Employers are known to have an undue advantage or influence over workers, and some try to use this to gain certain information or tasks out of you. We’ve compiled 18 things that you aren’t obligated to do for your boss if you don’t want to.
State Your Age or Date of Birth
The Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) exists to protect both applicants and employees, especially those over 40 years old, from ageism. You’re not obligated to provide your boss with your age because he isn’t allowed to use it to make employment decisions.
Disclose Marital Status
That you’re single or married is irrelevant to job performance, and we have various laws at both the state and federal level to combat this form of discrimination. The U.S. EEOC, however, sums it up: employers aren’t allowed to use non-job-related questions involving marital status or the name and age of the spouses of the applicant.
State Whether You Have Children or Plan to
In the same EEOC article, you see that your boss also can’t request information about your dependents, whether it be how many they are or how old they are. We easily understand how this is to prevent discrimination based on parental responsibilities, especially against women.
Show Religious Affiliations or Beliefs
Title VII of the Civil Rights Act makes it clearly illegal to discriminate on the basis of religion. And it is because of this that you aren’t obligated to provide information about your affiliations to your boss. But there are exceptions if your employer runs a religious organization.
Work an Internship Position Unpaid
There are technicalities around unpaid internships, as, while they are acceptable, using them to replace full-time roles is deemed generally deceitful and, hence, illegal. For instance, the New York Department of Labor lays out clearly that “employers should not use unpaid internships as a trial period for those seeking employment.”
Identify Your Nationality or Ethnicity
Of course, discrimination based on where you’re from is also illegal, thanks to Title VII of the Civil Rights Act. And, hence, your boss can’t ask for related information from you. The only thing your boss should confirm is if you’re eligible to work within the US or the state you’re in.
Tell Whether You Drink Alcohol or Smoke
Your personal habits are “personal” for a reason, and your boss can’t regulate what you choose to do with yourself outside of work hours. It’s the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) that enforces against these types of questions in a bid to protect our privacy off-duty.
Disclose Disabilities
The ADA also has firm words protecting specially-abled people. And it’s to this effect that you’re only obliged to confirm whether you can perform a specific job function rather than sharing general disabilities. However, to gain disability-related benefits from your employer, the Department of Labor says you have to disclose your disabilities.
Provide Genetic Information
To prevent discrimination based on genetic health issues, the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA) also prohibits employers from requesting and using your genetic information to make business decisions. This law has been in effect since 2009 and can be found specifically under Title II of the GINA.
Reveal Details About Credit or Bankruptcy
You’re also not obliged to provide credit information of any sort. And as CNBC reports, “Thanks to the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), employers can’t go checking your credit history behind your back” too! There has to be written consent from you before any part of your credit history can be accessed and used.
Provide Social Security Number (SSN)
You may be legally asked for your SSN after being hired, either due to background checks or tax filing reasons. However, due to privacy and identity theft concerns, employers are barred from requesting SSN information within job application forms. It’s best to always wait for a written offer of employment (and confirm that the company is legit) before providing yours.
State Involvement in Labor Union Activities
The National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) also makes it illegal for your employer to inquire about your association with labor unions or terms discussed in union meetings—especially in a bid to discourage you. What’s more, you can’t be prohibited from talking about union activities during work hours as long as non-work-related discussions are allowed.
Reveal Political Affiliations
Your employer isn’t allowed to influence your political beliefs or retaliate based on them, and hence, you aren’t obligated to provide information about your affiliations either. However, as employment attorney Jonathan Segal explains to the Washington Post, only specific state and local laws protect you here, as there are no federal laws to this effect.
Take a Lie Detector Test
Also, thanks to the Employee Polygraph Protection Act (EPPA), your employer cannot require you to take a lie detector test or use test results to make employment-related decisions. This applies in both the pre-employment (application) phase and during the course of the employment relationship.
Show Wage History
While employers claim to request wage history to ensure fair pay, many try to negotiate you down on it or even discriminate based on it, especially for low earners. This is why laws, although varying state by state, generally require employers to focus on qualifications and experience when screening applicants.
Provide Details of Personal Communication
Whether it be your emails, phone calls, or direct messages on any platform, your employer isn’t also allowed to monitor your private conversations without consent. This is a rule applied in variation by states, too, and general exceptions are when the device has been agreed to be used either partially or entirely for work.
Reveal Health and Fitness Levels
Again, the ADA comes to our rescue and makes it discriminatory for employers to force private health information out of you or use it to make decisions, particularly if a health issue isn’t related to the job. However, you may be asked for a doctor’s note if you’re intending to go on sick leave or receive health-related benefits.
Identify Race
Of course, our list isn’t complete without mentioning how the Civil Rights Act protects you against racism. Your employer can’t request information about your race in job applications or use any information of this sort to make decisions at work. Other types of information Title VII protects include details about your color and sex.