91视频

Problem: Interviewing potential employees is like driving down a highway filled with potholes 鈥� there’s danger at every curve, and sometimes it isn’t visible until it’s too late.

Sometimes an interviewer 鈥� whether trying to make an applicant feel comfortable, discover common ground or simply be friendly 鈥� asks about the applicant’s family, his or her outside interests or his or her background. In a social setting, these types of questions are good icebreakers. But in a business environment, such inquiries can open your company up to possible lawsuits.

Solution:  The following checklist contains some common sense guidelines to help avoid the 鈥渇orbidden zone.鈥�

鈥� Forbidden zone 1: Age. Inquiries about age, date of birth or date of graduation or other inquiries designed to determine a person’s age are inappropriate.

In those very few cases when age does matter 鈥� for example, when federal or state law requires a person to be over the age of 18 to operate dangerous equipment 鈥� it’s appropriate to confirm age.

鈥� Forbidden zone 2: Children. Questions about status as a parent, plans regarding future children, daycare arrangements for existing children or plans to marry should be avoided.

Inquiries into these aspects of life are almost always regarded as gender discrimination or harassment and should never be made. An interviewer may permissibly ask an applicant whether there is anything in his or her life that might interfere with work hours. For example, asking someone if her daycare obligations might require her to leave at 5 p.m. every day could likely be gender discrimination.

鈥� Forbidden zone 3: Health. Disabilities and medical conditions are areas that require sensitive handling.

Generally it’s inappropriate to inquire about disabilities, diseases or health status. If an applicant volunteers this information, the employer may receive it. If an applicant indicates he or she needs a job accommodation, it’s acceptable to ask any related questions necessary to understand the limitations the person is describing. For example, asking if an applicant has back problems that will prevent him or her from lifting heavy equipment and supplies is inappropriate. Explaining to that person, however, that an essential function of the job requires he or she repeatedly lift more than 50 pounds and asking whether he or she can perform this essential function with or without a reasonable accommodation is permissible.

鈥� Forbidden zone 4: Race. Ethnicity and citizenship are not performance-related and are always inappropriate.

An applicant’s ethnicity and/or national origin are completely irrelevant to job performance and are never areas for inquiry or discussion. Alternatively, inquiring about language skills necessary to the job may be appropriate.

鈥� Forbidden zone 5: Religion. Religious beliefs or religious affiliations are generally not proper topics for interviews.

No employer should promote any particular religious belief in the workplace, and discussion of religious beliefs in an interview setting is not appropriate. If an applicant, however, volunteers he or she engages in a religious observance that would require accommodation (e.g., can’t work on a particular day), an employer may obtain enough information to understand the needed accommodation. All inquiries, responses and processing of this information should be handled cautiously.

鈥� Forbidden zone 6: Unions. Asking an applicant for his or her views on labor unions is inappropriate. Whether your company works with unions or not, this is an inappropriate area of inquiry.

So, what can you talk about?

Interviewers should provide information to the applicant about the company and its culture, essential aspects of the job and what is required for job performance, and industry standards if appropriate to a particular job. Interviewers should also obtain job-related information from the applicant, such as the applicant’s work experience, educational background and the applicant’s job objectives and attitude toward the particular position.

Rich Meneghello is a partner at the Portland office of Fisher & Phillips LLP, one of the oldest and largest employment law firms in the country, and is dedicated to representing the interests of management. He can be reached at [email protected] or 503-205-8044.