面試時五類問題不可問

If you’re looking for a new job, you know you’re going to have to answer some tough questions in the interview process. But did you know there are some questions that are illegAl for employers to ask you?

For example, it’s illegal to ask any questions related to protected classes, says Charles A. Krugel, an HR attorney. “Protected classes typically include race, gender, nationality, religion, military status and age (40 and up). Usually, such questions are intended to identify those class members. More often than not, it's ‘loaded’ questions that are asked, or those where it's fairly obvious that the asker has a hidden agenda and the question has little to do with the job's essential duties.”

Some examples of these questions include,”I notice that you live in Brookfield, there's some nice country clubs and retirement communities there -- are you a member of any of them?” and “If you need to commute to work, how would you do that?” The first question can relate to socioeconomic status, gender, race, religion and age, Krugel says., while the second may be looking for information on socioeconomic status and race.

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

Who will take care of your children while you’re at work?

Even if you’ve shared information about having children, there’s no need for a prospective 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 gender stereotypes, 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 restrictions offered by the candidate, not because of improper stereotype.”

How did you get that scar/mark/other physical abnormality?

“The ADA prohibits not only discrimination against those with an actual disability, but against those who are ‘regarded as disabled,’” says Kelly Kolb, labor 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.

How often are you deployed for your Army Reserve training exercises?

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

When are you planning on having children?

Employers can’t make judgments about a person’s dedication 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 interfere with specific job requirements such as traveling?’” says Davida S. Perry of Schwartz & Perry.

Even an innocuous question such as “when is your baby due?” to an obviously pregnant applicant can cause problems, says Lisa Schmid, an attorney at Nilan Johnson Lewis. “It is not illegal under the Pregnancy 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 explicitly prohibit asking about a pregnancy.

Have you ever been arrested?

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 lesser charges.如果你正在找工作，那你一定很清楚，面試過程中，僱主會問出一些刁鑽的問題，但是你知道嗎，有些問題即使是僱主也是沒有資格來問你的。

人力資源律師查爾斯·A·庫魯格表示，像應聘者的一些個人信息是受到保護的，僱主不得開口詢問。“具體有以下幾點：關於種族，性別，國籍，宗教，軍銜和年齡（如應聘者年齡達四十及以上）的信息。通常來說，僱主提這些問題的目的是想給應聘者貼上標籤。而僱主通過提問刺探應聘者隱私往往會給後者帶來很大壓力，很明顯，他們是有意爲之，而這些問題又基本和未來的工作無關。”

譬如，“你的簡歷上寫着你曾在布魯克費爾德市（Brookfield）住過一段時間，那兒有很多有名的鄉村俱樂部和老年俱樂部吧——你加入過什麼俱樂部嗎？”，又或者“你每天上下班採用哪種交通方式？”。前一個問題涉及你的經濟狀況，性別，種族，宗教信仰和年齡等方面的隱私，通過後一個問題則可以得知你的經濟狀況和種族信息。

根據法律規定，面試時，僱主的提問不得涉及以下五個方面。

你上班時，誰在家中照顧孩子?

斯皮格律師事務所（Spiggle Law Firm）的湯姆·斯皮格（Tom Spiggle）律師指出，即使在面試中，僱主和你聊到了孩子的話題，他們也沒有必要詳細瞭解你家誰負責帶孩子。有關法律規定，僱主不得對應聘者的性別加以歧視，他解釋道：“這樣的歧視有很多種，比如認爲有孩子的應聘者在工作時容易分心。”

“但是，如果具體工作需要加班，而應聘者卻主動提出‘我孩子還小，我四點半就要回家帶孩子，’企業可以考慮不錄取該名應聘者”。斯皮格律師補充道，“僱主拒否錄取員工應取決於具體客觀條件而非主觀印象。”

你身上的那道疤/傷痕/或其他非正常體貌特徵是怎麼來的？

“美國殘疾人法案（ADA）明確規止僱主不得歧視殘疾人士，也不應對那些“類似殘疾人士”妄加揣測，以種種理由拒絕錄用，”福勒·懷特·博格斯律師事務所（Fowler White Boggs.）負責勞工僱傭事務的凱利·科爾布律師（Kelly Kolb）表示。“僱主對那些類似殘疾人士也應予以相應的尊重，不應問及他們的體貌特徵（不能表現出對其殘疾的覺察）”

科爾布表示，然而，無論工作是否提供住宿，僱主還可以問及你的體能是否能夠勝任工作。

你在加入後備軍參與軍事訓練期間是否被經常調動？

科爾布表示無論應聘者是服役人員還是正在軍隊服役，都應受到平等對待，僱主不可因此不予以錄用。“實際上，僱主不可開口詢問應聘者在服役期間的表現，並以此爲工作能力的評判標準。”

你今後是否打算要孩子?

僱主不能因爲應聘者已生子或是將來有孩子的打算而懷疑他們是否會盡心工作。“如果僱主想了解應聘者能否吃苦耐勞，那他們應該這樣問，‘你一天能工作幾個小時？’或者‘如果你的出行計劃和工作相沖突，你能否做到將工作發在首位？’”施瓦茨和佩裏律師事務所（Schwartz & Perry）的達維達·S·佩裏律師（Davida S. Perry）如是說。

妮蘭·約翰遜·劉易斯律師事務所（Nilan Johnson Lewis）的麗莎·施密德（Lisa Schmid）律師指出僱主在面試時應謹慎提問，即使是在見到應聘者懷有身孕時，隨口一問“你的寶寶什麼時候出世？”都可能涉嫌侵犯應聘者隱私。“僱主提出這種問題並未違反懷孕歧視法案（Pregnancy Discrimination Act），但是仍不免讓人懷疑僱主是有意探聽孕婦的隱私，進而歧視該類懷孕的應聘者。”同時，美國一些州也立法明確規定僱主不應問及孕婦的隱私。

你被逮捕過嗎？

沃夫和肖律師事務所（Wolf and Shore Law）的莎麗·肖（Shari Shore）律師表示僱主可以詢問應聘者是否有過前科，但不能詳細問及他們是否被逮捕過。即使應聘者曾被逮捕，但沒有定案即表示罪名不成立，或者說應聘者的犯罪情節並非十分嚴重。