Can you ask a candidate these questions in a job interview?

One of the most lively parts of our interviewer training workshops is when we ask the participants to vote (anonymously!) on whether a selected number of questions are legal or illegal to ask.

Clearly, we don’t go for the really obvious ones – eg

Are you married?
What age are you?
Do you have children?

Too easy.

There are 9 protected grounds under equality legislation that make discrimination illegal in employment, education, goods, and services, and the 3 above fall squarely into these 9 protected grounds[1].

But what about the less obvious ones?

We have listed below the questions that have been most frequently answered incorrectly by our workshop participants, along with the reasons why.

An average of 25% of all participants (many of whom are experienced interviewers 😳 ) will answer these questions incorrectly.

1. Do you live nearby? Some of our staff find the commute challenging/tricky from certain areas.

Illegal. Reason why you CAN’T ask a candidate this question: It could indirectly relate to socioeconomic or race/ethnic background

2. What do you do in your spare time? What clubs or community groups are you part of outside of work?

Illegal: Reason why you CAN’T ask a candidate this question: May reveal religious, cultural, or political affiliation, risking indirect discrimination.

3. Are you fluent in English, as it’s the working language in our office?

Legal. Reason why you CAN ask the candidate this question: Language ability can be asked about if it’s directly relevant to job performance. Just don’t ask “Is English your first language?”

4. Your name is really unusual — what’s its origin?

Illegal. Reason why you CAN’T ask a candidate this question: It can be interpreted as probing race or ethnic background.

5 This job can be high pressure. Can you handle that?

Legal. Reason why you CAN ask a candidate this question: This question focuses on work performance with no reference to protected characteristics. To be consistent it is also a good idea to mention in the job description that the role is a high-pressure role

If any of these questions had you wondering, your interviewers will benefit from our hands-on, compliance-focused interviewer training.

[1] Gender and Gender Identity, Marital Status, Sexual Orientation, Age, Family Status, Disability, Race (incl skin colour, nationality, ethic origin), Membership of the Travelling Community, Religion

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