During job interviews, both candidates and employers
need to find out if they are a good match and that can involve
asking probing questions. But it pays for employers to be cautious
and to be aware that some categories of questions can be
discriminatory or against data protection law or lead to a negative
perception of the values of the business. In addition, some types
of questions are banned outright in some countries and fines for
breach exist in certain others.
We asked our lawyers in 49 countries if there are questions that
the employers cannot ask their candidates. Generally, interviewers
should seek to stay relevant and avoid asking questions that are
not about the job at hand. The logic is simple: employers should
avoid discrimination or bias, as most countries have
anti-discrimination laws and, data privacy laws, meaning that
questions that are irrelevant to the job may lead to allegations of
breach of those laws. Staying strictly relevant helps to
