Questions on an application form...

[kimmy121]

I've just picked up an application form for my mother.

I didn't think they were allowed to ask some of these:
date of birth
marital status
smoker?
are you in good health?
any major operations recently?
rented or owned home?
any children/dependants?
if so, ages.

she'll fill it in anyway, she wants a job! but I'm curious. ....

No.
and the first question the woman asked my mother when she went in for the app form was "have you got young children?"

she's 51 and taking it as a compliment

That sounds awful! I can see why the health questions, since it might impact on her ability to do the job I suppose, but I would have thought it better to ask in a sep form which is not part of the selection process.

Rented or owned home?!? Seriously - what is the job for? How could that possibly be relevant?

page 2 gets better....
membership of professional bodies
15 years work history

and all for.....wait for it.... 10 hours bar work!

There is no law that stops them asking these questions.It is unwise to ask some of them (marital status, for example) unless they are for monitoring purposes and won't be seen by the recruiting manager. It could be used by an unsuccessful applicant as evidence that the recruitment process is discriminatory.

Best one I've seen recently is ''how would you describe your sexual orientation''. There is the option ''prefer not to say''.

Can you imagine if the candidates asked the panel these questions at the interview