June 2005
WIN AT WORK MONTHLY
A Community Service of SESSIONS & KIMBALL LLP, Employee Rights Attorneys
Win at Work	Employee Rights Update
ILLEGAL QUESTIONS OF AGE AND EDUCATION It’s well‑known that discrimination in the workplace is against the law, but discriminatory practices are also prohibited in the hiring process. Many questions simply can’t be asked. Although an employer can make employment subject to verification of legal age requirements or require proof of age if the applicant is hired, it cannot ask your birth date or age unless the job has minimum age requirements or is subject to state or federal minimum age statutes. Employers can’t list age limitations in a newspaper advertisement which might bar workers of particular age groups. Questions about academic, vocational, or professional education and public and private schools attended are legal. Questions concerning specific dates of attendance or graduation, who paid for educational expenses while in school, and whether school loans are still owed are illegal because they can be used to obtain information about your age. These questions themselves may show bias. Employers, beware. Employees, be aware.	LANGUAGE REQUIREMENTS Employers may require that employees be able to speak a foreign language. However, employers may not discriminate on the basis of race or national origin. Therefore, employers may not use a foreign language requirement as a screening mechanism for only hiring individuals of a certain race or national origin. For example, it is illegal for an employer to require that applicants speak Spanish if the employer’s goal is to only hire individuals from South America. One way to determine if an employer is engaging in illegal conduct is to examine the reason for the language requirement. If the employer has a business necessity for its employees to speak a foreign language, then the employer’s actions are probably legal. However, if there is no business necessity for requiring its employees to speak a foreign language, and it appears that the requirement is simply a way to hire individuals of a certain race or national origin, then the requirement is probably illegal. Michael S. Ahmad, Attorney
Update on our attorneys: Pat Turner is no longer with our office. We wish him well.
Look for our answers to employees’ questions in the “Life and Work Q & A” column of the Orange County Register’s "Business Monday" magazine. E-mail us at info@job-law.com to have your address added or removed from our monthly mailing list. For more employee rights information or for past issues of Win at Work Monthly, click here for our website, job-law.com; here to order our book, Employee Rights in California; or contact our office directly at 23456 Madero, Suite 170, Mission Viejo, CA 92691, (949) 380-0900, (800) 774-7494, info@job-law.com. The Win at Work portion of Win at Work Monthly is from our ongoing syndicated column, which appears in the Los Angeles Times’ “Career Builder Magazine” and elsewhere. Win at Work Monthly is intended for general information and should not be construed as legal advice or opinion. Readers in need of legal advice should promptly retain the services of an attorney. ©2005 by Sessions & Kimball LLP