What Are Your Rights as a Job Applicant in Florida?

When you are applying for jobs in South Florida, it is essential to know that you have rights and protections against discrimination. Indeed, state and federal laws that protect employees from discrimination also apply to job applicants during the job application, interview, and hiring process. What are those rights? Consider the following information from our Palm Beach Gardens employment discrimination lawyers.

Job Advertisements Cannot Discriminate 

When you are looking for jobs and scanning online advertisements, it is critical for you to know that employers are prohibited from discriminating in job ads under a range of federal laws and under the Florida Civil Rights Act (FCRA). What does this mean? In short, an employer cannot advertise a job position in a discriminatory manner that violates state or federal law. For example, the employer cannot advertise a job seeking only male applicants, or seeking only cisgender or heterosexual applicants.

Unlawful Questions in the Interview Process 

State and federal laws also protect job applicants during the interview process. You cannot be discriminated against during an interview due to protected characteristics. Accordingly, there are certain types of questions that a potential employer cannot ask about in a job interview, such as:

• Whether or not you have a disability for which you may need an accommodation;
• Whether you are pregnant or plan to become pregnant in the future, or whether you use contraceptives;
• Questions about your religious background or place of worship you attend (or whether you have any religious affiliation);
• What “nationality” your parents are, even if you and your family members are US citizens (a question that is often linked to discrimination on the basis of race, ethnicity, or national origin);
• Questions about your age, with an eye toward hiring a young workforce (if you are 40 years old or over); or
• Whether or not you are married, or details about your spouse’s gender, race, or other similarly protected identity characteristics.

Hiring Decisions Based on Protected Characteristics 

Employers are also prohibited from making hiring decisions for discriminatory reasons. What this means is that, even if an employer interviews you for a job, they cannot decide against hiring a job applicant because of protected identity characteristics, and they cannot decide to hire another job applicant because they do not have certain protected identity characteristics. In practice, examples of unlawful hiring decisions might include:

• Hiring a job applicant who will not need disability or religious accommodations;
• Deciding against hiring an LGBTQ job applicant;
• Deciding against hiring a job applicant because they look like they are nearing retirement age;
• Hiring a male job applicant over a female job applicant on the assumed basis that the male applicant will be better at the job;
• Deciding against hiring a job applicant because they are not white, or because the job applicant is of a marginalized race or ethnic background; or
• Deciding against hiring a job applicant who is pregnant.

Laws also prohibit discrimination in certain elements of job offers, such as offering female new hires a lower salary than male new hires.

Contact a Palm Beach Gardens Employment Discrimination Lawyer 

If you believe you experienced any type of unlawful discrimination in the job application or hiring process, it is critical to seek legal advice about your options. Depending on the circumstances, you may be eligible for monetary compensation as well as other remedies. Do not hesitate to get in touch with an experienced Palm Beach Gardens employment discrimination attorney at Sconzo Law Office to discuss the details of your case and to find out more about your options. Contact us today.

Sources:

eeoc.gov/

leg.state.fl.us/Statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&URL=0700-0799/0760/Sections/0760.01.html