POTENTIALLY ILLEGAL OR INAPPROPRIATE QUESTIONS

The use of all pre-employment inquires that disproportionately screen out members of minority groups or members of one sex are not permitted unless they are justified by “business necessity" or a valid predictor of successful job performance.

* How old are you? The Age Discrimination in Employment Act ("ADEA ") prohibits discrimination on the basis of age with respect to individuals over the age of 40. Therefore, there must be a legitimate job related reason for requesting this information. Note: under the EEOC's Age Discrimination Interpretive Rules, requests for date of birth on the employment application are permissible, provided that an appropriate disclaimer is shown.

* Are you married? Are you dating? How many children do you have? Inappropriate as usually only asked of females and therefore raises issues of sex discrimination or sexual harassment. However can ask: What hours can you work? What shift(s) can you work? Can you work on weekends and/or holidays? Are there specific times that you cannot work? Do you have responsibilities other than work that will interfere with specific job requirements such as traveling?

* What is your weight and/or height?

* Do you own your own home?

* Have your wages ever been garnished?

* Have you ever declared bankruptcy?

* What country are your parents from?

* What is your race?

* What is your native language?

* How did you acquire the ability to read, write or speak a foreign language? However. if being able to speak other languages is related to the job, the employer can ask and test for fluency in those languages.

* Have you ever been arrested? However, depending on the job. questions regarding convictions may be appropriate. In establishing business necessity, the employer must consider three factors to justify use of a conviction record: (J) nature and gravity ofthe offense for which convicted; (2) amount oftime that has elapsed since the applicant's conviction and/or completion of the sentence; and (3) the nature of the job in question as it relates to the nature of the offense committed.

* Are you a Christian? What religion are you? Do you attend Church? Are you ...? Questions re religion are not probably not justified unless the organization with the job is a religious institution in which case they may give preference to individuals of that religion. Note: If your faith prevents you from working at certain periods, such as Friday evenings, Saturdays, Sundays or holidays, the employer is obligated to accommodate those beliefs unless to do so would cause undue economic hardship.

* Are you a United States citizen? A person who is a lawfully immigrated alien, legally eligible to work, may not be discriminated against on the basis of citizenship, except in the interest of national security, as determined under a United States statute or an executive order regarding the particular position or premise in question.

* Do you have any disabilities? Or any question designed to elicit information about anything closely related to a disability such as "How many sick days do you take a year?" or What medications are you taking?" are not permissible. You can be asked whether you can perform the essential functions of the job as long as every applicant has been asked that question. If an employer reasonable believes an applicant may be unable to perform the job, they can ask the applicant to describe how they will do it or to demonstrate how they will do