Illegal job interview questions and the lawful alternatives

Hopefully most of our clients will know that asking an interviewee “are you pregnant?” or “how old are you?” is opening the door wide to claims of discrimination. But there are other questions that employers may want to ask where the question of legality is less clear cut.

A starting point for considering if your intended questions might be discriminatory is to consider if they relate to one of the nine protected characteristics. These are age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief and sexual orientation. Questions that probe into these areas, either directly or indirectly, are likely to be discriminatory and should be avoided.

Here are some of the questions that you might want to ask a candidate but which could be construed as discriminatory and also the safer alternatives to ask:

1. “What are your childcare arrangements?”

   Questions on childcare arrangements can lead to discrimination based on sex, pregnancy and maternity.

   • Ask instead – “Are you able to meet the attendance requirements of this position?”

2. “How many sick days did you take in your last job?”

   Questions on sickness are indirectly checking on a candidate’s health status and if they are disabled. A high level of sickness absence could be due to a long-term health condition that qualifies as a disability.

   • Ask instead – “Are you able to meet the attendance requirements for this role?”

3. “What school did you go to?” or “What neighbourhood did you grow up in?”

   Such questions can be used to infer race, socio-economic background or religion. Asking about a school can inadvertently reveal protected information such as a candidate’s religion or belief.

   • Ask instead - “Can you tell me about your educational background and any qualifications relevant to this role?”

4. “Are you a member of a trade union?”

   Asking about trade union membership is a breach of the Trade Union and Labour Relations Act 1992, which makes it illegal to discriminate based on union membership.

   • There is no legal way to ask about union membership during recruitment.

5. “Do you drink alcohol or take drugs?”

   Questions that delve into private lifestyle choices can be discriminatory under the protected characteristic of disability. Addiction can be considered a disability.

   • Ask instead – “This role requires strict adherence to our drug and alcohol policy. Are you able to comply with this policy?”

You can read the full article about illegal job interview questions here.

Source: Gavin Parrot