Potential employers often ask a variety of questions in a job interview. As a candidate, you want to have the correct answer for every question. However, there are specific questions you should not answer because they are, in fact, against the law to ask job candidates.
It is illegal to ask questions that might lead to discrimination or the appearance of discrimination against a job candidate. Therefore, the following questions can be unlawful, even if they seem harmless.
These questions may not seem intrusive or illegal, but employers cannot ask them. In some cases, employers might phrase them differently or use other ways of getting to the same information, but questions asking about your possible membership in a protected class can raise some red flags.
If questions like these do come up, you can respectfully decline to answer them. Likewise, you can respond by keeping your answer focused on the job, position or company. Depending on the tone of the interview, you could also deflect the question with humor.
Employers may or may not know these questions are illegal, but you should know so you can protect your rights.