Questions which are not advisable to ask on the job application form.
Age (Date of Birth)
No questions relating to date of birth or age of an applicant are accepted on an application form, besides whether the applicant is 18 years or over. Organizations willing to hire people should not enquire age, birth certificate or for any other documents that illustrate the age of a potential recruit such as driver’s license and baptismal records.
When the date of birth is appropriate to an important role of a position or registering in an organization pension plans and benefits, this information should only be inquired following a conditional offer of employment (Martin).
Some application forms might require the date of birth of the applicant, for instance, the application form of a driver. An application form may also enquire whether an employee has the license of a driver if driving is an important role of that job. An application form, in this case, should not request a copy of the driving license of the applicant since it has personal information that may result in the applicant being categorized according to age. If the applicant is not given the job, such inquiry can also lead to a hint that the decision was based on improper variables for example age.
Place of Birth
Employers are not allowed to ask the place of birth of an applicant in the job application form. Instead, they can ask if the potential employee is legally entitled to work in a particular place (Martin). Asking related questions such as the names of schools or educational institutions where the applicant has attended is not advisable since it may indicate the origin of the applicant. Thus, it is advisable to gather information relating to the place of birth only after making a conditional proposal of employment.
Marital Status (Are you Married? Divorced? Single? Separated?)
Organizations willing to hire are not allowed to ask the marital status of applicants in the job application form. Questions that should not be in the form of job application include are you Single? Married? Divorced? Instead of enquiring the marital status of a job applicant, an employer should ask whether an applicant is willing to relocate, and this is only advisable to ask when it is relevant to the job.
Marital status questions can act as a basis for discrimination as employers might be viewed to see a potential employee who is married as either favorably in that he or she is more stable or, perhaps unfavorably in that in that he or she may experience a conflict of interest between a single applicant having more time to give to the job over a married applicant who might have family commitments to deal with (Martin).
Sex
Questions relating to sex should not be asked in a job application form. It is important for employers to ensure that they do not make assumptions regarding applicant’s abilities based on their gender. In situations where the gender of the potential employee is important, then employers should use questions such as “we have always had a woman or man do this job. How do you think you will catch up? Employers should totally delete the word gender out of this question and instead inquire about the potential of the applicant to perform the job.
Conviction of a Crime (Have you ever been convicted of a crime?).
This is a very sensitive question and in case it has to be in the job application form then employers should be careful on how to frame it. In line with United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) guideline, employers must weigh several elements when involving convictions into recruiting decisions. The aspects that should be taken consideration include the severity and nature of the offense, the time that has passed, and whether the offense has any connection to the job (Martin).
Citizenship (Are you a United States citizen?)
Employers are also not allowed to include questions regarding citizenship in a job application form. In cases where the job requires the citizenship of a potential employee to be identified, the employer is advised to use appropriate phrases such as “are legally allowed to work in United States?”
Family Status (Number of dependants)
No questions relating to family status are allowed for employers to ask at the application stage. In cases where the nature of the job requires applicant’s family status, for instance, in cases where the position requires frequent travelling; it is advisable to ask if the person is free to travel instead of asking whether an applicant responsibility limit his or her availability. Employers should not assume that a person with a higher number of responsibilities will not be interested in a particular job.
Compensation Claim (Have you ever filed a workman’s compensation claim or injured on the job)
Questions regarding compensation claim should not be included in the job application form. In cases where an applicant admits that he or she has filed a workman’s compensation claim and finally not being given the job, there is likelihood that the process of recruiting was discriminative and based on unsuitable factors such as compensation claim (Martin).
Work Cited
Martin, John. Human Resource Management. Los Angeles: SAGE, 2009. Print.
