Is this illegal?

Question

I was told by my friends that when your boss asks you for your age in an interview, that it is illegal and rude. Is this true? Rude comments will be ignored.

Answer 1

i believe they are allowed to ask if you are over/under 18 because of different labor laws regarding people on either side of the line... as far as your specific age, I'm not sure... but unless you're really sure you're being discriminated against because of age, which would be nearly impossible to prove anyway, I wouldn't worry too much about it... if you were hiring someone wouldn't you want to know a lot about them?

Answer 2

You are not supposed to ask for a person's age during an interview. Illegal is not the word I would use, but it is not the best idea to for someone's age. This can lead to allegations of age discrimination. Any educated boss knows better than that.

The only exception to this is to verify that you are old enough to work at a certain place, like in the case that you have to be 18.
The better question to ask is, are you 18 or older, rather than for a specific age.

Answer 3

When I was in college, I worked at Applebee's. They asked for my age during my interview, because in the town it was located, you had to be 21 before you could be a server or bartender (there were laws on anyone under 21 serving alcoholic drinks). I was a hostess for a year, and then after I turned 21 I got to be a server :-) I don't think it's illegal, just some employers have to cover their own rears for insurance/liability purposes.

Answer 4

Age cannot be a deciding factor in hiring or firing someone, that's the part that is illegal. An employer can ask you your age out of curiousity but you don't have to answer it.

Personally I don't find it rude, but I'm sure many do

Answer 5

Your boss is giving you an interview? That's a bit strange to start off with. Usually they interview you before they become your boss. Anyway, given the fact that you should have put your date of birth on your application/CV, it's obvious that your prospective employer can't perform simple subtraction, so why would you want to work for such a chimp in the first place?

Answer 6

Interview comes after selection of eligible candidates,and after going thru resumes of the candidates.
If the boss asks ur age,it is certainly unprofessional and rude.

Answer 7

I depends on the job. Some jobs require you to be of a certain age, so they have to know how old you are before they hire you....for example...serving alcohol. If age isn't a legal factor concerning the job...I'd say it's just rude.

Answer 8

I think its true. But when you fill out the forms you have to put down your date of birth there so if there is such a law, its pointless.

In fact every place I do business with asks my age (and frankly its getting on my nerves) so why should my prospective employers not have the ability to ask?

Answer 9

In the US, they CAN NOT ask your age in an interview. Applications with DOB's are not allowed.

They can ask "Are you 18 or over?" and the like, but they absolutely, positively CAN NOT ask your age.

By asking an applicant's age, they are opening themselves up for age discrimination law suits.

BTW, age discrimination laws are not there to protect younger workers, they are there to protect older workers.

Sorry if you don't like my answer, but it is the truth.

Answer 10

Asking for age duirng interview is definitely not illegal. Because employer must adhere to the child protection law, they must know your legal age. For any employee under 16, they would need speical permit to work.