Job Interviewing

Interviewing for a job is stressful enough without having to worry about whether it's legal for your prospective employer to ask for extremely personal information. Knowing your rights ahead of time can help.

Job Applications

Lying on your resume or job application is a sure path to future problems. Even if you get hired based on the false information, your new employer can fire you at any time based solely on your misrepresentation of any fact that relates to your ability to perform your job. For instance, you can be fired for:

• Not reporting a record of prior felony convictions, if asked
• Claiming fraudulent completion of a college degree or specialized training
• Not being truthful about being dismissed in a previous job for honesty-related problems, such as stealing or falsifying records

Questions Regarding Marital Status and Children

It's illegal for potential employers to ask about your spouse or children, but questions regarding your availability to work specific hours and travel on business are appropriate.

Background Checks

The Fair Credit Reporting Act ("FCRA") prohibits credit reporting agencies from giving credit rating information about you to a prospective employer without your consent. If your work would include handling financial matters or require you to be bonded, your employer may be reasonable in asking for this information. But from a practical standpoint, if your potential employer wants the information, you'll either give your consent or won't get the job.

Laws on obtaining arrest and conviction records vary greatly by state. If the position for which you're applying requires a criminal background check - for instance, teachers, daycare providers and nursing home attendants - it's a good idea to consult with an attorney as to whether you're required to report arrests that didn't lead to a conviction. You're not required to report convictions that have been "expunged" (completely removed from your criminal record).

Genetic Testing

Currently, federal employees and employees in a growing number of states are protected against genetic discrimination due to predispositions for certain diseases.

Lie Detector Testing

The Employee Polygraph Protection Act ("EPPA") prohibits employers from requiring prospective employees to take lie detector tests, unless they would be regularly handling drugs or are in the security business (such as armed guards). Polygraphs aren't considered scientifically reliable, in any event.

Personality Testing

There are no federal laws prohibiting employers from administering personality tests to prospective employees, but some states now limit the circumstances under which these tests can be required.

Physical Exams

Under the Americans With Disabilities Act ("ADA"), an employer may not ask disability-related questions until after making a conditional job offer to the applicant. Employers may, however, ask you to perform specific job tasks as part of the job interview. Your disability may or may not affect how well you can perform the job.

Employers may also require medical exams after they offer you the job, to be sure you're capable of doing the job. Although a company-paid doctor can ask lots of nosy questions, law requires the doctor to boil down the report to the company to a simple determination of whether or not you are physically able to do the job, and whether there are any restrictions or accommodations.

Drug Testing

In most states, employers can drug test prospective employees who would be hired into safety-conscious positions once the employee has been offered a job, as long as the applicant knows drug testing is part of the screening process, all applicants for that position are uniformly tested and a certified lab does the testing.

Drug testing for current employers is somewhat stricter. In some states, employers can't do random drug testing in positions that don't involve safety concerns, but must have a specific concern about a specific employee in order to test for drugs. Other states allow random testing of current employees, regardless of specific suspicions.