Are you familiar with your rights when it comes to being interviewed? There are laws in place intended to protect your from age, gender and other forms of discrimination, but they cannot work if you do not know you do not have to answer. Read the list below before your next interview to ensure that you're being treated fairly and by the letter of the law: 

1. Age: Regardless of whether you are very young or edging towards retirement, age cannot be a deciding or even one of the motivating factors in the hiring decision. Only questions about whether or not you are old enough to work are acceptable. 

2. Marital status: Whether or not you want to disclose this information is personal and women and men alike are not required to disclose marital status in an interview. 

3. Children: While an employer may have legitimate concerns about your ability to travel, questions based on parental status are not legitimate interview topics. 

4. Religion: Be wary about potential employers who are asking about your religious beliefs. Using religion as a deciding factor in hiring is prohibited. If interviewers want to know when you are available for work more general questions are more than sufficient. 

5. National Guard: While many employers are reluctant to lose an employee to deployment, military service cannot be used as a basis for job discrimination. 

6. Legal Drug Use: So long as these products are not being used on the job, it is not generally legal to discriminate against those who engage in these activities. 

7. Political Affiliation: Interviewers are not allowed to ask about your participation in political organizations, clubs or associations other than those which are related to your ability to perform your job.   

This post was contributed by Kathleen Baker, who writes about online universities. She welcomes your feedback at kathleenbaker3212@gmail.com

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If you are an employee in California who is or has become disabled as a result of work related injury or non-work related medical condition, it is important that you are aware of your three fundamental rights and your employer's obligations toward you: 

* You have the right to be free from disability discrimination under FEHA (California Fair Employment and Housing Act which applies to all employers that employ more than five persons). This means that your employer may not treat you differently in terms, conditions or privileges of your employment on the basis of your disability or your serious medical condition. Further, if the company implements a layoff, it may not take into account a workers disability as one factor in determining whether to choose him/her for a layoff.

* Your employer, if subject to FEHA, upon notice of your disability, has an affirmative duty to engage in interactive process with you to find reasonable accommodations to your disability. This means that your employer must engage in a form of dialogue with you to figure out what the employer can do to eliminate or reduce the challenges that your disability creates in your work performance. This duty is continuing, which means that if with time a certain accommodation doesn't work or if your condition changes or aggravates, the employer will remain obligated to continue the interactive process to accommodate your disability unless such accommodations impose undue hardship on the employer's business. 

* If you are forced to take medical leave due to your disability or a serious medical condition, you are have right to return to work and be reinstated to the same or a similar position at your workplace.

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