Employment Applications...Are these questions legal?

System

We have a call center that is open 24/7. It has become difficult to find dependable ee's. Are the following questions illegal?

Do you have dependable transportation to work?
Do you own a car?
Are you presently in school? Are you planning to go back to school? If so when?

Any input would be appreciated.

Don D

We're advised not to ask questions related to car or home ownership, just as we're advised not to ask questions about arrangements for childcare. A better question might be, "Now that I've explained the job's duties, do you feel that you can do the job, with or without accomodation, realizing of course that one of the major requirements is being here every day, on time, for the entire shift?" Or something like that. It's fine to emphasize and re-emphasize the importance of being there every day a few minutes prior to start time, without fail and to ask if the applicant can meet those obligations. I know it borders on being silly with the question, but, that's the kind of advice the EEOC will give you. The same goes for 'Are you in school?' You can always ask, "So, Helen, what are you doing right now, working, going to school?" That won't tend to violate any protected status that I can imagine. The important message to send is, "Here are the elements of the job. You absolutely must be able to be here every day, every shift you are assigned, without fail, unless excused by your supervisor, or you will put your job in jeapordy and we will not retain you."

HS

I agree with Don.

We do run a call center, not 24/7, but it does run until 10pm weekdays and day hours on the weekend. We make sure that the employees know what the shift is, and know what's expected of them in terms of being here and on time everyday, etc. We then ask if there are any "problems" with working that shift, because if so, we can keep their application on file for a more desirable shift. Or something to that effect. I find that those applicants that want to attend school, like our later shifts because it allows them to take day classes. Our hardest to fill shifts are mid day to mid eve shifts.

Do you have dedicated shifts? Meaning ones that don't change from week to week? That might also help for someone to know that these are the hours they will be working day after day, week after week. We have an internal "sign-in" book for employees to make known what shift they'd like to change to in the future. On a first come, first serve basis, and then based on them not being under a current disciplinary process, we'll award those shifts as they become available. We also have shifts that are dedicated weekend shifts...they work 4 days during the week and a weekend day, but they always have a "weekend" (2 days off in a row). An employee would be either a Sun-Thu employee or a Tue-Sat employee.

So far this has worked for us. We have a low turnover rate, and have been consistenly rated #1 in our industry for overall customer service satisfaction.

Hope this helps. If you need any other tips as to what we do, let me know.

Theresa Gegen TX

There is nothing wrong with asking an applicant if they have dependable means of getting to work, but I would not ask if they have a car (unless they need it for work).

Also, there is nothing wrong with asking an applicant if they can be available for various hours, etc.

Good Luck!