What
are Illegal
Interview Questions?
In
most so-called advanced countries, there are stringent laws that
support principles of anti-discrimination and equal employment opportunities. Anyone involved in recruiting knows to avoid questions
with discriminatory implications since to deny employment based on
answers to such questions could be breaking the law and consequences
can be severe.
People in Asia, on the
other hand, have completely contrasting views about such regulatory
encumbrances. Candidates themselves almost universally provide personal
information on resumes including some or all of the following: age,
marital status, number of children, height & weight, religion and
ethnic background. It is widely felt that such information are valid
determinants for job suitability and people can be incredulous when
told it might not be.
Global
Standards - Global Morals?
The potential for problems occurs when Asians find themselves
recruiting people from countries with strict anti-discrimination laws, an increasingly common occurrence.
Asian-based hiring managers feel they rightfully must discuss issues
such as marital situation, religion and age because some countries can be
harsh postings for families from rich countries, people of certain ethnic backgrounds and older
people. Gender and religion can also be critical issues in many
countries – Jewish females have bleak chances of success in some Muslim
countries, for instance.
The dilemma is that it is illegal to deny someone's employment on the basis of these attributes in
many countries.
Imagine, if you will, an interview between a hiring manager in Malaysia
and a candidate in the United States who decides to record the
conversation. The Malaysian manager will almost certainly discuss a
number of these "illegal discriminatory" issues out of concern for the
candidate's well-being. The candidate may not appreciate the concern
after being told he or she is unsuitable for the role and call a lawyer
to sue the multinational company for its discriminatory hiring
practices.
Only a Matter of Time
Multinational organizations are already expected to adhere to the
most rigorous
legislation in the domains of corruption, environmental control and health & safety
when doing business in countries where such laws either don’t exist or are
poorly enforced. It
seems reasonable that anti-discrimination laws will soon be added
to the list of regulations that international organizations are required to
adhere to.
Given the increasingly globalized and litigious world in which we live,
it seems reasonable that all that is required is for a couple of scandals
to be reported widely in the media and large change will occur.
In the meantime, it is important that all hiring managers working
for internationally-focused organizations understand the basics of what
are Illegal Interview Questions to keep themselves and their
organizations out of embarrassing and expensive legal jeopardy.
Illegal Interview Questions
Any
question that could lead to a
person being denied employment because of discriminatory beliefs
is normally unlawful in
most so-called advanced countries. Hiring managers should
not ask about any of the following attributes because it would be
considered contrary to equal employment opportunity and
anti-discrimination laws.
-
Age
-
Gender
-
Ethnicity
-
Religion
-
Disability
-
Marital
status
-
Pregnancy
Therefore,
seemingly innocent questions such as the following could lead to
breaches in the law in many countries.
• What arrangements do you make for child care while you work?
• How old are your children?
• Are you a citizen?
• What does your wife do for a living?
• Where did you grow up?
• Will you need personal time for special religious holidays?
• Are you comfortable reporting to a woman?
• How many more years do you plan to work before you retire?
• How is your health?
• There is a big difference between your age and that of our
staff. Would this be a problem for you?
During interviews, questions should be focused on the skills and experience that
are required for the position. If the discussion strays into personal affairs or
gossipy chitchat, change the subject by asking another role-related question.
There is nothing wrong when candidates volunteer information about their personal situations.
If someone says, “My most important after-work activity is a bible study group I
manage.” You can acknowledge the information but do not pursue the matter to find out specifics about his
or her religious beliefs.
How
to Survive as an
International
Interviewer
Western hiring managers recruiting in emerging countries are often
aghast at the legal jeopardy they are put in by even seeing
"personal" information on resumes.
On
the other hand, hiring managers from emerging countries recruiting
expatriates from more regulated countries put their organizations at
risk by asking seemingly commonsense questions about marital status (to
advise on offshore family arrangements) or religion (in case the
emerging country is not tolerant).
MANAGEMENT
RULE:
When the hiring manager and the candidate are in different countries, adopt the
regulations of the country with the strictest legal regime.
If both the hiring manager and the candidate are located in a
lenient country but the multinational employer is based in a highly regulated
one, then the rule-of-thumb becomes:
When-in-Rome-Do-as-the-Romans-
But-Don’t-Go-all-the-Way.
In other words, you can recruit in the manner that is customary in the local
country but don’t publish prominent advertisements with titles like:
Wanted Single
Female (age 20-25
years)
with
Pleasing Personality.
Keeping the above facts in mind should allow you to keep yourself and your organization out of trouble when
conducting candidate interviews in a global business
environment.
Hiring
Leaders
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Asia
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Asia
CEO Forum presented by PLDT ALPHA Enterprise is the largest
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hub for the spreading of ideas that help executive managers
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Attendees are both expatriate and Asian management personnel
overseeing multinational and regional organizations. Held in
Philippines, presenters are leaders in their industries and
engaged in momentous pursuits of significance to the entire
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Asia
CEO Forum is operated as a CSR (Corporate Social
Responsibility) activity of Chalre Associates, one of Southeast
Asia's most prominent senior management executive search firms, to
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Asia
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Asia
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grandest alliance of local and international business people ever
created to promote Philippines on the world stage. As one of the
largest events of its kind in the Asia Pacific region, it is
considered a must-attend occasion for business leaders active in
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The star-studded Board of Judges of Asia CEO Awards give
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SPECIAL DOWNLOADS:
Media organizations
throughout the world call upon the Principals of Chalre Associates for thought leadership.
Below are some examples of published material written by our
consultants or international journalists who refer to them. For a complete list of published work,
Click Here.
Getting Ready For The
Deluge: Outsourcing in Philippines
by
Chalre Associates senior staff
Download
[PDF
file, 62KB]
The
Economist Intelligence Unit of the Economist magazine
asked Chalre Associates' Chairman, Richard Mills,
to write a chapter about the Philippine outsourcing sector
in its annual Business Guide Book. The material
provides a Executive Briefing on the progress and major
issues facing this industry that is certainly one of most
significant growth stories in the world.
more
Asia Pacific Mining
Conference 2007 - Report
by
Chalre Associates senior staff
Download
[PDF
file, 28KB]
The 7th Asia Pacific Mining Conference put on by the Asean
Federation of Mining Associations was perhaps the largest
such event in the region. Richard Mills, Chairman of Chalre Associates
gave this report on what was said by the prominent mining
people who presented.
more
The
State of BPO in Philippines: Dan Reyes Speaks
by
Chalre Associates senior staff
Download
[PDF
file, 31KB]
Richard
Mills, Chairman of Chalre Associates,
interviewed Dan Reyes of Sitel for ComputerWorld (US) recently to get
his views on the state of the BPO industry in Philippines. Dan
presented US readers with compelling information to support his view
that Philippines is currently seen as the "Number 1" option by global
companies sending BPO work to offshore destinations.
Dan Reyes is easily one of most experienced Business Process
Outsourcing (BPO) managers in the Asia Pacific region and the world. He
is head of the extremely successful Philippine operations of Sitel, the
world's largest call center organization. Among other things, he is a
founder and former president of the Business Processing Association of
the Philippines. more
