Question of the Day

[James Barrow]

>Evans, Diane L (Rosetta) said:
>>Jim Barrow wrote:
>
>Understand, I have nothing against propagating the human race.  But
>after reading the list of prohibited questions, this one still makes me
>wonder.
>
>Let me give you a woman's perspective.

I've read your response and, unfortunately, it's so far removed from my
original question that I'm not sure I can wrestle it back into the topic of
discussion, but I'll give it a go.

>We hired a programmer who was essential for getting a certain product
>out on time.  Six months into the job, he contracted mononucleosis. He
>lost two months of work, and the product was late as a result.

I hope that, when you reread what you've written, you can see where I'm
going with this.

>During the interview, should he have been asked, "Mr. Jones, do you
>think you will be six and losing two months of work any time in the next
>year? If so, we don't want to hire you."

I'll treat this as rhetoric.

>Nobody can predict when a woman will have her baby

Ay carumba.  Were you absent that day in Biology?  The answer is nine
months.  The gestation period for Grizzly Bears is between 170 and 270 days
however.  HTH.

>or how much time off she will want or need.

This actually lends itself to my point, but I think that was unintended.

>I have worked with women who didn't go on leave until the first labor pain;
>I have worked with women who were back on the job within a couple of weeks
>of the birth.

Not really relevant to what I posted.

>Nobody can predict when a man or woman will get sick with time-consuming
>diseases (like cancer), injured in an accident, or even win the lottery.

My original post had absolutely nothing to do with predictions.  Zero.
Please note, you didn't mention childbirth in the sentence above.

My original post specifically stated the following: a one year contract with
a go live date in eight months in which the company needs the new employee
on-site every day.  The candidate _offers_ (during the interview) that she
is expecting a baby in eight months.

There's no predicting here.  Go live date = eight months.  Potential
employee will need off (if I use what you wrote above) at least 15 days.

Bottom line:  this employee will not be able to meet one of the requirements
of the job (on-site every day for a year).

If another candidate says that she is taking a two week vacation in eight
months, then the interviewer can justifiably end the interview and usher the
candidate out of the room.  But, in the case of the candidate who tells the
interviewer that she is expecting a baby in eight months, the interviewer
cannot turn her down for the job.