Five Interview Question Don'ts For California Employers In 2019

Seyfarth Synopsis: Recent California legislation, including laws banning questions about salary history and criminal convictions, has bought new interview jitters for employers. These new laws, along with the Fair Employment and Housing Act's prohibitions against questions going to an applicant's protected status, confirms the point that there is such a thing as a "bad interview question." In this ever-changing legal landscape, it is important for California employers to know what they can and cannot ask candidates in a job interview.

Although Michael Scott's fictional character in The Office would have us believe there is no such thing as a "bad question," that expression holds less true in California today than ever. California's legislative updates in the last year have made job interviews more perilous than ever for the unwary employer.

The Legislature has recently introduced prohibitions on salary history and criminal conviction questions for certain employers. What is more, the FEHA prohibits questions like Michael Scott's zinger, "Why are you the way that you are?"—a question that could go to various protected statuses, such as race, national origin, sex, nationality, and gender.

While such restrictions seem straightforward, implementing them is not always a no-brainer. Indeed, according to one survey, one in five hiring managers admitted that they have asked a question in a job interview only to find out later that it was illegal to ask.

So if you are looking to recruit for a temporary role, or hiring to fill the next coveted regional manager role at Dunder Mifflin, certain interview questions can have you breaking a sweat in California in 2019:

1. Have You Ever Been Convicted of a Crime?

   What used to be a common check-the-box question on employment applications is now illegal to ask before the employment offer stage. In late 2017, California joined several states in introducing "ban the box" laws to reduce barriers to applicants in the pre-hiring stage. Under AB 1008, California employers with more than five employees now must not

   include on any job application questions that seek the disclosure of an applicant's conviction history, ask about or consider the conviction history of an applicant until he/she has received a conditional offer, or consider, distribute, or disseminate information related to specified prior arrests, diversions, and convictions when conducting a conviction history background check. San Francisco's version of...