Job interview - can they ask this question?

[mrs_overall]

At a job interview are they allowed to ask the potential employee if they have children?

[legend758duo]

of course.
you fill in an application form with status etc .

cant see why no t

[Ice-Maiden]

But your success might depend on what answer you give. It SHOULDN'T do - but you'd never know.

[mrs_overall]

My niece is applying for a job but thinks that if she reveals she has 10 month old twins she won't stand a chance. She knows a couple of people who work for the firm and time off for sick kids etc is frowned upon.

[bednobs]

they can ask, but they have to ask each candidate the same questions

[Ice-Maiden]

I think if they were going to ask this question, they WOULD ask each candidate, to cover themselves - but perhaps your niece might ask them why it's so necessary to know! They'd have to word their reply very carefully.

[Twenty20]

I think asking them why theyre asking a particular question would maybe go against her. It might come across as being difficult or argumentative. Just answer the question truthfully but maybe she should have a back up plan - tell them at the same time what great support she gets looking after them from husband, grandparents, aunts etc etc.

If they want to turn her down because she's got kids it wont do any good to pretend that she hasnt then have to own up later.

Its not a usual question at an interview.

[Reverandfunk]

Would that be on the application form?

I would have thought that an employer may have a need to know. I

[mrs_overall]

With the application form came a "Diversity" form, asking for her age, race, number of dependent kids, sexual preference etc. it said on the bottom of this form that it was not compulsory to complete any or all of it, so she didn't send it back.
Is it really any of their business?

[Reverandfunk]

Looking at it from a poitive persepective maybe they are trying to gain a detailed breakdown of who applies for jobs and will then act on the findings.

They'll find out she has kids sooner or later

[mrs_overall]

I hear what you are saying Rev, but she wants to get the job on her own merit, on her skills, qualifications & talents. She does not want to be labelled "mother of 2 babies who will need loads of time off & whose brain has probably turned to porridge."

[Reverandfunk]

U said it! lol

If she has an inclining that its the type of firm that dont look favourably on motherhood I wouldn't even bother in the first place.

[mrs_overall]

Lol ok!
I'll pass all your comments onto her. Many thanks.

[Reverandfunk]

To go through preparing for an interview, the interview itself and then waiting i'd be inclined to go to a company who appreciated mothers.

[woodhamgirl]

I was asked this question when i went for an interview at a school a few years back .
When i said i had i asked what difference it made and the answer i got was that if my kids were ill i would have to take time off and they wouldnt give me permission for that should it come to it.
I got up to walk out and said that if they were parents then their kids should come first.
it shouldnt make any difference but it does - you'd think female interviewers would be more understanding but i actually think - from personal experience - they are worse than men

[bandit69]

woodhamgirl - I am an employer and generally ask interviewee's questions about their home life. These are not trick questions, I am just trying to find out something about the person in question and hope that by talking about their life and family they might relax a bit and I get to see the real person - not the nervous interviewee!

By the way, why does it always appear to be the woman who needs to take time off if children are ill? If it was equally shared between both parents, companies who employ mothers as well as fathers may look on it a little more sympathetically.

[mrs_overall]

woodhamgirl - this is exactly the reason why my niece is worried. We have a huge extended family who will all help with childcare and should the babies be ill, my niece's hubby can take as much time off as he likes as he has his own business. My niece thinks it's not the business of a potential employer to ask such questions as they will prejudge her situation and make assumptions.

[thugulike]

It is not good practice to ask on the application form, 'diversity' form or at interview. It could be used by an unsuccessful candidate as a claim to tribunal as a reason they were not appointed. It has no impact on the persons ability to do the job. How you manage your personal life is up to you. A few years ago I was asked to interview for a school administrator with a new governor. He said, we couldn't appoint have a male candidate, nor could we have someone who didn't have a car as they lived 20 miles away and were going to cycle to work. I told the governor that the appointee had a duty to get themselves to work and we weren't interested in how that happened. He wasn't a happy bunny.