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Questioning Job Candidates’ Marital Status is Not Compliant in Business and at Work

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Another typical compliance error that I find on employers’ job applications (and during  job applicant interviews) is this question:

Are you married?

This question is not compliant, as marital status is a key protected class in the great state of New York, opening up a Pandora’s box of employer marital status discrimination noncompliance. (A question about marital status is considered to be a (noncompliant) question.)

There is no correct or compliant alternate question about marital status to ask job applicants.

In the employment life cycle, marital status discrimination plays out in several ways. For example: hiring only single employees for a 100% travel job, with the mistaken (and discriminatory) assumption that married employees would not be able to handle that type of job.

How do you ensure employer compliance with regard to (avoid questions about) a job candidate’s marital status, in business and at work?