Here are five common questions that interviewers shouldn't be asking, under the law.

 

 

Even if you've shared information about having children, there's no need for a prospective¹ employer to ask who's taking care of them, says Tom Spiggle of the Spiggle Law Firm. The law prohibits making employment decisions based on gender² stereotypes³, he explains. "For instance, that women or men with children are less committed to work than those without."

 

"Note, however, that it would not be illegal to deny a job opportunity to a candidate who volunteered, 'I have young children and can't work past 4:30,' when the job requires evening work," Spiggle says. "Such a decision would be based on work restrictions⁵ offered by the candidate, not because of improper⁶ stereotype⁴."

 

 

"The ADA prohibits not only discrimination against those with an actual disability, but against those who are 'regarded as disabled,'" says Kelly Kolb, labor⁷ and employment attorney atFowler White Boggs. "Questions about an employee's physical characteristics (to the extent they reflect a perception of disability) are prohibited, just as are questions about a person's actual disability."

 

Prospective employers may, however, ask if you're able to perform essential functions of the job, with or without accommodation, Kolb says.

 

 

Kolb says employers cannot make employment decisions on the basis of a service member's membership or active duty service in the military. "Essentially⁹, the employer cannot ask questions about the effect of the employee's military service on his ability to work for the employer."

 

 

Employers can't make judgments¹⁰ about a person's dedication¹¹ to their work by whether they have kids or will have them in the future. "If the employer wants to find out how committed the candidate will be to the job offered, the interviewer should ask questions such as, 'What hours can you work?' or 'Do you have commitments aside from work that will interfere¹² with specific job requirements such as traveling?'" says Davida S. Perry of Schwartz & Perry.

 

Even an innocuous（无伤大雅的） question such as "when is your baby due?" to an obviously pregnant applicant¹³ can cause problems, says Lisa Schmid, an attorney at Nilan Johnson Lewis. "It is not illegal under the Pregnancy¹⁴ Discrimination Act, but it presents a risk for employers because it obviously seeks information about an applicant's pregnancy, and discrimination on the basis of pregnancy is illegal." Also, there may be state laws that explicitly¹⁵ prohibit asking about a pregnancy.

 

 

It's legal to ask about whether candidates have been convicted of a crime, but not if they've been arrested, says Shari Shore of Wolf and Shore Law. Cases may have been dismissed without a conviction, or the original charges may have been lowered to lesser¹⁶ charges.

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