Fair pre-employment inquiry
Last updated: October 3, 2025
The University has published compliance checklists for units to facilitate compliance with civil rights laws relating to employment practices: Compliance Checklists – Civil Rights Compliance Office. Please refer to the checklists for the most current compliance guidance while other webpage content is being updated.
Guidelines to fair pre-employment inquiries
To comply with federal and state laws, hiring managers must ensure that all pre-employment inquires made of job applicants, whether written or oral, are “fair”. This applies to inquiries made of all applicants to contract covered, classified, professional, student, or any other type of position at the University.
Pre-employment inquiries which discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, age, marital status, protected veteran or disabled status, or genetic information are prohibited by the University’s equal opportunity policy. Pre-employment inquiries that objectively convey to a reasonable person that the information will be used in connection with a discriminatory purpose are prohibited.
The University’s Office of Equal Opportunity and Affirmative Action (EOAA) has published Guidelines for pre-employment inquiries, which includes a chart of fair and unfair pre-employment inquiries and steps for hiring managers to take to ensure compliance with the guidelines.