Walk It Through: The Application Form
An age question before an interview, retaliation after a complaint, and five years to act.
An online job application asks for a date of birth and the year high school ended, before any interview.
Two things a person in this spot might do. Picking one shows what the law says about it.
One job and one age question. Disability discrimination, pay equity, family leave and claims against public bodies run under other sections and are not worked through here.
A practice walkthrough, not a prediction of how any real one will go. Legal information, not legal advice.
Words this turns on
Terms with a legal meaning that is narrower than the everyday one. Each links to the definition and the authority behind it.
- Bona fide occupational qualificationOne of the two reasons an employer may ask an applicant's age or date of birth, or when the applicant attended or graduated from school, before an initial interview or a conditional offer; the other is to comply with another law.
- Unlawful employment practiceAn employer refusing to hire, barring or discharging, or discriminating in pay or in the terms, conditions or privileges of employment because of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, marital status, or age if the person is 18 or older.
- Verified written complaintThe complaint a person claiming to be aggrieved files with the Commissioner of the Bureau of Labor and Industries. One alleging a practice the discrimination section forbids is filed no later than five years after it occurred.