Job interviews already make you squirm — but imagine how you would feel if you were asked an uncomfortable, and illegal, question in the middle of it?
When Stacy, an Upper East Sider who works in human resources, interviewed for an executive role in the luxury industry two years ago, she was shocked during the second-round interview when an executive vice president asked if she was married and how many children she had.
“I was floored,” says Stacy, who declined to give her last name for professional reasons. “I answered him, and then flat-out told him the questions weren’t legal and gave him the reason why.”
Stacy’s assessment was spot on: Job-interview questions concerning marital status and children are illegal, as are inquiries regarding age, race, national origin, gender, religion and sexual orientation — and, now, salary.
“I answered him, and then flat-out told him the questions weren’t legal and gave him the reason why.”
- Stacy from the Upper East Side
Effective July 2018, a new law in Massachusetts will make it illegal for interviewers to ask about salary history prior to extending a job offer, in an effort to wipe out gender-pay inequity.
And now, a bill has been introduced in the House of Representatives with the goal of enacting a similar law nationwide.
But how often are questions like these actually raised during the interview process?
It’s difficult to say, according to employment attorney Anthony Rizzo. Those who have been asked such questions “would only [report] it once they knew they were not going to be hired for the job,” says Rizzo.
Then, they have the option to file a lawsuit if they feel that the decision not to hire them was based upon the answer to one of these discriminatory questions. “Whether or not the state can actually enforce the law depends on how the law is written,” says Rizzo. For example, even once the new law concerning pay history takes effect in Massachusetts, an interviewee would only be able to file a lawsuit if he or she knows of at least one other person who was asked the same question by the same employer.
If you are faced with a situation where you feel an interview question is unprofessional, Rizzo suggests asking, “Why does [this question] matter to the job I am seeking?”
This approach is better than openly declaring it illegal, says Evil HR Lady blogger Suzanne Lucas, because the interview could turn into a heated, adversarial situation.
Or, after the interview, you can call the company’s HR executive and calmly mention if an uncomfortable question was asked, so they can remind their employees of what is and is not OK to ask in an interview.
After Stacy called out her interviewer for his illegal questions, they proceeded with the interview. And after getting asked by another executive about what field her parents worked in and where she enjoys going on vacation — inappropriate, but not illegal, questions — Stacy landed the job.
Despite seeing that the company had questionable hiring practices, Stacy accepted the executive human resources role.
“Interviewing just isn’t a skill most managers are particularly good at.”
- Suzanne Lucas, Evil HR Lady
“My job is to make an impact to change the behavior in an industry known for being chauvinistic,” Stacy explains of her decision to accept the job in spite of the inappropriate questions she was asked during the interview. “Unfortunately, I have to say that these issues are way more common than people think.”
But chances are you may be too immersed in the interview to even notice if the interviewer slips one or two of these questions in there. Three years ago, a then-20-year-old public-relations student from downtown Manhattan pursued an internship at a tech company and responded truthfully when asked about her marriage status.
“I knew the law, but I was mentally involved with answering questions, not thinking [about whether] they were legal,” says the student, who asked that her name not be used to protect her privacy.
And if the question lies somewhere in the gray area — such as what your parents do for work or where you like to vacation, as Stacy experienced — it mostly depends on how comfortable you feel answering the question and whether you interpret it as a potential moment of bias or just someone awkwardly attempting small talk.
Most of the time, the individuals conducting the interviews may not even know themselves what questions are off-limits.
A 10-year human-resources veteran at a Tribeca-based nonprofit once overheard her colleague ask a job candidate where she was from. The HR vet and her boss were both appalled, since the question is illegal (you can be asked, however, if you’re authorized to work in the US).
The candidate, who was later hired, answered that she was from Latin America. “My boss explained [to my co-worker afterward] that you can’t ask people’s origin or ethnicity,” says the 39-year-old Park Slope-based HR employee, who asked not to use her name to protect the company.
After all, most incidents are accidental.
“Interviewing just isn’t a skill most managers are particularly good at,” says Lucas, a former labor and employment consultant, of questionable comments from interviewers. “It’s best to give people the benefit of the doubt.”