Legal Question in Employment Law in Washington

Re: legal interviewing

There are differing opinions on whether you can ask if an employee smokes. You are probably better off just telling the employee that you do not provide facilities for smoking and you do not permit smoking on company property, and then ask the candidate if that will pose any problem for them.

No, you cannot ask if the applicant has AIDS or is HIV positive. You can describe the position, the working hours, etc., and then you can ask if the applicant knows of any reason he or she would not be able to meet the requirements of the job. That is about as close as you can get to that question or any other question about the applicant's health.

Re: legal interviewing

I agree with Ms. Beecher. I would add that you should also tell applicants that you do not provide breaks for smoking.

For more information about the AIDs questions, I recommend that you talk with the WA State Human Rights Commission. If you have fewer than 8 employees, I don't think that the law would apply. However, I don't think that it's any of your business, and wonder why you would just care about AIDS/HIV and no other illnesses. In any event, the HRC can give you some information about what you can and can't ask, both during an interview and on a job application.

Merry Kogut