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D.C. Municipal Regulations (Last Updated: September 13, 2017) |
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Title 4. HUMAN RIGHTS AND RELATIONS |
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Chapter 4-5. EMPLOYMENT GUIDELINES |
Section 4-503. PREHIRE INQUIRIES
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503.1All aspects of prehire inquiries shall be free of discrimination on the basis of grounds protected by Title I of the Act. The term “prehire inquiries” includes questions asked on application forms, questions asked in employee interviews, or any other kind of inquiries before selection, including medical examinations.
503.2The absence of any reasonable explanation for questions that identify an applicant’s membership in a protected class may be viewed as evidence of discrimination since the inquiries have nothing to do with job performance.
503.3Inquiries necessary for compliance with affirmative action requirements of the federal or District of Columbia governments, or when taking remedial action to correct the effects of past discrimination, or when taking voluntary action to overcome the effects of conditions that resulted in limited employment opportunities for a protected group, are legal, in accordance with D.C. Official Code § 2-1402.53(a).
503.4Inquiries as to age shall be limited to whether an applicant is between eighteen (18) and sixty-five (65) years of age, unless otherwise provided by law. No applicants shall be required to provide evidence of age or date of birth except in circumstances in which age is a business necessity.
503.5An employer shall not require information of a member of one class which he or she would not require of a member of another class. For example, an employer shall not ask an older applicant questions regarding health, if the employer does not question younger applicants in the same way.
503.6Pre-employment medical inquiries, or inquiries as to whether an applicant is disabled or to the severity of the disability, shall not be allowed except as provided in § 513.
503.7It shall be unlawful to request from an applicant, at his or her expense, his or her record of arrests.
503.8Processing and retention of applications and the information in the applications shall be done equally without regard to a person’s membership in a protected class. Processing and retention of applications and the information in the applications for other lawful purposes, such as the purposes noted in § 503.3, shall be legal, in accordance with D.C. Official Code § 2-1402.53(a).