Home Health & Hospice Week

Head off discrimination allegations by heeding this list of what not to ask.

Interviews are one of your most important tools in finding the right employees for your home care organization. But in your zeal to ferret out vital information in interviews, don't lose sight of the rules you must follow. Employers must be extremely careful to not ask any questions that could be construed as discriminatory, points out attorney Eileen Kaplan with Gilliland & Caudill in Indianapolis. Here's a list of no-no's: Disability. Don't ask a candidate any question that will reveal a disability. For example, don't ask, "Do you have any lifting restrictions?" Instead say something like, "This job requires you to lift patients. Can you perform this job?" Kaplan counsels. If the candidate reveals a disability, you must ask what accommodations he/she would need to perform the job. Only after making an employment offer can you ask directly about the disability, Kaplan explains. Age. Don't ask a candidate's age. Also, don't ask questions about date of birth, date of graduation from college, or any other dates that could help you estimate the applicant's age, Kaplan advises. Religion, race, ancestry, sexual preference. These questions "aren't applicable to the job at hand" and can easily be used as evidence of discrimination, Kaplan warns. You may ask, "Can you read and write English?" but you may not ask where the applicant learned English. Criminal record. Don't ask about a person's arrest record, but you can ask about convictions. "Convictions prove guilt, arrests don't prove anything," Kaplan points out. Employers should carefully read their states' employment practice laws, since some states are more restrictive than others on what can and cannot be asked in interviews, Kaplan emphasizes.