions of this job with or without reasonable accommodations?
Illegal: Have you ever been arrested?
Legal: Have you ever been convicted of a crime? The crime in question should be related to the performance of the job in question.
Illegal: If you've been in the military, were you honorably discharged?
Legal: What type of training or education did you receive in the military?
And this is why you will never hear back from a company about why you didn't didn't get that job. It is rude. But it's not personal. It's personnel, and
It's the Law. It has made us all *sses.
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Thank you (foot)notes:
Photo credit US Navy.
And this is why managers are socio-paths.
Basil's Blog has a picnic.
Mudville has Open Post.
Posted by Jack Yoest at April 13, 2006 07:50 AM
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Comments
The difference between the questions it's legal to ask and the ones you say you deliberately evade the law to ask in tricky ways are that the former are all directly related to the performance of job duties.
Why would you want to know anything else? You seem to be saying openly that you make hiring decisions on the basis of personal prejudice and your own preferences regarding marriage, religion, and club memberships - that, after the boss explicitly told you to "get the best talent", you did everything you could to avoid actual job-related questions, and instead to ask intrusive personal questions that only serve your own stereotypes. If you had simply asked the legal questions, you would have had extensive information actually relevant to the person's ability to perform the job - but you went out of your way not to do that.
Who is the *ss?
Posted by: Kevin T. Keith at April 13, 2006 11:41 AM
Jack, I always thought that for something to be called "illegal" it had to be codified into a law. These questions sound like they might offend the PC police, but are not truly unlawful.
Posted by: Former Corn Chuckin' Champ at April 13, 2006 01:10 PM
Jack,
It's certainly legal and reasonable to ask about citizenship in some job situations. For example, all my staff must have security clearances, you can't get one without being a citizen. All our announcements state among the requirements:
- Must be a US Citizen.
- Must be eligible for a security clearance.
And as for other positions elsewhere, in order to come to work for anybody, your employer must complete an I-9 form where you must prove that either you are a citizen or a green card holder.
Posted by: The Drill SGT at April 13, 2006 11:06 PM