Key points
- MHLW lists 14 matters that may lead to hiring discrimination if collected through application documents or interviews — including honseki (registered domicile) and birthplace, family, housing, religion, political party supported, people the applicant respects and favorite books.
- Of the 854 cases of improper selection that Hello Work identified in FY2024, 41.8% involved "matters concerning family".
- To check whether someone can work nights or shifts, ask about it as a condition of the job, not about their home circumstances.
- In the latest meta-analysis, the structured interview — with questions and scoring criteria fixed in advance — was the most predictive method of job performance (Sackett et al. 2022).
- From October 1, 2026, employers must also take measures to prevent sexual harassment of "job seekers etc.", including applicants.
An interview is where you assess an applicant's aptitude and ability. In practice, though, small talk meant to put the applicant at ease, or a question asked "just in case", can turn into a question that may lead to hiring discrimination. This guide sets out the approach to fair recruitment and selection（公正な採用選考）from the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (MHLW)（厚生労働省）, and how to build interviews that predict job performance well.
01The 14 matters that may lead to hiring discrimination
MHLW names two basics of fair recruitment and selection: "open the door widely to applicants" and "do not use anything other than the applicant's own aptitude and ability as a hiring criterion". It asks employers not to collect the following 14 matters through application documents or interviews. Note that MHLW says the list is not exhaustive.
Matters the applicant is not responsible for
- Honseki（本籍）— registered domicile in the family register — and birthplace
- Family (occupations, relationships, health, education, income, etc.)
- Housing (floor plan, whether the home is owned, etc.)
- Living environment, family environment, etc.
Matters that should be a personal freedom
- Religion
- Political party supported
- Outlook on life, personal creed, etc.
- People the applicant respects
- Thoughts and ideology
- Labor unions, student movements and other social movements
- Newspapers and magazines read, favorite books, etc.
Selection methods
- Background checks, etc. (including asking for "a sketch map of your current address"（現住所の略図）)
- Application forms that include matters unrelated to aptitude or ability
- Health checks during selection that are not reasonably and objectively necessary
0240% of improper screening is about family
In FY2024 (Reiwa 6), Hello Work (Japan's public employment service offices) identified 854 cases of improper recruitment and selection. They break down as follows.
Source: MHLW Fair Recruitment and Selection special site, "Matters to consider in recruitment and selection"（採用選考時に配慮すべき事項）(854 cases identified by Hello Work in FY2024).Questions about family tend to slip out with no ill intent. The surest safeguard is for all interviewers to agree in advance on what not to ask.
03Common questions and how to rephrase them
What you usually want to know is "can this person work under the conditions of this job?" Rather than asking about home circumstances, set out the job's conditions and ask whether the applicant can meet them.
| Question to avoid | Matter it may touch on | Suggested rephrasing |
|---|---|---|
| "What do your parents do?"（ご両親は何をされていますか） | Family | Don't ask (unrelated to the job) |
| "Do you have someone to look after your children?"（お子さんを預ける人はいますか） | Family / family environment | "Can you work this schedule (night shifts ○ times a month)?"（この勤務表（夜勤は月○回）で勤務できますか） |
| "Do you own your home?" "Where is your family home?"（持ち家ですか／ご実家はどちらですか） | Housing / honseki, birthplace | "Are your commuting route and travel time workable?"（通勤の経路と時間に問題はありませんか） |
| "Who do you respect?" "What's your favorite book?"（尊敬する人は誰ですか／愛読書は） | Thoughts and beliefs | "Tell me what you value in your work, with examples from your experience."（仕事で大事にしていることを、経験を交えて教えてください） |
| "Which party do you support?" "What is your faith?"（支持している政党は／信仰は） | Political party / religion | Don't ask |
04Health checks during selection
Employers are asked not to conduct health checks during recruitment and selection unless reasonably and objectively necessary to judge the applicant's aptitude and ability. This includes checking medical history or having applicants submit a health declaration form. Even when a check is necessary, explain its content and why it is needed beforehand.
Separately, employers are required to give a health check at hiring（雇入れ時の健康診断）when they take on a regular worker (Ordinance on Industrial Safety and Health（労働安全衛生規則）, Article 43). This check is not for deciding whether to hire; it is for managing the worker's health once the hire has been decided.
05The case for structured interviews
MHLW also asks employers to decide questions and evaluation criteria in advance, so that they assess the aptitude and ability needed to do the job. Research in personnel psychology has repeatedly shown that the "structured interview（構造化面接）" — where questions and scoring criteria are fixed beforehand — has high predictive power.
The same table gives the 1998 estimates by Schmidt & Hunter: structured interviews .51, unstructured interviews .38, years of job experience .18. Sackett et al. argued that earlier studies had over-corrected statistically and revised the values for many methods downward; as a result, structured interviews came out on top. Researchers still debate the correction methods, and effects also vary widely depending on the workplace and how the interview is designed. Even so, both sets of estimates point the same way: judging with a pre-designed interview is better than judging on years of experience alone.
06How to structure your interviews
Research uses many different elements of structure. Put in a form that is easy to start with on the ground, it might look like this (our own summary).
- List the abilities you need. From the job's duties, narrow down to 3–5 abilities or behaviors needed after joining.
- Set questions for each ability. Ask for concrete past experience, e.g. "When you faced ○○ in the past, how did you handle it?"
- Set the scoring criteria first. Write down guidelines for what kind of answer earns what score.
- Ask everyone the same questions in the same order. Not changing questions from applicant to applicant makes them easier to compare.
- Take notes on the spot, and have each interviewer score separately before discussing. This keeps overall impressions from swaying the result.
Deciding your questions in advance also helps prevent inappropriate questions such as those about the 14 matters above.
07From Oct 2026: preventing sexual harassment of applicants
Under the amended Equal Employment Opportunity Act（男女雇用機会均等法）, from October 1, 2026, employers must take measures to prevent sexual harassment of "job seekers etc."（求職者等）— applicants, people visiting the workplace and others looking for work. Interviews and workplace visits（見学）are covered too, so you need to brief interviewers and set up a point of contact for complaints. For details, see Harassment prevention duties from October 2026.
Sources
- 公正な採用選考の基本Basics of fair recruitment and selection
- 公正採用選考特設サイト「採用選考時に配慮すべき事項」（令和6年度ハローワーク把握分を含む）Fair Recruitment and Selection special site: "Matters to consider in recruitment and selection" (including cases identified by Hello Work in FY2024)
- 公正採用選考特設サイト Q&A「採用選考時に健康診断を実施してもよいのでしょうか」Fair Recruitment and Selection special site Q&A: "May we conduct health checks during recruitment and selection?"
- 労働安全衛生規則（第43条）Ordinance on Industrial Safety and Health (Article 43)
- Sackett, Zhang, Berry & Lievens. Revisiting meta-analytic estimates of validity in personnel selection. Journal of Applied Psychology, 107(11)
- Sackett, Zhang, Berry & Lievens. Revisiting the design of selection systems in light of new findings regarding the validity of widely used predictors. Industrial and Organizational Psychology, 16(3), Table 1
- Schmidt & Hunter. The validity and utility of selection methods in personnel psychology. Psychological Bulletin, 124(2)
- 企業において募集・採用に携わるすべての方へ 男女均等な採用選考ルールFor everyone involved in recruitment and hiring: rules for gender-equal selection
This article is a general explanation based on Japanese laws and public sources as of Sept 25, 2026. Rules change. For individual cases, check with the Prefectural Labor Bureau (労働局), Labor Standards Inspection Office (労働基準監督署), Hello Work, or a licensed labor and social security attorney (社会保険労務士). Sources are mostly in Japanese.