Ask the Employment Specialist: Difficult Interview Questions – Illegal Questions

Dear Joanna,

I’m in shock. I just came back from an interview for a position as a customer service/order desk clerk position. The interviewer asked me if I had any children, how old they were and if I will be having any more children. I was tongue-tied and offended. I answered him with a “no”. I DO have a family, including a husband and two elementary aged children. I know that these are illegal questions in an interview. I am so turned off that even if I get the job offer, I will refuse it. Please could you advise me in future as to the best way to handle illegal job interview questions at the interview?

Signed – Job Seeker Mothers Beware (JSMB)

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Dear JSMB,

Ouch! Sadly, many job searchers share stories such as yours about discrimination in the labour market. In a recent study at Cornell University, presented by author and HR Manager Cynthia Shapiro, researchers found that during the interview process, mothers were perceived as less committed to work than women without children. This problem is real and age-old.

In the meantime, if the interviewer asks you an illegal question because he or she doesn’t know the law or slips up, continues Shapiro, it is important not only to know your rights, but also to be able to respond to the question with dignity and assertiveness. Shapiro suggests not saying, “That’s illegal and I won’t answer it”, because in saying that you might just have “killed the interview”. Instead, prepare an answer that addresses the genuine concerns that the employer might have. The interviewer may be worried about your flexibility, stability and ability to commit to the demands required for the job; they might be concerned about whether you have child care commitments which will interfere with the job.

Without answering their question directly, I would suggest that you reinforce your commitment to the job and that you do not expect to be sick, late or have family obligations that will get in the way of your work. Stress that in your work history you have always excelled in your position and that personal commitments have never interfered with your work. This way you indicate your willingness to demonstrate your suitability for the job without compromising your rights. You do have the option of answering the question directly, but Shapiro recommends doing everything possible to make the question a non-issue, as it should be.

Such questions are illegal for a reason. If it’s important for you to work for a company that values families and supports parents, then this might not be the company for you. You can assess this, based on how you feel about the tone of the whole interview.  I would keep your parental and family status private when interviewing. You have no obligation to tell the employer; they are hiring you for your skills and experience. Keep focused on the job description and skills, rather than your personal life.

More examples of responses to illegal questions in the interview:

“Are you Married?”

• Assure the employer that you are:
  • well-organized and reliable, and do not expect require time to attend to personal family matters; mention that this has never been an issue in previous jobs
  • professional and punctual
  • if this is true for you, mention your availability to do overtime and travel for the company (if relevant to the job)

 ”How long have you been in Canada? Where are you from?”

• Relate your answer to your knowledge of current Canadian market trends
• Describe your transferable skills confidently
• Relate your ability to learn quickly

Ultimately, it’s up to you to decide how to answer such questions. Weigh the risk of answering a personal question against the consequences of not answering, and make your own decisions.  Know your rights. I suggest that you refer to our October 2011 blog post titled Dealing with Illegal Job Interview Questions, which provides more information about job seeker rights and ways of dealing with this challenge.

All the best with your job search, JSMB. Many job searchers overcome this barrier and I am sure that with the right approach, you will succeed too.

Signed,
Joanna

Dealing with Illegal Job Interview Questions

Over the last few weeks, we have addressed some of the questions job seekers might want to prepare for in anticipation of a job interview, including how to answer the dreaded “tell me about yourself” question as well as effective ways of answering commonly asked questions.

Another category of questions which often catch job seekers unprepared and are difficult to address are illegal questions. These are questions which are unrelated to the job and that ask for personal information which could result in prejudice and discrimination against the interviewee.

To protect job searchers, the Canadian Human Rights Act has specific guidelines governing the information and privacy of job searchers. The guidelines focus on ensuring that, other than in *exceptional circumstances, candidates do not get asked such questions, which might result in discrimination. These include questions that ask about issues such as:

• Country/place of origin
• Citizenship status
• Religion/faith/creed
• Age
• Family structure, marital status, children
• Sexual orientation
• Gender
• Race/ethnicity/ancestry /ethnic origin
• Health and disability (physical and mental)
• Pardoned offences
• Appearance, height and weight

(*The exceptional circumstances only apply if the employer needs information regarding “Bona Fide Occupational Requirements” – that is, when a particular requirement is reasonably needed to do a specific job — for example, when a job requires physical strength to lift over 50 lb)

Despite these guidelines, sometimes job searchers do encounter such questions, directly (e.g. “Do you have kids?”) or indirectly (“Do you have childcare?”) in interviews.  The challenge for interviewees is to figure out how to deal with these potentially prejudicial questions  – without alienating an interviewer. Simply refusing to answer may not necessarily be productive.

An effective approach may be to:

- directly address the issue (“I’d prefer not to answer this question, unless there’s a specific reason why you need to know to about my family situation”)

or
- redirect the question with a question (e.g. “Can you please explain how my family situation is relevant to this job?”)

or
- assure the employer that the concern would not affect work performance (“My family situation has never affected my ability to do the job”)
Depending on the personal style of the interviewee, any these responses might work to defuse the issue and enable the interview to focus on more relevant issues.

Another approach for some interviewees might be to simply disclose some personal information and face directly any discrimination that may result directly (“Yes, I do have young children, and am hoping your company can accommodate my infrequent needs for flexibility, as my last employer did. My references will assure you that I am well organised and that it never affected my ability to get my work done“).

Knowing rights and fighting for them does not mean the you need to be aggressive or say anything that makes you or the employer uncomfortable. In an interview, this discussion can be very productive, if it is held in an assertive, confident and respectful manner. Ultimately, decisions about how and whether these issues are addressed are up to job searchers themselves. If you know your rights and needs, you can make an informed and thoughtful decision as to how to advocate for yourself with potential employers.

Keep in mind that though employers are supposed to know the law, many do not.  This means that you, the job seeker, need to ensure that you know know and are prepared to politely and confidently assert your rights. If needed, job seekers in Toronto can turn to a number of  resources and organisations which understand these issues and set out to inform and defend workers, such as The Workers Action Centre, No-one Is Illegal, Caregiver Connections, Education and Support Organization (CCESO) and others. Also, legal resource centres such as CLEO (Community Legal Education Ontario) can provide information on a range of issues and services in a range of languages.

Think through your own strategy in tackling this issue, so that if it arises in an interview, you are prepared. Make sure that you find an approach that suits your personal style, and that you understand the consequences of your chosen approach.

If you have faced these types of questions in an interview, we would love to hear how you handled it. Please add your comments below.