Interview Questions You Cannot Ask in California

A nail salon owner in Brea calls in her top candidate for a second interview. Things are going well. She likes the person, the vibe feels right, and then she asks "so do you have kids at home?" She is genuinely curious, not trying to discriminate. She just wants to know if this person can handle Saturday shifts.

Two months later she gets a letter from the California Civil Rights Department.

That scenario is more common than most people think. California has some of the strictest employment laws in the country, and the list of things you cannot ask a job applicant covers more ground than most small business owners realize. This is not about trick questions or gotcha moments. The vast majority of violations happen because someone asked what felt like a normal, friendly question.

Here is what you cannot ask, why it matters, and what to say instead.

Why California Is Different

Federal law prohibits employment discrimination based on a handful of protected classes: race, color, national origin, sex, religion, age (40 and older), and disability. California adds considerably more.

Under the California Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA), employers with five or more employees cannot discriminate based on race, color, religion, national origin, ancestry, sex, pregnancy, gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, marital status, age (40 and older), physical disability, mental disability, medical condition, genetic information, and military and veteran status. That is more than 17 protected categories when you count the subcategories.

Several of these do not exist at the federal level. Sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, and medical condition are California additions. The California Civil Rights Department enforces all of them and takes complaints seriously regardless of business size.

The rule is straightforward. If a question touches any of these categories and the information is not directly required to do the job, you should not ask it. California courts do not require proof that you intended to discriminate. The question itself can be enough to open a complaint.

Age

You cannot ask how old someone is. You cannot ask when they graduated high school, which is often used as a proxy for age. You cannot ask what year they were born or what decade they grew up in.

What you can ask: Are you 18 or older? That single question is legally permissible when the role requires it, such as serving alcohol or operating certain equipment. Anything else related to age is off the table.

This comes up constantly in Orange County restaurants and retail stores where younger-looking candidates apply. The instinct is to confirm they are old enough to work certain shifts. The one question solves that. Everything else creates risk.

Pregnancy, Family Status, and Marital Status

This category generates more complaints than almost any other. An owner is trying to understand scheduling. They want to know if someone can work weekends, commit to holiday shifts, or stay past closing. That conversation drifts into "do you have kids?" or "are you married?" and suddenly the interview has crossed a line.

You cannot ask whether someone is married, has children, or plans to have children. You cannot ask if someone is pregnant. You cannot ask who watches their kids when they work, or whether their spouse or partner will be okay with late-night hours.

What you can ask is all about the schedule itself. Can you work Saturdays and Sundays? Are you available for the holiday schedule in December? We have some closing shifts that end at 10 PM. Does that work for you? Those questions are direct and legal. You are asking about availability, not the reasons behind it.

A bakery in Anaheim, a boutique in Costa Mesa, a lunch spot in Irvine. These businesses need weekend and evening coverage. Ask for it clearly. Do not ask why someone might not have it.

Religion

Do not ask what religion someone practices. Do not ask if they observe a Sabbath or worship on specific days. Do not frame availability questions around religious observance.

What you can ask: We are open seven days a week. This role includes Sundays and some Fridays until 8 PM. Is there anything about that schedule that would be a consistent problem for you?

If someone shares a religious accommodation need after you have hired them, that is a separate conversation that happens under a different process. The interview is not the place to screen for it.

National Origin and Ancestry

You cannot ask where someone was born. You cannot ask where their parents or grandparents are from. You cannot ask if they are a U.S. citizen.

There is an important distinction here. You are allowed to ask whether someone is legally authorized to work in the United States. The I-9 verification process confirms the specifics after you make a conditional offer. But the question "are you a citizen?" goes further than the law allows during an interview.

You can ask: Are you authorized to work in the United States? If we make you an offer, will you be able to provide documentation confirming that? Those are the right questions. Anything that probes birthplace or family background is not.

Disability and Medical History

You cannot ask about any physical or mental health conditions during an interview. You cannot ask whether someone has ever filed a workers' compensation claim. You cannot ask if they take medication or see a doctor regularly.

What you can ask is functional. Describe the actual requirements of the role and ask whether they can meet them. This role involves standing for eight hours, occasional lifting up to 30 pounds, and working in a kitchen with high heat. Is there anything about those requirements you would like to discuss?

If someone volunteers a disability, you move to the accommodation conversation at that point, not before. The sequence matters legally. You assess job-related criteria first. Accommodations are handled after.

Salary History

California banned employers from asking about salary history under AB 168, which took effect in 2018. You cannot ask what someone made at their last job. You cannot use that information, even if you already have it, to set pay for a new hire.

You can discuss salary expectations freely. You can share your pay range and ask if it works for the candidate. That is a legitimate two-way conversation about the current role. What you cannot do is anchor a pay offer to what someone earned elsewhere.

Under the pay transparency requirements now in effect for most California employers, you are also required to include pay ranges in job postings and provide them to applicants who ask. There is more detail on how that works in the California pay transparency law guide.

Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity

California added explicit protections for these categories under FEHA. Do not ask about either one, directly or indirectly.

This includes questions that seem casual but probe the same territory. Asking about a spouse in a way that would reveal sexual orientation, or asking about a preferred name in a way that signals discomfort with gender presentation, falls into this zone.

Keep every question tethered to the work and the schedule. That is the cleanest path through any interview.

Arrest Records and Criminal History

You cannot ask whether someone has ever been arrested. Arrests without convictions cannot be considered in hiring decisions under California law.

California's Fair Chance Act also restricts when and how you can ask about criminal convictions. The general rule is that you cannot ask about criminal history until after you have made a conditional offer. Los Angeles County has additional local ordinances with their own specific requirements.

This is a nuanced area with real complexity, especially for businesses in different parts of Orange County and the surrounding region. The background check guide for California small businesses covers the rules in more detail.

Where Most Violations Actually Happen

Most illegal questions do not happen during the formal part of the interview. They happen in the five minutes before it starts, when someone is walking a candidate to the conference room, or in the small talk at the end when everyone relaxes.

"So where are you originally from?" National origin.

"Any big family plans in the works?" Pregnancy and family status.

"Do you have a church nearby?" Religion.

These feel friendly. They are not hostile questions. But they open legal exposure that is real and can be expensive. The EEOC can pursue fines between $50,000 and $300,000 per incident for federal violations, and California's additional protections under FEHA create a separate layer of liability on top of that.

You do not need to have acted on the information for it to be a problem. In many cases, asking is enough.

When You Have Other People Doing Interviews

This problem multiplies when you have shift leads, managers, or long-term employees involved in interviewing candidates. They have even less training than you do, and they often fill time with exactly the kind of small talk that creates liability.

If anyone else interviews job candidates at your business, they need to know this list. A 10-minute conversation before they ever sit down with an applicant is worth having. Give them a written list of approved questions. Tell them to stick to it.

For businesses with multiple locations or a management layer that handles its own hiring, building a consistent interview script is not optional. It is what protects you when something comes up later and you need to explain how the decision was made.

What If a Candidate Volunteers the Information?

Sometimes a candidate brings something up before you ask. They mention they are pregnant. They say they need Fridays off for religious reasons. They tell you about a health condition.

You listen, you thank them for sharing it, and you redirect to the work.

Something like: "Good to know. Let me make sure you have a full picture of the schedule and what the role involves, and we can talk through any specifics after that."

Do not probe further. Do not make any decision based on what they volunteered. Evaluate them on the same job-related criteria you would use for anyone else. If they are the best fit, make the offer. The accommodation conversation, if there is one, happens after, with proper documentation.

Write Your Questions Down Before Every Interview

The single most effective thing you can do is prepare a written list of questions before each interview and stick to it. Not a vague outline, an actual list of questions you will ask every candidate for the same role in the same order.

This does not need to be complicated. Six to ten questions, focused on availability, reliability, experience, and how someone handles specific situations. Asking consistent questions to every candidate also gives you a fairer basis for comparison, which matters when you are trying to justify your decision.

The interview questions guide for hourly workers has a solid starting list you can use. None of those questions touch protected categories. Pair them with a simple scoring sheet and you have a defensible process.

How AI Screening Reduces Risk

One thing My Friendly Staff's AI phone screening does well is stick to the script. The voice agent asks the same questions to every applicant, does not engage in small talk that drifts into protected territory, and logs every response. There is no chatting about where someone went to school or what their weekend plans look like.

When AI screening narrows 30 applicants down to five ranked candidates, the live interview you conduct is shorter and more focused. There is less idle conversation and less chance of wandering into territory that causes problems. The AI phone screening guide explains how the process works if you are new to it.

The Bottom Line

California sets a high bar for what you can ask during a hiring process. Most small business owners are not trying to discriminate. They are curious, they want to build rapport, and they make well-meaning mistakes that create real legal exposure.

The fix is simple. Know the categories, write your questions in advance, keep every interview conversation tethered to the work, and make sure anyone else who interviews at your business does the same.

If you are building a more organized hiring process from scratch, the complete guide to hiring employees for your small business covers the full picture from job description to first day.