Avoiding Illegal Interview Questions

1. Avoiding Illegal Interview Questions

2. Create a standard rating form

3. College EEO policy – We do not discriminate on the basis of : • Race • Sex • Color • Creed • Age • national origin • Disability • marital status • status as Vietnam era veterans, special disabled veterans, recently separated veterans, and veterans who served on active duty during a war on in a campaign or expedition for which a campaign badge has been authorized.

4. Federal laws: • Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 • Executive Orders • Age Discrimination in Employment Act 1967 • Vocational Rehabilitation Act 1973 • Americans with Disability Act • Vietnam Era Veterans Readjustment Assistance Act 1974 (VEVRAA) • Pregnancy Discrimination Act 1978 • Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2008 • Violates NYS laws • Executive Law §§ 290 – 301(Human Rights Law) • Sexual Orientation Non-discrimination Act • Gender identification • Status as a victim of domestic violence

5. Types of discrimination that can occur in the interview process Intentional discrimination Adverse impact neutral conduct has an adverse impact on groups protected by law, when employers do not necessarily intend to exclude people of a particular race, sex, religion, color, protected class, but they engage in practices that have the effect of doing so • different or "disparate" treatment between applicants because of some type of classification, i.e. when persons are treated differently because of their race, sex, age, religion, color, national origin or disability

6. Good practices: • following a systematic procedure for defining the role or competency requirements of a work opportunity and structure the interview to gather information on these roles or competencies. • evaluating the results of our interviewing selection system to monitor adverse impact on an on-going basis and make every attempt to make adaptations that reduce adverse impact if found

7. Federal: 1964 Civil Rights Act - Title VII Prohibits discrimination involving, gender, race, religion, national origin, and color of skin with respect to hiring, firing, compensation, terms, conditions, or privilege of employment

8. Federal: Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 (ADEA) • protects certain applicants and employees • 40 years of age and older • from discrimination on the basis of age in hiring, promotion, discharge, compensation, or terms, conditions or privileges of employment

9. Federal: American with Disability Act - Title 42 • Prohibits discrimination against a qualified individual • Individual must be able to perform the essential functions of the job • - Employers must make reasonable accommodations to the known physical & mental limitations of a qualified person

10. Pre-Offer Questions of Disabled Individuals: Can ask questions: • That are job-related • About an applicant's ability to perform essential functions with or without accommodation • About relevant experience in performing required roles and situational challenges • Describe past behaviors or intentional behaviors on relevant roles if you ask all applicants the same questions • Describe the hiring process and ask if the applicant will require any accommodations to complete the hiring process • If the disability logically interferes with a capacity to perform the job, then employer’s may legally inquire

11. Can't ask at Pre - offer stage: • Questions which explore the existence or nature of possible disabilities. • If accommodation is needed to perform the work, or the type of accommodation needed, unless: • the applicant freely discloses they have a disability which would reasonably need accommodation • the applicant's disability is obvious and its reasonable to believe accommodation is needed • the applicant indicates they would need accommodation • The applicant to undergo a medical examination (at pre-offer)

12. New York: Executive Law Section 296 Together with the Federal prohibitions, New York prohibits discrimination against disability, marital status, genetic predisposition, domestic violence victim status, and sexual orientation with respect to hiring, firing, compensation, terms, conditions, or privilege of employment. Executive Order No. 33 of 2009: Prohibits New York State agencies from discriminating against any individual on the basis of gender identity and expression in any matter pertaining to employment by the State

13. Protected Categories • Sex • Race • Age • Religion • Creed • Color • National Origin • Genetic Predisposition • Military Status • Sexual Orientation • Gender identity • Disability • Marital Status • Victim of domestic violence

14. General Questions • Where are you from? • This position requires a person, who can handle difficult people. I see you are petite. How would you handle a person, bigger than you, who is being difficult? • This job requires a lot of high level responsibility and energy. I see that you are young. Can you handle the responsibility and energy level required for the job, if we were to offer the position to you? • Can you show me your driver’s license, please? • Do you have a family? • Can you work on weekends? • Do you own a home?

15. Can I ask… • Do you have any particular disability? • How would you spend your first day of work at Geneseo? • A disabled candidate if he or she can perform specific job-related functions? • To what social, community or religious groups do you belong? • Whether an individual has participated in a rehabilitative program for drugs/alcohol? • About criminal convictions?

16. Behavior Based Interviewing • Problem Solving • Decision Making • Initiative. • Achievement /Drive • Handling Details • Oral Communication the outcome? • Conflict Management Coordinating/Leading Others Managing Stress • Technical Expertise

17. Describe a time when you had difficulty communicating your thoughts clearly to another person or group. What was the situation? What message were you trying to convey?  Where did the difficulty in communicating effectively lie? What did you do to get your point across more clearly? What was the outcome?

18. Remember that everything that you say to a candidate is critical.