Your guide to illegal interview questions
As a job searcher, it is important for you to understand your rights and to have some strategies to deal with inappropriate or illegal questions in a job interview.
Employers may not discriminate on the basis of:
Race
Ancestry
Place of origin
Colour
Ethnic origin
Citizenship
Religion (creed)
Sex
Sexual orientation
Age
Record of offences (pardoned offences – Federal law)
Marital status
Family status
Disability including physical and mental
The Ontario Human Rights Commission says that the Human Rights code applies to full-time and part-time work, contract work, temporary work for an agency, and probationary periods. "Employment" may even include volunteer positions. Job advertisements cannot ask for qualifications that directly or indirectly that relate to these factors. Requirements or duties of employment must be reasonable, real and relate directly to the job. There are some exceptions for special programs to serve the needs of historically disadvantaged communities, or on the basis of other circumstances.
For example, the interviewer can ask if it is legal for you to work in Canada, or if you have the necessary skills needed to perform the job (such as fluency in English for a receptionist’s position) but cannot require unaccented English.
For more information from the Ontario Human Rights Commission, see. Employment: Your Rights and Responsibilities
Interviewers may ask inappropriate questions because they are not experienced or may not have really figured out what they need to know. For example, an interviewer might ask whether you have children or about your childcare arrangements. Perhaps the employer really wants to know whether you can make business trips or relocate.
You can refuse to answer the question or you can choose to answer it. Or you can'try to figure out what they really want to know and answer that question. An employer wants to know:
Can you do the job?
Will you fit into their organization?
Are you too big of a risk?
Can they afford you?
(Based on: CareerBuilders Plus)
These websites give you tips on how to handle inappropriate questions in interviews.
Illegal Interview Questions This university careers site gives examples of illegal interview questions and some related questions that may be legal. For example, It is illegal to ask where your paren'ts were born, your native language and citizenship. However, the employer may ask about your language abilities that would be helpful in doing the job, if it is directly relevant to job performance. See the site for detail on disability-related questions, etc.
The Interview Game: illegal questions What potential employers are allowed to ask and what they are not allowed to ask. Specific examples of illegal questions and related legal questions. Suggestions about your options on answering illegal questions.
See Career Bookmarks for more information about employment and the law.
2 thoughts on “Your guide to illegal interview questions”
hi Frances! thanks for your post, it was a lovely read and some great information there, and some good links too on illegal interview questions! anyway if you have a moment please also check this list i compiled of the 50 most commonly asked interview questions, why they are asked, any hidden motives and exactly how to answer the questions!
50 most common interview questions and answers
Thanks for posting your link. I like that you give the rationale as well as suggestions for answering the questions. Job searchers should use the answers as a guide for developing their own answers to these types of questions. Please check out our other links about interviews in Career Bookmarks. Or check out Market Yourself in the main Career Bookmarks page.