Many corporations are looking far beyond job applications to identify leading candidates. Increasingly, they are reviewing credit reports, doing background checks, and even giving job hunters exams for honesty.

Every job seeker needs to survey the legal landscape and get to know his and her rights. Understand which questions job interviewers can ask, and which are inappropriate. Be aware that employers may have the right to conduct a background check or perform a credit check. As healthcare costs increase, more companies are asking new employees to take medical exams.

By learning your rights, you can support a level playing field.

Job Interviews:

Interview questions are designed to help the company determine if you can perform the job. They should never pry into personal issues such as family medical history or age. Among the questions interviewers should NEVER ask:

Are you planning to have children?

Is your child-care provider dependable?

As an African American do, you feel you can fit in here?

What prescription drugs are you currently using?

Have you ever been treated for mental health problems?

How much alcohol do you drink each week?

These questions might leave the company open to charges of discrimination if the candidate is not hired because of the answers provided. The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission is charged with protecting workers’ rights in pre-employment screening.

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits employment discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. Moreover, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 (ADEA) protects individuals who are 40 years of age or older. Before extending an offer of employment, an employer may not ask job applicants about the existence, nature, or severity of a disability. An interviewer may ask an applicant if he or she is able to perform job functions. Title VII covers employers with 15 or more workers.

Employers, for example, cannot refuse to hire a qualified applicant because of her pregnancy, or because the pregnancy of an unmarried woman might cause upset among co-workers, clients, or customers. The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA), prohibits employment discrimination and affords workers important rights. ADA prohibits companies from discriminating against individuals with HIV/AIDs, which is considered a disability. While a qualified applicant can not be denied a job because of his or her disability, a job offer may be conditioned on the results of a medical examination, but only if the exam is given to all employees within a job category. The ADA rules apply to all public employers and to those private employers with 15 or more employees.

Credit Checks:

Employers have conducted credit checks for accountants, bookkeepers, and others who routinely handle money. Increasingly, companies are using credit reports to learn more about applicants. Employers may check a job applicant’s credit but it first must obtain written consent.

The Fair Credit Reporting Act offers a number of protections and safeguards. For example, if a company denies an applicant a job because of information in the credit report, it must provide him or her with a copy of the report and make the applicant aware of his or her right to challenge any inaccuracies that might be included.

It is best to check your credit before you begin submitting applications. If there is inaccurate information, write the appropriate reporting agency first and advise them of the error(s). Keep in mind that many companies include a request for consent in their employment applications.

Credit reporting agencies:

Equifax: P.O. Box 740256 Atlanta, GA 30374; (800) 685-1111

Experian: PO Box 2002, Allen, TX 75013 (888) 397-3742

TransUnion LLC, P.O. Box 2000, Chester, PA. 19022 (800) 888-4213

Background checks:

In Tennessee, it is relatively easy for employers to perform a background check. Checks have to be performed on all workers in a job category; an employer would be in violation of the law if it limited its search to African-American candidates.

The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI) serves as the official data bank for criminal information.  Anyone can use the system to obtain information on arrests that occur in Tennessee.

Unlike other background check services, a subject’s permission is not needed to run a search through the TBI’s online system. Typical users, the state says, includes employers, landlords, private security firms and child care providers.

The Internet:  

The Internet has transformed private lives into public spectacles. Some employers routinely conduct Internet searches of prospective workers.

Be cautious when you join social networking sites, write biographies, post photographs or online comments. The information provided about your hobbies, favorite films and singers, and ex-relationships may hurt your chances for career success.

Drug Testing:

Tennessee is encouraging drug testing as part of its Drug-Free Workplaces program. A participating employer must require job applicants to submit to a drug test and may use a refusal as a basis for refusing to hire a job applicant.

According to the state, 38 percent to 50 percent of all Workers’ Compensation claims are related to substance abuse in the workplace. Ninety percent of large businesses have drug free workplace programs in place today, while only 5 to 10 percent of small and medium sized businesses have implemented similar programs, the state Department of Labor says. Tennessee provides financial incentives to get companies to join: a 5 percent premium credit on workers’ compensation insurance policy.

In the early days of drug testing, it was fairly easy to beat the test, but not any longer, experts say. When collecting a sample, employees must leave coats, purses and briefcases outside the cubicle. The person collecting the specimen adds a bluing agent to the toilet bowl and remains in the area directly outside the stall while the specimen is being given.

Immediately afterward, the collector applies a temperature strip to the specimen to make sure that it matches body temperature. The collector also checks the specimen for unusual color and odor. Later, when the specimen arrives at the laboratory, technicians perform simple tests for gravity and acidity to detect adulterated specimens.

Driving Records

If an applicant seeks a position requiring them to drive or use company cars, an employer may ask questions about your driving record. Again, you can check or order a copy of your driving record online to determine if there are inaccuracies.

The Tennessee Department of Public Safety will allow you, or a person authorized by you, to obtain a copy of your driver record (also called a motor vehicle record, or MVR) in person at any of its full service Driver Services Center or by mail.  There is a $5 charge for a copy of a three-year drivers record.