Illegal interview questions NZ employers can’t ask

• The questions that interviewers can’t legally ask you NZ
• How to spot illegal job interview questions
• How to report illegal job interview questions

You’ll notice as you look through the list below that there’s a common theme running through the types of questions that job interviewers can’t legally ask – discrimination. The law in NZ illegalises questions that aren’t relevant to your ability to do the job, but that an employer might use unfairly to make a decision about your application. There are, however, some important exceptions to some of these, which we’ll go into where relevant.

It’s pretty clear why this question isn’t acceptable. Unscrupulous employers may discriminate against applicants who have kids, or plan to, because they don’t want to have to hire temporary staff while you go on parental leave.

In New Zealand, you’re entitled to parental leave as an employment right, so the employer is asking questions like this, it’s a pretty good indication that they might not be the best to work for.

This really comes down to what you’re comfortable with, but just know that you’re under no obligation to reveal any information about your partner (and, indeed, whether or not you have one).

One reason to be wary about these types of questions is that it can be a subtle way for the employer to discover your sexual orientation, which may be used to discriminate against you if the employer is homophobic.

Agism is another form of discrimination with an unfortunately long history when it comes to employment. Again, it all comes back to the fact that this stuff doesn’t influence your ability to get the job done, so employers have no need to ask such questions. You should also be aware of sneaky ways that the employer could try and find out your age, such as asking when you left uni or school.

There are, however, some important common sense exceptions here. For example, you can’t work in the parts of a casino where gambling happens, or have job responsibilities related to gambling if you’re under 20. In this example, the employer has a duty of care to ensure that you’re old enough.

Another fairly obvious one – questions about where you or your family come from, or about your cultural background are completely inappropriate in a job interview and you should feel no obligation to answer.

What you do or don’t believe in, and who you vote for have no impact on your ability to perform your job responsibilities.

It’s important to realise that being asked questions like this (and about anything on this list) is very non-standard and should be ringing alarm bells in your head regarding what it would be like to work for this person. It implies that they aren’t big on inclusivity, and probably don’t care a whole heap about their employees’ happiness.

It’s illegal for employers to ask questions about how many sick days you’ve taken in the last year, or if you’ve previously left a job for health reasons. Like parental leave, you’re entitled to a set amount of sick leave per year (10 days in most cases), and employers shouldn’t be trying to scope out how much time you might take off per year during the job interview.

The only health-related questions that might be acceptable are when, for example, a certain degree of physical fitness is required for a role. However, questions about taking sick leave are never acceptable.

The so-called Clean Slate Act enables people who were convicted of crimes but didn’t serve prison sentences to legally hide their convictions if they meet certain criteria. It’s therefore completely wrong for employers to try and find out if you’ve been able to do this.

It’s important to realise, however, that clean slate convictions will still show up in employment criminal record checks for certain types of work that involve working with vulnerable groups like children.

This is really cheeky, but it does happen. Sometimes the hiring manager will look at your CV, see you’ve worked for a competitor (or just someone they want to copy) and view the interview as an opportunity to do some snooping.

Of course, you should expect to answer questions about what you do or did in your current/former roles, but be wary of these questions going beyond you to the wider company.

As well as reflecting badly on the person asking these questions, this is potentially dangerous for you, because, if you answer, you could be in breach of the duty of confidentiality you owe organisations you’ve worked for.

Unfortunately, some employers might know they’re asking an illegal job interview question, and choose to ask it anyway. In such cases, they might try to dress them up by using subtle phrasing. For example, instead of asking “how old are you?”, they might ask “when did you leave school?”, or instead of asking “where are you from?” they might ask “were you born in New Zealand?”

With any job interview question, even the innocent ones, it’s always a good idea to pause for a second before you start speaking in order to collect your thoughts. This can also allow you to think about what the interviewer is really asking, and whether you’re comfortable answering.