WHICH QUESTIONS ARE PERMITTED OF THE CANDIDATE?^*

Name

Name and if the applicant has worked under another name

Applicant’s maiden name or a spouse’s maiden name

Address

Current address

If the applicant owns or rents the current residence, how long the applicant has lived at the address, where the applicant lived previously and for how long.

Age

Year MLS or other relevant degree awarded or dates of employment at former jobs, but only if the purpose is to obtain information necessary for evaluating how well the candidate meets the advertised qualifications

The applicant’s age or any question whose answer could indicate how old the applicant is, either directly or indirectly, e.g. undergraduate graduation year

Marital status

Any questions that would indicate marital status or family orientation or intentions.

Parental status

If the applicant has children or child care responsibilities

Citizenship, natural origin

If the applicant is authorized to work in the U.S.; if the applicant speaks a foreign language, but only if it is an advertised  qualification of the job.

If the applicant is a naturalized citizen, is or was a citizen of a foreign country, or is planning to become a citizen; what type of visa the applicant holds; the applicant’s nationality, ancestry, native language, or that of his or her family; where the applicant’s parents were born.

Group memberships

About membership in professional or other organizations that are directly job related.

Any questions relating to social or political group membership.

Religion

Any questions about religious affiliation or what religious holidays the applicant observes.

Race

Any questions about race or color.  You cannot indicate an applicant’s race in a report or recommendation.

Sex

Any questions about the applicant’s sex or sexual preference.

Disabilities

Whether a person is able to perform the essential functions of the job.

If the applicant has a disability; medical history; work absenteeism due to illness; past treatment for alcoholism, drug use, or mental illness. The applicant cannot be disqualified because you would have to accommodate a disability.

Arrests and convictions

If the applicant has been convicted of a crime.  Convictions can be the reason for not hiring because of their number, type, or relationship to the job; or because of how recently they occurred.

If the applicant has ever been arrested or charged with a crime.

Military service

About experience in military service only if the experience is directly related to the applicant’s ability to meet the advertised job requirements.

About: experience in military service not related to the job qualifications;  military reserve duty obligations;  military service for another country; the type of discharge received on separation from military service; the applicant’s disciplinary record while in the military.

Height, weight, and other physical attributes

Height or weight.

Job experience

Unlimited questions about job experience, names and addresses of former employers, wages and hours at former jobs,  gaps in employment history, reasons for leaving former jobs.  (See also the instructions under Age)

Education and Training

Education and training, degrees earned, and professional licenses held as long as they relate to the position

Education and training that do not relate to the requirements of the job, particularly education and training in excess of reasonable requirements of the job

References

For job and/or character references.

References that would indicate religion, sex, race, age, or national origin, or otherwise provide information that could be the basis for discrimination.  You cannot check references without the applicant’s permission.