Legal & Illegal Job Reference Questions

As an employer, there are some questions you are not allowed to ask a job applicant's references.

Supplying references to a potential employer is a standard part of applying for a job. When employers contact these references, there are some things they are prohibited by law from asking, just as they are in job interviews and application forms. These prohibitions are designed to protect job candidates from discrimination on grounds that are irrelevant to their ability to perform the job.

Legal: Candidate's Strengths

It is perfectly legal to ask references about the strengths that a job candidate possesses. Indeed, this is one of the primary reasons for contacting a reference: to find out in what ways this individual may be better able than other individuals to perform the job at hand. As long as the questions regarding the candidate's strengths remain specifically related to abilities and talents that will be used in the job, the potential employer's inquiries are on very solid legal ground.

Legal: Candidate's Weaknesses

Questions about weaknesses or failings of the candidate fall into the same legal category as discussions of her strengths. A potential employer has a right to know what he may be getting into when he hires this person. Since the reference was supplied by the job candidate herself, it is unlikely that the reference will provide an extensive list of the candidate's failings, but the employer has the right to ask nonetheless.

Illegal: Candidate's Religion

Because labor laws prohibit discrimination against job applicants based on their religion, it is illegal for a potential employer to question job candidates about their personal religious views or beliefs. The same prohibition applies to questions on job applications and to questions asked of the references supplied by the candidate. If for some reason a reference refers to or reveals the candidate's religion in the course of the conversation, this isn't the fault of the employer and isn't illegal, as long as the employer didn't solicit this information.

Illegal: Candidate's Marital Situation

Although a person's marital status is rarely a secret in social situations or in the workplace, it is still prohibited for a potential employer to ask about it. Employers may have concerns about the candidate's contentions, particularly in the case of young women who may be planning to have children. In academic situations, marital status can be an issue, particularly when both partners are academics and are seeking positions that require them to relocate. While these concerns on the part of a potential employer are understandable, they are not allowed to ask about them when interviewing references.

References

• Quora: What One Question Should One Always Ask References for Job Applicants?
• Ask a Manager: Don't Check References? Here's a Horror Story for You