How well can your spouse sing your praises? Well enough to help you get that job you’ve always wanted Recent research (Waldron, 2012) discussed the ethical and legal issues surrounding spousal interviews for employment. Ever heard of it? Some companies are choosing to include spousal interviews as a part of their hiring process, especially for sales roles. As sales jobs can include varying hours and unpredictable income, some organizations want to make sure that the spouse fully understands and is on board with what could come.
SPOUSAL INTERVIEWS
The argued business rationale is that by making sure the spouse is on board, it will prevent salesperson turn and subsequent revenue loss. But what risk does this introduce? First of all, requesting a spousal interview reveals the candidate’s marital status before a conditional offer of employment. Marital status is not protected by federal law, but it is in many states. The simple act of revealing of whether or not a candidate has a spouse could lead to intentional or unintentional discrimination. For example, what if that spouse happens to be a same-sex spouse? And what if you don’t have a spouse to conduct an interview? Does that give you an advantage because there is no one the organization has to make sure is “on board,” or do you lose the opportunity to have someone speak on your behalf?
THE BOTTOM LINE
Regardless of the legalities, the author argues that it could cast a “veil of suspicion on the hiring process” (p. 123), which could clearly have implications for the reputation of the organization. Further, how do organizations even incorporate spousal interviews to make hiring decisions? Think of the different scenarios to deal with: if a candidate is very qualified but the spouse isn’t on board, do they hire? It seems that spousal interviews are capable of injecting a lot of confusion into the selection and hiring process.
Waldron, G. (2012). Spousal Interviews of Applicants for Employment: A Legal and Ethical Dilemma. Journal of Leadership Accountability and Ethics, 9(2), 119–128.
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