Which interview questions and medical examinations are permitted?
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Detailed explanation, checklist and sources
Recruitment should assess suitability, not private life or a general medical file. Medical examinations require necessary special medical job requirements. Keep exact questions and responses if concerned.
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1. Separate job and private questions
Employers may describe actual duties and ask whether you can perform them. Health, past sickness absence, plans for children or pregnancy generally do not belong in the interview; you need not answer such private questions. Ask how they relate to the role and record the exact wording afterwards.
2. Check what you must disclose
You need not disclose pregnancy when applying. A limited duty may arise if you know a medical problem prevents performing the work. That is not a duty to provide your whole file. Seek advice about necessary functional information and adjustments if uncertain.
3. Check whether an examination is allowed
Pre-employment examination is allowed only for necessary special medical job requirements. The vacancy must mention it, and it follows selection when the employer intends to hire you. Request written purpose, questions and tests beforehand; a registered occupational doctor/doctor performs it. A universal health questionnaire is not automatically lawful.
4. Protect medical information
Questions must relate to the examination's purpose. Irrelevant private questions, including pregnancy, need not be answered; testing for serious incurable/hereditary diseases or HIV is prohibited under the official rules. You receive the result; the employer receives fit/unfit, not your medical file without consent. Ask what disclosure is necessary before agreeing.
5. Ask about selection criteria
Not every distinction is unlawful, but job requirements and legal exceptions must genuinely fit. For disability/chronic illness, consider whether effective adjustments remove safety risks. Preferential policies have conditions and do not permit automatically excluding everyone else. Ask for criteria and rejection reasons in writing; pregnancy cannot justify rejection, including temporary/agency jobs.
6. Choose the complaint route
Keep a factual chronology of vacancy, questions, examination and rejection. Raise concerns with employer/doctor or seek support. For examinations, SER's free CKA procedure may apply: contact it first and use its official form; its opinion is non-binding. Discrimination support includes regional services, unions and the Human Rights Institute; its opinion is also non-binding and direct court action remains possible. Complaints do not automatically suspend court deadlines.
Draft request: Which interview questions and medical examinations are permitted?
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Is a workplace preventive examination the same?
No. An ordinary offered PMO is voluntary and investigates work-related health; results do not simply go to the employer. It differs from a permitted pre-employment examination for specific requirements.
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Rijksoverheid — sollicitatievragen ↗Rijksoverheid — medische keuring ↗Rijksoverheid — selectieonderscheid ↗Rijksoverheid — zwangerschapsdiscriminatie ↗Rijksoverheid — discriminatieklacht ↗SER — CKA-klacht ↗Sources may be in Dutch. General information about Dutch law, not individual legal advice.