What Questions Can’t I Ask At A Pet Sitting Interview?
Did you know there are certain questions that you can’t ask during a pet sitting interview?
If you do, and a person wants to report you, they can report you and your business to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission(EEOC)?
Questions about Race, Color, Sex, Religion, National origin, birthplace, and age are all off limits. This might seem easy and straight forward enough, but if you have ever asked the following questions, you might have opened yourself up to a lawsuit:
Describe to me who you live with (to see if they were a Mom or will be trying to bring their children on jobs)
Where are you from?
Asking where or how they learned their foreign language.
If they have a spouse, if their spouse is employed, how much their spouse earns (I could see pet sitting interviews going down this road to see if the applicant needs supplemental income and has another source of a provider at home)
Can not ask if they have children or about child care arrangements.
Can not tell them they have to work certain holidays or ask them about their customs around holidays.
The Fine Line
It is a very fine line you can walk because you are not allowed to ask these questions at a pet sitting interview, yet if they are worded another way, you can. Tricky, huh? I am offering you this blog pot as a guide and a way to start the conversation with yourself, office manager, hiring manager, etc. These are fundamental things that you need to be aware of if you are interviewing in your pet sitting company for staff.
Great Resources I Recommend You Check Out:
You may have been in violation. However, for some of these, there are ways around these questions if you ask them in a proper manner. The University of Albany has put together a really great document that breaks down the differences between Legal and Illegal Interview Questions.
Here is a great story that CBS did in 2011 that could cost your company 1 Million Dollars!
