What information can an employer request from job applicants?

When collecting personal information from job applicants, you should only ask for the information you need in order to determine whether an applicant is suitable for the particular job.

This requires some thought and planning before the application process beings. What skills does the job require? What risks do you have to manage? What kind of person do you want for this job? What is their immigration status?

For example, a flight attendant might not be able to work safely if they had certain medical conditions. An airline would therefore need to obtain relevant medical information about applicants for flight attendant positions.

However, the airline would not need the same medical information about someone who would be working in an accounts department. Instead, information about experience and skills would be particularly relevant.

Or for example, an applicant needs to have the right immigration status to be able to work in this country. An employer should be able to check if that is the case to comply with immigration and employment law(external link).

Updated December 2020