Questions about family on an employment questionnaire? Is this legal?

[drm604]

I posted this on the Career Help and Advice Group here: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=362x770
but that's a very low traffic group so I don't think it will get much attention.

One of the jobs I applied for online sent me a questionnaire in response. One of the questions was this:

Family
i.e., spouse (name) (any career?)

Kids (ages)?

Special needs?

I have never before been asked anything even remotely like this. This could easily be an attempt on their part to keep down insurance costs by eliminating people with spouses, kids, or special needs. Is it even legal for them to ask this?

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

1. Illegal

[Not Me]

2. Big time illegal.

Not only would I blow them in for asking, but would have to strongly wonder what such a place would be like to work for if an offer were extended.

[drm604]

8. It's actually a recruitment firm

so I wouldn't be working for them, but this still bugs the hell out of me. It could be an underhanded way for the actual employer to get the information.

I need the work badly and, in my case, honest answers to those questions shouldn't impact my chances since I'm single with no dependents. But it bugs the hell out of me that they would ask.

[Xithras]

15. If it's a recruiting firm, it actually may not be illegal.

Third party recruiting firms are a gray area, but there may be an innocuous reason for asking this. Many recruiting and headhunting agencies ask questions about families to try and identify resources if the job change involves a relocation. It's not uncommon in higher-wage positions for headhunting firms to also help place spouses in new jobs during a job related move. If the job offer potentially involves relocation expenses or housing assistance, these types of questions are fairly standard.

It's illegal for a headhunting firm to ask for personal family information with the intention of passing that information along to an employer. It's not illegal for a headhunting firm to request that information for their own purposes related to placement compensation, additional placement opportunities, or to offer relocation assistance.

[drm604]

17. But they have no legitimate reason to ask before they get me an offer.

I haven't received an offer.

[FSogol]

3. Not legal. They are trying to keep their insurance costs low. n/t

[rug]

4. Contact the Labor Department.

http://www.dli.state.pa.us/

[drm604]

9. Thanks for the link.

I'm curious, how did you know that I'm in PA?

This raises an interesting point. The job I applied for is in PA, in the Philly area, but the search firm is located in Wisconsin. Who has jurisdiction on this?

[Towlie]

10. "I'm curious, how did you know that I'm in PA?"

The third of the five icons to the right of your name links to your profile.

Link to your profile: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=user_profiles&u_id=157155">

[armyowalgreens]

5. I filled out an application at Costco with the same thing.

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

7. I applied to Costco a couple months ago, and they had nothing like that

[LostinVA]

20. Costco apps have nothing like that on there --???

[RB TexLa]

6. Against the law. And you never have to let them in the back door to that. You are never required

to give an "emergency contact" to your employer.

[Phoebe Loosinhouse]

11. The firm you are talking to way out of touch, behind the times, wrong, illegal, etc.

What does that say about THEM? You will still find pre-historic managers in some companies who still hand out their personal "questionnaire" and the corporate office has no idea they do stuff like this. For a general rule you don't want to be involved with a company this far out of touch. Employment with them could actually jeopardize you personally. Besides employment law, what else aren't they keeping up with? Fire Codes? Building safety? Consumer disclosures?

[drm604]

13. This is from the recruitment agency, not the actual employer

so I wouldn't be working for them but it still bugs me that they would ask this.

[Phoebe Loosinhouse]

14. It bothers me more than you can possibly imagine.

If you want to burn all the bridges with this recruiting firm, just email them and say I believe that you may be breaking employment law and I will be forwarding your questionnaire to the Attorney General's office. The fact that they do this as a "recruiting" agency is just beyond belief. If you don't want to burn bridges, you could email them and say, " I was pleasantly surprised at your questionnaire, since I have never been asked any questions regarding familial status and special needs by any other company prior to employment. May I assume that I have been hired?" Those questions may not be asked as a condition of employment, but they often get asked (legally) post employment, particularly when you are filling out benefits applications and tax forms.

If you know the company they are "recruiting" for, send a copy of the questionnaire to the Human Resources Department and say are you aware that this questionnaire is being emailed by your "recruiter"? You could do this in an anonymous fashion, if you choose.I guarantee that they will go apeshit if they find out.

[drm604]

16. Unfortunately I'm not ready to burn any bridges just yet.

Jobs are hard to come by, but after I do or don't get the job I may look into this further. If not for me then for some future applicant.

[leftofthedial]

12. anything a corporation wants to do is either legal

or soon will be

[drm604]

18. Well, I answered the questions truthfully,

no wife, no dependents. They wrote back and said that it had been 3 years since I'd worked with VB6 and that was too long. How stupid is that?

[LostinVA]

19. Illegal -- report them -- is this an American company? A big outfit???

[aikoaiko]

21. Because it is a recruitment firm, they may be asking to better serve you

But I think if there were issues involving spouses and kids, they should ask more directly.

For example, it is illegal to ask your religion, but it is not illegal to ask if you will anticipate needing to take vacation days during certain times of the year if the employer wants the hiree to specifically work on non-official holidays.