I was once asked in an interview if me and my "wife" were enjoying a new part of the country that we moved to. I answered "yes me and my husband like it here very much". I figured if I get the job, coworkers generally talk and ask about family, and this was better than having to lie throughout my employment, or acknowledge that I had mislead with my answer if I simply said "yes".
Because homosexuals are not a protected class under federal law, unless there are local laws that prohibit in in a particular area, asking if someone is gay is not illegal. But I would be shocked if an employer actually asked the question. It would be a rare occurrence if it happens at all. But like my situation above, Facebook checking, and other methods, it is possible for it to come up in other ways like it did in the above situation.
Because of written testimony to the legislature and committees that I have served on regarding equality initiatives, my homosexuality is a matter of public record. With the information I would provide on a job application a simple google search, common in screening applicants today, would easily reveal that fact. Even if it didn't, upon hire I would have to reveal my same sex spouse as part of the new hire paper work for benefit purposes.
My husband took my last name, so he has to provide his birth name and the reason for the change if the job requires a background check prior to hiring an applicant. So that is another way it might come up. I can assure you, there are many ways that this can come up. An employer doesn't have to sak "are you gay" to know that you are.
Actually asking any kind of personal information like that is against the rules. You can answer it if your like me who honestly does not care if they know this. You can report them if they ask something which you find too personal as well.
Granted most people do not know this. However I was told this by my job coach and they listed the questions they can and can not ask. They can not legally ask about family, loved ones, sexuality and those sort of questions. However like I said if you dont care "Like myself" you can go ahead and answer.
I generally dont make a huge deal about this kind of stuff myself so I am more than happy to answer anything they feel like asking me that isnt "Do you masturbate" or something along those lines. I would gladly answer to if I am a virgin, my religion or even my race as I simply am not ashamed of it.
So no they can not legally ask those sort of things but of course not everyone understands what is and is not a legal question. So I dont really fault you for not realizing it. There is a lot of questions people would assume is an okay question as well but are not for whatever reason.
Like for example they can ask if you been convicted of a crime but not if you have been arrested. The reason being if you were arrested but not convicted that means you are not charged with any crimes. Now a lot of applications do in fact ask "Have you ever been arrested" which is legal but since I had no run ins with the law I usually am completely upfront and honest about this myself. I mean you can make a complaint and some might but I honestly would not care.
The only things where I have seen them legally go against this is maybe jobs like CIA, Cops, and military which do extensive background checks. Are often government ran programs and very hard to get into. Which also can disqualify you for just about anything as well. Including family history. Apparently the Marine corpse also use to make you sign a paper ensuring you were never gay as well. According to my mother and I dont doubt that at all given their reputation.
You are not quite right. But I am going to explain that part last as it is complicated and not the point. The point was they don't have to ask to find out. They can find out through a simple google search in my situation. In my husband's situation, he has to disclose our marriage if the job requires a background check because he has to explain his name change, if hired I have to disclose my marriage as part of the new hire paper work for dependant benefit purposes. There are many ways to find out without asking and that was my point.
To what you said about the law, as someone who has been involved in the applicant screening process for a large cooperation, as well as someone who has ran his own small business, I can tell you that you are not entirely correct. There are questions that Illegal to ask (and what you said about arrested vs convicted is correct) questions about race and other things also fall into this category.
But under federal law, "are you gay" is not one of them. Because homosexuals are not a protected class, there is basically no mention of homosexuals is federal labor laws, basically they don't legally exist in terms of labor. Because of this nowhere in the law is such a question specifically banned. It is also not Illegal to ask if someone is married, because it never specifically mentions that question in the law. Though in my situation no one asked if I was married, they saw my wedding ring and made an assumption. I always looked for a ring myself when screening applicants.
All that being said, most people still consider the question "are you married" illegal, because even though the question itself is not illegal, the answers can reveal information that is illegal to ask about. As a result, most companies will avoid the question all together for legal reasons. The same goes for "are you gay". As I said in my last responce, it would be a shock if someone actually asked, it just isn't done.
As far as answering the question you are not legally required to answer. But you are not legally required to answer ANY question in a job interview. It is your legal right to sit through an entire job interview and answer every question "I don't fell I should have to answer that". Just don't expect to get hired if you do.
http://www.businessinsider.com/11-illegal-interview-questions-2013-7
Any questions that reveal your age, race, national origin, gender, religion, marital status and sexual orientation are off-limits.
That means orientation of any kind and marriage to any person. You are not suppose to ask that.
If you feel like telling them about your marriage that is up to you. However they are not suppose to ask you that in an interview or on an application. Its an illegal question.
PS. I didn't mean to negative towards you when I said "fail" as in you're gonna fail or your a failure. I just meant that it wasn't possible. Some people think fail is a negative word and I didn't want my choice of words to give you the wrong idea :)
And they are probably going off the idea that it is a bad idea legally as I said. But it is still not technically illegal as the law never mentions it. I challange you to try to find anything in the US labor laws that say it is illegal to ask about marriage, or anything about gay people at all, I promice you will fail. The labor lawyer in this article breaks it down if you care to read it.
Any questions that reveal your age, race, national origin, gender, religion, marital status and sexual orientation are off-limits.
Sexual orientation means girls, boys, cross-dressers whatever they can not ask. That means it is covered. Its like if you say "No pets allowed" that means anything that can be considered a pet is not allowed. Gender anything that is considered a gender is not allowed. Religion anything that counts as a religion is not allowed. That would mean you are saying that homosexuality is not really sexuality so what is it?
should employers be allowed to discriminate?
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I was once asked in an interview if me and my "wife" were enjoying a new part of the country that we moved to. I answered "yes me and my husband like it here very much". I figured if I get the job, coworkers generally talk and ask about family, and this was better than having to lie throughout my employment, or acknowledge that I had mislead with my answer if I simply said "yes".
Because homosexuals are not a protected class under federal law, unless there are local laws that prohibit in in a particular area, asking if someone is gay is not illegal. But I would be shocked if an employer actually asked the question. It would be a rare occurrence if it happens at all. But like my situation above, Facebook checking, and other methods, it is possible for it to come up in other ways like it did in the above situation.
Because of written testimony to the legislature and committees that I have served on regarding equality initiatives, my homosexuality is a matter of public record. With the information I would provide on a job application a simple google search, common in screening applicants today, would easily reveal that fact. Even if it didn't, upon hire I would have to reveal my same sex spouse as part of the new hire paper work for benefit purposes.
My husband took my last name, so he has to provide his birth name and the reason for the change if the job requires a background check prior to hiring an applicant. So that is another way it might come up. I can assure you, there are many ways that this can come up. An employer doesn't have to sak "are you gay" to know that you are.
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Riddler
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Actually asking any kind of personal information like that is against the rules. You can answer it if your like me who honestly does not care if they know this. You can report them if they ask something which you find too personal as well.
Granted most people do not know this. However I was told this by my job coach and they listed the questions they can and can not ask. They can not legally ask about family, loved ones, sexuality and those sort of questions. However like I said if you dont care "Like myself" you can go ahead and answer.
I generally dont make a huge deal about this kind of stuff myself so I am more than happy to answer anything they feel like asking me that isnt "Do you masturbate" or something along those lines. I would gladly answer to if I am a virgin, my religion or even my race as I simply am not ashamed of it.
So no they can not legally ask those sort of things but of course not everyone understands what is and is not a legal question. So I dont really fault you for not realizing it. There is a lot of questions people would assume is an okay question as well but are not for whatever reason.
Like for example they can ask if you been convicted of a crime but not if you have been arrested. The reason being if you were arrested but not convicted that means you are not charged with any crimes. Now a lot of applications do in fact ask "Have you ever been arrested" which is legal but since I had no run ins with the law I usually am completely upfront and honest about this myself. I mean you can make a complaint and some might but I honestly would not care.
The only things where I have seen them legally go against this is maybe jobs like CIA, Cops, and military which do extensive background checks. Are often government ran programs and very hard to get into. Which also can disqualify you for just about anything as well. Including family history. Apparently the Marine corpse also use to make you sign a paper ensuring you were never gay as well. According to my mother and I dont doubt that at all given their reputation.
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VinnyB
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You are not quite right. But I am going to explain that part last as it is complicated and not the point. The point was they don't have to ask to find out. They can find out through a simple google search in my situation. In my husband's situation, he has to disclose our marriage if the job requires a background check because he has to explain his name change, if hired I have to disclose my marriage as part of the new hire paper work for dependant benefit purposes. There are many ways to find out without asking and that was my point.
To what you said about the law, as someone who has been involved in the applicant screening process for a large cooperation, as well as someone who has ran his own small business, I can tell you that you are not entirely correct. There are questions that Illegal to ask (and what you said about arrested vs convicted is correct) questions about race and other things also fall into this category.
But under federal law, "are you gay" is not one of them. Because homosexuals are not a protected class, there is basically no mention of homosexuals is federal labor laws, basically they don't legally exist in terms of labor. Because of this nowhere in the law is such a question specifically banned. It is also not Illegal to ask if someone is married, because it never specifically mentions that question in the law. Though in my situation no one asked if I was married, they saw my wedding ring and made an assumption. I always looked for a ring myself when screening applicants.
All that being said, most people still consider the question "are you married" illegal, because even though the question itself is not illegal, the answers can reveal information that is illegal to ask about. As a result, most companies will avoid the question all together for legal reasons. The same goes for "are you gay". As I said in my last responce, it would be a shock if someone actually asked, it just isn't done.
As far as answering the question you are not legally required to answer. But you are not legally required to answer ANY question in a job interview. It is your legal right to sit through an entire job interview and answer every question "I don't fell I should have to answer that". Just don't expect to get hired if you do.
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http://www.businessinsider.com/11-illegal-interview-questions-2013-7
Any questions that reveal your age, race, national origin, gender, religion, marital status and sexual orientation are off-limits.
That means orientation of any kind and marriage to any person. You are not suppose to ask that.
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Riddler
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If you feel like telling them about your marriage that is up to you. However they are not suppose to ask you that in an interview or on an application. Its an illegal question.
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VinnyB
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VinnyB
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PS. I didn't mean to negative towards you when I said "fail" as in you're gonna fail or your a failure. I just meant that it wasn't possible. Some people think fail is a negative word and I didn't want my choice of words to give you the wrong idea :)
And they are probably going off the idea that it is a bad idea legally as I said. But it is still not technically illegal as the law never mentions it. I challange you to try to find anything in the US labor laws that say it is illegal to ask about marriage, or anything about gay people at all, I promice you will fail. The labor lawyer in this article breaks it down if you care to read it.
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Riddler
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VinnyB
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Any questions that reveal your age, race, national origin, gender, religion, marital status and sexual orientation are off-limits.
Sexual orientation means girls, boys, cross-dressers whatever they can not ask. That means it is covered. Its like if you say "No pets allowed" that means anything that can be considered a pet is not allowed. Gender anything that is considered a gender is not allowed. Religion anything that counts as a religion is not allowed. That would mean you are saying that homosexuality is not really sexuality so what is it?
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/making-sense/ask-headhunter-really-illegal-employers-ask-youre-married/