Questions about family on an employment questionnaire?

[drm604]

One of the jobs I applied for online sent me a questionnaire in response. One of the questions was this:

Family
i.e., spouse (name) (any career?)

Kids (ages)?

Special needs?

I have never before been asked anything even remotely like this. This could easily be an attempt on their part to keep down insurance costs by eliminating people with spouses, kids, or special needs. Is it even legal for them to ask this?

[Lucky Luciano]

1. Not an expert, but sounds illegal. nt

[Kat45]

2. Ditto.

Another non-expert here also thinking it sounds illegal. I don't believe that kind of information is any of their business. Of course in today's job market, employers are probably trying--and getting away with--a lot of stuff that they shouldn't be.

[drm604]

3. I didn't get the job anyway.

They said that it had been 3 years since I'd worked with VB6 and that was too long ago. How stupid is that? :grr:

[Lucky Luciano]

4. Was that from an HR moron or based on a technical interview?

If it was an HR moron, then that is BS, but if you were grilled in a technical interview and did not impress them, then oh well.

[Berry Cool]

5. Didn't see this post until now, and I'm not an expert, but I don't have to be to know

that NO, it is NOT legal for employers to ask these questions.

They are, absolutely and completely, a screen to attempt to get you to volunteer information they can use to disqualify you on the theory that you will need more bennies than someone else. I.e., if you're single, you can't be on a spouse's health plan; if your spouse doesn't work, you can't be on your spouse's employer's health plan; if you have kids, depending on age, they may cost more in benefits; and if they have special needs, they will absolutely cost more.

It has been illegal for many years now to ask potential employees their marital status or whether they have children because the info was used for so many years to discriminate against women (or deny them jobs because they had young children). Employers are not even allowed to ask about your child care plans.

Today, employers want to know this information so they can evaluate who will be the biggest drain on their benefits plan and eliminate anyone who might take too much advantage of it. I have at least one job-hunting book that says some of them will try to trick you into volunteering the informaation by putting pictures of their own kids (or even someone else's) on their desks for a job interview and trying to lure you into a conversation about children that way--so you'll think you're just having a friendly conversation when you mention the names and ages of your kids, but the interviewer is silently filing away the info to disqualify you. Also, it warns against mentioning a single thing about how much you "need" the benefits offered by the employer, or how good it will be for you to have them, before your first day on the job or before the ink is dry. Because if the employer makes you an offer and then hears that you might be taking heavy advantage of its benefits package, it may withdraw the offer.

Short answer: such questions are illegal, never answer them, and don't whisper a word about your private life to a potential employer until you are absolutely and positively HIRED. That includes, for all gay persons, not breathing a hint that you might possibly be gay. Sad but true. Sure, to discriminate against you based on that information is illegal, but if you volunteer it, how are you going to prove they didn't hire you for that reason? After all, they'll never tell you. You'll just hear that they chose someone else.

[Phoebe Loosinhouse]

6. Absolutely illegal.

You should send them a response that says,

I would not consider working for a company that is so unaware of state and federal employment laws that I would be sent a pre-employment questionnaire like this. I am forwarding your questionnaire with a complaint to all appropriate regulatory agencies.