Actually, someone might want to check on this, but I learned in an
employment training run by the state that it's legal to ask absolutely
ANYTHING (the state was training us to be interviewees, not interviewers,
and we were being told what to prepare for). It is not, however, legal to
discriminate against someone based solely on his or her answer (and I think
even THAT depends on the topic of conversation [religion, marital status,
disabilities, etc]).

Here's an example: From what we were told, an interviewer COULD ask me my
religion on an interview. However, if he/she finds that I am equally
qualified as another candidate and uses only my religion as a reason not to
hire me, that is illegal. It's a sticky issue, I think, which is why
questions like this are often avoided on interviews, and we certainly don't
ask them here. I just don't know about their legality.

- Sarah


.
>
> (I've actually had a situation where I was asked my religion and if I
> attended church regularly, if I consume alcohol - another thread on this
> list altogether - and family planning issues... ALL completely illegal.
> They let me know that the organization had no concept of employment law
and
> really wasn't interested in learning it.  I handled the questions with a
> smile and very patient "Do you know it is illegal for you to ask me that
in
> a job interview?")
>
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