Illegal and Legal Interview Questions
Interview questions should focus on the individual's qualifications for the job. Please review the following
unlawful and lawful employment inquires. All efforts should be made to avoid asking unlawful questions.
The following Fair Inquiry Guidelines were established by the Equal Employment Opportunity
Commission (EEOC) to provide specific protection from discrimination in hiring certain protected classes.
If you conduct interviews, please review this list regularly.
Age
Arrests/Convictions
Citizenship
Disability
Education
Family
Height/Weight
Military
Name
National Origin/Ancestry
Organizations
Photographs
Physical Health
Pregnancy
Race/Color
Relative/Marital Status
Religion
Residence
Sex
Age - Any inquiry which implies a preference for employees under age 40.
Unlawful Inquiries: "What year did you graduate from high school?"
Lawful Inquiries: "Are you 18 years old or older?" or "If hired, can you furnish proof of age?" (This
question may be asked only for the purpose of determining whether applicants are of legal age for
employment.)
Arrests/Convictions – All inquiries relating to arrests.
Arrests are not the same as convictions.
An innocent person can be arrested. Any inquiry regarding misdemeanor arrests which did not result in a
conviction.
Unlawful Inquiries: "Have you ever been arrested?" Arrests are not the same as convictions. An innocent
person can be arrested.
Lawful Inquiries: None relating to arrests. Legal inquiries about convictions are: "Have you ever been
convicted of a crime?” or “Are there any felony charges pending against you?"
Citizenship – Any inquiry as to whether an applicant is a citizen which divulges applicant's ancestry,
national origin, birthplace or present citizenship. It is also illegal to require a birth certificate or
naturalization or baptismal records before hiring.
Unlawful Inquiries: “Are you a citizen of the U.S.?”, “Is your spouse a citizen of the U.S.?” Any inquiry into
citizenship would tend to divulge the applicant's ancestry, descent, etc.
Lawful Inquiries: Whether the applicant can provide proof of eligibility to work in the U.S. after hiring. "Can
you upon employment provide genuine documentation establishing your identity and eligibility to be
legally employed in the United States?"
Disability - Inquiries about the nature, severity, or extent of a disability or whether the applicant
requires reasonable accommodation prior to a conditional job offer. Inquiries as to whether or not the
applicant has applied for or received worker's compensation. Any inquiry that is not job related or
consistent with business necessity.
Education Unlawful Inquiries: Any question asking specifically the nationality, racial, or religious affiliation of a
school.
Lawful Inquiries: All questions related to academic, vocational, or professional education of an applicant.
This includes the names of the public and private schools attended, degrees/diplomas received, and
courses of study.
Family - Specific inquiries concerning spouse, spouse's employment or salary, children, child care
arrangements, or other dependents.
Unlawful Inquiries: "What kind of child care arrangements have you made?"
Lawful Inquiries: Whether the applicant can meet specified work schedules. "Can you work overtime?" or
"Is there any reason why you can’t be on the job at 8:00 a.m.?”
Height & Weight - All inquiries which are not based on actual job requirements and are not
consistent with business necessity.
Unlawful Inquiries: Any inquiries not based on actual job requirements.
Lawful Inquiries: Inquiries about the ability to perform a certain job. Being of a certain weight or height
cannot be considered a job requirement unless the employer can show that no employee with the
ineligible height and weight could do the work.
Military - Type or condition of military discharge. Whether an applicant has experience in other than
U.S. armed forces. Requests for discharge papers.
Unlawful Inquiries: Military discharge type, condition or request for discharge papers. (In several states,
veterans are a protected class.)
Lawful Inquiries: Inquiries concerning education, training, or work experience in the armed forces of the
United States.
Name - Inquiries about original name if the name has been changed by court order or marriage. Any
inquiry which could divulge marital status, lineage, ancestry, national origin or descent.
Unlawful Inquiries: "If your name has been legally changed, what was your former name?"
Lawful Inquiries: Name under which applicant is known to references if different from present name. For
example: "By what name do the references you provided know you?"
National Origin/Ancestry - Inquiries into applicant's lineage, ancestry, national origin, descent,
birthplace, or mother tongue. Inquiries about the national origin of applicant's parents or spouse.
Unlawful Inquiries: "What is your nationality?", "How did you acquire the ability to speak, read, or write a
foreign language?", "What language is spoken in your home?", "What is your native language?"
Lawful Inquiries: "What languages do you speak, read, or write fluently?" This is only legal when the
inquiry is based on a job requirement.
Organizations – Requirement that the applicant lists all organizations, clubs, societies, and lodges
to which he/she belongs.
Unlawful Inquiries: "What are the clubs, lodges, organizations and societies you belong to?" Exclude
inquiries regarding organizations whose names or character indicate the race, religious creed, color,
national origin, or ancestry of its members.
Lawful Inquiries: "What professional organizations do you belong to?"
Photographs - Mandatory or optional request that applicant submit a photograph at any time before
hiring.
Unlawful Inquiries: Requests that an applicant submit a photo at any time prior to hiring.
Lawful Inquiries: Photographs may be requested after hiring for identification purposes.
Physical Health Unlawful Inquiries: General questions, such as "Do you have any handicaps?" which tend to divulge
handicaps or health conditions that do not relate to the applicant's ability to perform the job. The following
questions should also not be asked, "What caused your handicap?", "Have you ever had any serious
illness?" or "Do you have any physical disabilities?"
Lawful Inquiries: Questions that relate to the essential functions of the job: "Can you lift 50 pounds on a
regular basis?" The questions have to be job related.
Pregnancy - All questions about pregnancy, medical history concerning pregnancy and related
matters.
Unlawful Inquiries: All questions relating to pregnancy and medical history concerning pregnancy. For
example: "Do you plan on having more children?"
Lawful Inquiries: NONE.
Race/Color - Any inquiries concerning race or color of skin, hair, eyes, etc.
Unlawful Inquiries: Any question that directly or indirectly relates to a race or color.
Lawful Inquiries: NONE.
Relatives/Marital Status - Any other inquiry as to whether the applicant is married, divorced,
separated, engaged, widowed, etc.
Unlawful Inquiries: “What is your marital status” or “How old are your children?”
Lawful Inquiries: NONE, except this specific question: "What are the names of any relatives already
employed by this school?."
Religion -
Unlawful Inquiries: Any question that directly or indirectly relates to a religion. "What religious holidays do
you observe?", "What is your religious affiliation?"
Lawful Inquiries: None except "Can you work on any day of the week?", and only if it is relevant to the job.
Residence
Unlawful Inquiries: Names or relationship of persons with whom the applicant resides, and whether the
applicant owns or rents a home. “Do you live in town?”
Lawful Inquiries: Inquiries about address to the extent needed to facilitate contacting the applicant. A post
office box is a valid address. Exclude inquiries regarding organizations whose names or character
indicate the race, religious creed, color, national origin, or ancestry of its members.
Sex
Unlawful Inquiries: ANY inquiry. Examples: "Do you wish to be addressed as Mr., Mrs., Miss, or Ms.?" or
ANY inquiry as to sex such as "Do you plan to have children?"
Lawful Inquiries: NONE.