WHAT CAN EMPLOYERS ASK APPLICANTS AND EMPLOYEES?

1 Employment Inquiries - Page 1 of 3 EMPLOYMENT INQUIRIESWHAT CAN EMPLOYERS ASK APPLICANTS AND EMPLOYEES? The Department of Fair Employment and Housing has developed this guide to provide EMPLOYERS withguidance relating to inquiries that can be made to APPLICANTS and California Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA) prohibits any non-job-related inquiries of applicantsor employees, either verbally or through the use of an application form, that express, directly or indirectly alimitation, specification or discrimination as to race, religious creed, color, national origin, ancestry, physicaldisability, mental disability, medical condition, marital status, sex, age, or sexual orientation, or any intent to make such a limitation, specification, or regulations of Fair Employment and Housing Commission indicate that inquiries that, directly or indirectly,identify an individual on a basis enumerated in the Act are unlawful.

2 However, it is not unlawful for anemployer to collect applicant flow data and other record keeping data for statistical purposes. Misuse of thisdata constitutes a violation of the Fair Employment and Housing FEHA also prohibits an employer from requiring any medical or psychological examination or inquiry ofany applicant or to make any inquiry whether an applicant has a mental or physical disability or medicalcondition. It is also unlawful to make an inquiry regarding the nature and severity of a mental or physicaldisability or medical condition. However, an employer may inquire into the ability of an applicant to performjob-related functions and may respond to an applicant s request for reasonable an employment offer has been made to an applicant, but prior to the commencement of employmentduties, an employer may require a medical or psychological examination provided that: the examination or inquiry is job-related and consistent with business necessity and.

3 That all entering employees in the same job classification are subject to the same examination employer may not require any medical or psychological examination or make any inquiry of an employee ,or inquire whether an employee has a mental or physical disability or medical condition or inquire into theseverity of the disability or , an employer may require any medical or psychological examination or make inquiries that it canshow are job-related and consistent with business necessity. An employer may conduct voluntary medicalexaminations, including medical histories, which are part of an employee health program available to theemployee at the work Employment Inquiries table is a guide and is not intended to be an exhaustive list of all acceptable andunacceptable inquiries.

4 Those questions considered unacceptable are likely to limit the employmentopportunities of persons protected by the Fair Employment and Housing Department of Fair Employment & HousingFact SheetEmployment Inquiries - Page 2 of 3 EMPLOYMENT INQUIRIESACCEPTABLESUBJECTUNACCEPTABLENa meNAME Maiden namePlace of residenceRESIDENCE Questions regarding owning that hire is subject toverification that APPLICANTS meet legal Age Birth date Date of attendance/completion ofschool Questions which tend to identifyapplicants over 40 Statements/inquiries regarding verificationof legal right to work in the United ,CITIZENSHIP Birthplace of applicant or applicant sparents, spouse or other relatives.

5 Requirements that applicant producenaturalization or alien card prior applicant reads, speaks orwrites if use of language other thanEnglish is relevant to the job for whichapplicant is ORIGIN Questions as to nationality, lineage,ancestry, national origin, descent orparentage of applicant, applicant sspouse, parent or by employer of regular days,hours, or shifts to be Questions regarding applicant sreligion. Religious days and address of parent or guardianif applicant is a of company policy regardingwork assignment of employees who ,MARITAL STATUS,FAMILY Questions to indicate applicant s sex,marital status, number/ages ofchildren or dependents. Questions regarding pregnancy, childbirth, or birth control Name/address of relative, spouse orchildren of adult , COLOR,SEXUAL ORIENTATION Questions to applicant s race, color,or sexual orientation.

6 Questions regarding applicant scomplexion, color of eyes, hair orsexual REPORT Any report which would indicateinformation which is otherwise illegalto ask, , marital status, age,residency, that a photograph may berequired after ,PHOTOGRAPHS,FINGERPRINTS Questions as to applicant sheight/weight. Requiring applicant to affix aphotograph to application or submitone at his/her option. Require a photograph after interviewbut before may inquire if applicant canperform job-related that employment offer may bemade contingent upon passing a job-related mental/physical ,MENTAL CONDITION( APPLICANTS ) Any inquiry into the applicant sgeneral health, medical condition, ormental/physical disability.

7 Requiring a psychological/medicalexamination of any Inquiries - Page 3 of 3A medical/psychological examination/inquiry may be made as long as theexamination/inquiry is job-related andconsistent with business necessity and allapplicants for the same job classificationare subject to the ,MEDICAL CONDITION(POST- OFFER/PRE-EMPLOYMENT) Any inquiry into the applicant sgeneral health, medical condition, orphysical/mental disability, if not job-related and consistent with medical/psychologicalexamination/inquiry may be made as longas the examination is job-related andconsistent with business ,MEDICAL CONDITION(EMPLOYEES) Any inquiry into the employee sgeneral health, medical condition, ormental/physical disability, if not job-related and consistent with questions about convictions,except those convictions which have beensealed, or expunged, or ,CRIMINAL RECORD General questions regarding regarding relevant skillsacquired during military SERVICE General questions regarding militaryservice such as dates/type ofdischarge.

8 Questions regarding service in aforeign lists of job-relatedorganizations, clubs or professionalsocieties omitting indications of ,ACTIVITIES General questions regardingorganizations, clubs, societies of persons willing to provideprofessional and/or character referencesfor Questions of applicant s formeremployers or acquaintances whichelicit information specifyingapplicant s race, and address of person to benotified in case of accident or IN CASE OFEMERGENCY Name, address, and relationship ofrelative to be notified in case ofaccident or : Any inquiry, even though neutral on its face, which has an adverse impact on persons on a basisenumerated in the Fair Employment and Housing Act, is permissible only if it is sufficiently related to anessential job function to warrant its publication can be made available in Braille, large print, computer disk, and tape OF CALIFORNIADEPARTMENT OF FAIR EMPLOYMENT & HOUSING2218 Kausen Drive, Suite 100 Elk Grove, CA, 95758 DFEH-161 (8/01)For more information, contact the Departmenttoll free at: (800) 884-1684 TTY Number: (800) 700-2320or visit our Web site at.