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?
Asking if someone is married,which can be a yes or no question is not guranteed to reveal any of that. There is nothing in the law that says you can't ask the question. There is nothing in the law that says anything about sexual orientation. There is nothing in the law that says you can't ask about sexual orientation. Also the law doesn't allow for age discrimination, but it doesn't say that you can not ask the age of an applicant. Most online applications for most major cooperations can not even be completed with out listing a date of birth.
What the law does say is you can't discriminate based on sex. But it is talking about sex as in gender, not about having sex or sexual orentation, and courts have repeatedly upheld that interpretation. Here is the text of the actual law as it appears on the Government Equal Opportunity Website if you would like to read it for yourself. If you find any of the things you are claiming in feel free to point them out. If you can find the actual text of another federal law that states what you are claiming, feel free to post it. But please stop saythe same thing without actually presenting one law that confirms your claims.
should employers be allowed to discriminate?
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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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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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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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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?
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Asking if someone is married,which can be a yes or no question is not guranteed to reveal any of that. There is nothing in the law that says you can't ask the question. There is nothing in the law that says anything about sexual orientation. There is nothing in the law that says you can't ask about sexual orientation. Also the law doesn't allow for age discrimination, but it doesn't say that you can not ask the age of an applicant. Most online applications for most major cooperations can not even be completed with out listing a date of birth.
What the law does say is you can't discriminate based on sex. But it is talking about sex as in gender, not about having sex or sexual orentation, and courts have repeatedly upheld that interpretation. Here is the text of the actual law as it appears on the Government Equal Opportunity Website if you would like to read it for yourself. If you find any of the things you are claiming in feel free to point them out. If you can find the actual text of another federal law that states what you are claiming, feel free to post it. But please stop saythe same thing without actually presenting one law that confirms your claims.
http://www.eeoc.gov/laws/statutes/titlevii.cfm
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/making-sense/ask-headhunter-really-illegal-employers-ask-youre-married/