Orange County Employment Interview Questions: Illegal Questions of Citizenship, Ancestry, Relatives

Employers can’t ask if you intend to become a citizen or require naturalization or alien registration prior to employment.  They can ask if you can verify your legal right to work in the United States after you’re hired.

Employers can ask what languages you speak, write, read, or understand if a foreign language is relevant to the job.  They can ask for names of relatives you may have working for the company or a competitor, or who (but not a “relative”) to notify in case of accident or emergency.  However, they can’t ask about your ancestry, lineage, national origin, or the language commonly used by you or how you acquired your foreign language ability.

If you’re not offered the job and believe illegal questions were asked during the hiring process, you might have a claim against the employer.

Don D. Sessions, an Orange County employee rights lawyer, author and law school professor, helps employees enforce their rights.