Is it legal for a company to ask for my date of birth and passport number on first contact? If not, should I report the company to the EEOC?
Get Legal Help Today
Compare Quotes From Top Companies and Save
Secured with SHA-256 Encryption
Is it legal for a company to ask for my date of birth and passport number on first contact? If not, should I report the company to the EEOC?
Is it legal for a company to ask for my date of birth and passport number on
first contact? If not, should I report the company to the EEOC?
Asked on May 4, 2016 under Employment Labor Law, Virginia
Answers:
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 8 years ago | Contributor
*Asking* for this information is legal; however, discriminating due to it--e.g. not hiring you because you are 40 or older, or because of your country of origin--is not legal. (They may refuse to hire you for other reasons--e.g. your qualifications, education, experience, etc.--but not because you are over 40 or becaue of your national origin.) That is why it is very unwise to ask for this information upfront: if a candidate is not hired after providing this information and he/she is over 40 or comes from other than the U.S., there will often be a presumption that the refusal to hire was due to age or national origin. While the company can refute this presumption by providing evidence of some other, valid reason, it may very well put itself on the defensive, in the position of having to refute a presumption of discrimination, by asking these questions initially. It is much wiser--though not legally required--to wait until later in the process to get this information.
IMPORTANT NOTICE: The Answer(s) provided above are for general information only. The attorney providing the answer was not serving as the attorney for the person submitting the question or in any attorney-client relationship with such person. Laws may vary from state to state, and sometimes change. Tiny variations in the facts, or a fact not set forth in a question, often can change a legal outcome or an attorney's conclusion. Although AttorneyPages.com has verified the attorney was admitted to practice law in at least one jurisdiction, he or she may not be authorized to practice law in the jurisdiction referred to in the question, nor is he or she necessarily experienced in the area of the law involved. Unlike the information in the Answer(s) above, upon which you should NOT rely, for personal advice you can rely upon we suggest you retain an attorney to represent you.