An Administrator's Guide to California Private School Law

Chapter 3 – Hiring

 Schools should keep medical records used for work restrictions and life and health insurance records confidential. Schools should not make these records available for use in any employment decision.  Records of work-related insurance compensation, disability, and sick pay should be available internally only to authorized recipients, and on a need- to-know basis.

Section 7 E MPLOYEE I NTERVIEWS Interviews are an important component of the hiring process. From a legal perspective, however, an assessment of an applicant based upon an interview is highly subjective and more difficult to defend than an assessment based upon more objective data or tests. We therefore advise schools to carefully plan interviews to be as objective as possible, and to ensure that the interview process is neutral regarding the race, religion, sex, national origin, color, ancestry, medical condition, marital status, sexual orientation, and other immutable attributes of applicants. 264 A. D URING THE I NTERVIEW 1. A VOID Q UESTIONS O R C OMMENTS A BOUT A NY P ROTECTED S TATUS Interviews must be non-discriminatory. 265 Thus, all questions must relate to the applicant’s ability to perform the job. Schools should not ask questions about an applicant’s protected status. The Department of Fair Employment and Housing has produced a chart for employers that provides guidelines for permissible and impermissible interview questions and inquiries during the hiring process. The Compendium contains a copy of the chart. a. Some Statements May Imply A Discriminatory Motive The interviewer must be well-trained and knowledgeable about what inquiries are permissible and impermissible. Even comments made with the best of intentions, with no discriminatory motive, may be impermissible if they give the applicant an impression that the employment decision may be based on impermissible factors. b. Avoid Statements That Suggest The Ultimate Hiring Decision Will Be Based On Irrelevant Characteristics The interviewer must be particularly careful not to give the impression that the applicant is being singled out on the basis of a protected category, such as race, sex, national origin, age, disability, etc.

An Administrator’s Guide to California Private School Law ©2019 Liebert Cassidy Whitmore 87