Questions:
1) In an employment ad, you are asked for handwriting samples and a photograph.
2) On an application form, you are asked about education - name of school, type/date of diploma, grade point average (GPA).
3) In an interview, you tell the candidate where you have 'roots' and ask where people with his/her last name come from.
4) Two top candidates are ready to accept a CEO position with a yearly salary of $90,000. The 39-year-old candidate is somewhat better qualified, but you choose the 28-year-old candidate because he is younger.
5) Your US CEO is looking for a reliable night watchman. To narrow the selection, he/she gives applicants a simple spelling test.
6) Your US CEO is looking for a chief accountant. The best candidate can only move in a wheelchair. The CEO therefore hires the second best candidate.
7) Your company's employment application forms asks if candidates have ever had a drug or alcohol problem.
8) You ask a candidate if he/she has ever had a physical or mental handicap which could impair his performance in the job he/she is interested in.
Answers:
1) No. In the US, it is discriminating to select candidates according to handwriting. The appearance of an applicant cannot be crucial for hiring, except in special types of jobs.
2) No. It is not allowed to ask about the quality of the school where the candidate graduated from. It would be possible to estimate the age of a candidate according to the date of graduation, which is not allowed.
3) No. A candidate with the same nationality as the interviewer could be preferred.
4) Yes. To prefer one candidate because of his lower age is possible until the age of 40. If a candidate is over 40 and is not hired, his/her age cannot be the crucial criterion.
5) No. The employee does not need good grammar for this job.
6) No. The job can also be performed by a person in a wheelchair. This handicap cannot be the reason for preferring another candidate.
7) No. The present state of the candidate should be the crucial criterion for the employer. The employer can require drug-tests, but a problem from the past cannot be a reason for discrimination.
8) Yes. The employer has the right to consider the character of the rendered position and the danger of a possible relapse.
