Illegal Interview Questions in Germany: What You Don't Have to Answer Honestly

Germany’s AGG law bans employers from asking about children, pregnancy, religion, age, ethnic origin, sexual orientation and other personal traits — and candidates have a legal right to answer such questions untruthfully.

In short

• The AGG bans questions about pregnancy, marital status, religion, age, ethnic origin, and health, regardless of the position.
• Questions about a criminal record, debt, tattoos, or health are legitimate only when directly tied to a specific position.
• Questions about a work permit, language skills, and time availability are allowed without restriction for any job.
• Recht zur Lüge lets you lie in response to unlawful questions about protected categories, but not about health or qualifications when they’re critical for the role.
• There’s no legal obligation to answer a direct question about returning to Ukraine — you can redirect the conversation to your work permit and Paragraph 24.

The AGG law: what protects candidates in a German job interview

Illegal interview questions in Germany are governed by the Allgemeines Gleichbehandlungsgesetz (AGG) — the General Equal Treatment Act. It prohibits discriminating against a candidate based on race, ethnic origin, sex, religion or belief, disability, age, and sexual orientation.

These categories set the boundary for an employer before the conversation even reaches specific questions: anything touching these traits is off-limits by default. But the AGG doesn’t cover every possible interview topic — there’s a gray zone where a question formally doesn’t fall under any protected category, yet its legitimacy still depends on the specifics of the job.

Questions employers are not allowed to ask (the red zone)

An employer has no right to ask about pregnancy, plans to have children, marriage, marital status, or sexual orientation. The AGG doesn’t explicitly mention a partner’s job, but in practice it’s wise to treat that question with the same caution — it sits right next to the topic of marital status. The same goes for questions about the number of children and future family plans — these are off-limits no matter how they’re phrased.

Reasoning like “the employer just wants to know how much time I can dedicate to the job” doesn’t hold up here: there are specific, job-related questions for that purpose — for example, whether a candidate is willing to work evening shifts or travel for business. Questions about children, marital status, or a partner’s job have nothing to do with that, and candidates are entitled to decline answering them.

Reasoning like “the employer just wants to know how much time I can dedicate to the job” doesn’t hold up here

The red zone also includes:

• religion or belief (party or trade union membership, while not listed under the AGG, is also considered an inappropriate interview topic);
• age;
• ethnic origin, race;
• current and past illnesses;
• genetic conditions and serious illnesses in the family.

The last two points form a separate taboo area: no employer, regardless of the position, has the right to ask about hereditary conditions or the health of a candidate’s relatives.

Questions that depend on the position (the yellow zone)

Some questions fall into a gray area: they aren’t formally banned by law, but they’re only legitimate when directly relevant to the specific position. A candidate has the right to ask why the employer is asking — that’s not rudeness, it’s a normal response to a gray-zone question.

Questions about a criminal record or debt are appropriate where the job involves finance — for example, hiring at a bank. At some banks, including N26, candidates agree in advance, by checking a box on the application, to a background check covering debt and criminal history. The right to ask about a criminal record or debt isn’t governed by the AGG but by other legislation, and it depends on the specific position and industry — there’s no definitive list. The less a role involves access to finances or financial responsibility, the more questionable such a question becomes.

Questions about tattoos also belong to the gray zone and border on intimate territory. Some organizations ask about them when a role involves direct client contact — in that case, a candidate’s appearance matters to the employer.

Health questions are legitimate where a health condition directly affects the ability to perform the job — for example, for pilots or subway drivers. For most other professions, such a question has no relevance, so it’s worth asking what justifies it.

Questions allowed without restriction (the green zone)

The green zone covers questions an employer can ask freely, regardless of the position:

• language skills — proficiency in German, English, or other languages needed for the job;
• work permit — whether the candidate has one and when it expires;
• plans to change permit type — for example, whether a candidate on a Paragraph 24 permit plans to switch to a work permit;
• time availability — whether the candidate can work evening shifts;
• willingness to travel and work shifts — without an underlying agenda about marital status or children.

These questions relate directly to the ability to do the job, so phrasing like “are you willing to travel for work” or “can you work evening shifts” is fine on its own — unlike using the same questions as a backdoor to learn about a candidate’s marital status.

Three zones of interview questions in Germany

Table scrolls sideways

Zone	Red (banned)	Yellow (depends on the position)	Green (always allowed)
Example questions	Pregnancy, children, marriage, orientation, religion, age, origin, health	Criminal record and debt, tattoos, health condition	Language skills, work permit, time availability, business travel
Depends on the position	No, applies to any position	Legitimate only for specific positions	No, applies to any position
Right to lie	Applies without risk	Applies with risk if job-related	Not applicable — questions are lawful

The zone breakdown follows how the AGG boundaries and the gray zone are described in this article.

Questions about origin and plans to return to Ukraine: where the line is

An employer can ask “where are you from” or “when do you plan to go back to Ukraine” — there’s no outright ban on it. But it’s a gray area with an edge: phrasing about ethnic origin or race falls squarely into the red zone and is clearly banned, and a question about returning to Ukraine comes close to it.

The difference lies in the phrasing and the motive. If an employer directly asks when a candidate plans to return to Ukraine, that’s an inappropriate question with an underlying agenda: a candidate’s plans to quit are not the employer’s business, since an employee can leave a job at any time. A correct way to express the same underlying interest, by contrast, is to ask whether the candidate has a work permit and when it expires, or whether they plan to change their status under Paragraph 24.

a candidate’s plans to quit are not the employer’s business, since an employee can leave a job at any time

Whether to answer a direct question about returning is the candidate’s own decision — the law doesn’t regulate it. One option is to ask back how it relates to the position, or to answer evasively: emphasize interest in a long-term role at the company and the intent to settle legal status through a work-based permit.

How to answer an inappropriate question without hurting your chances

There are three working tactics for an inappropriate question — all without outright lying and without conflict with the employer.

1. Ask a counter-question. You can ask directly: “How does this question relate to the position I’m applying for?” The phrasing shifts the conversation from personal to professional, doesn’t sound like an accusation, and signals to the employer that the question has gone beyond the scope of the interview.
2. Politely decline. You can say the question is too personal and immediately offer to answer anything related to the job instead. In Germany, setting such personal boundaries in an interview is accepted practice, not rudeness.
3. Answer about availability instead. If asked about the number of children or family plans, you can sidestep the substance of the question and shift the answer to practical terms: for example, say you’re willing to work shifts and overtime as needed. The same technique works for questions about plans to return to Ukraine — the answer shifts to willingness to do the job.

All three options let you avoid answering the actual question while staying within a polite, professional conversation.

How to respond to an inappropriate interview question

• Ask how the question relates to the positionShifts the conversation from personal to professional
• Politely decline to answerSay the question is too personal and offer to discuss work-related topics instead
• Redirect your answer to job availabilityEmphasize shift work, overtime, or travel instead of addressing the actual question
• Ask about the work permit and its expiry instead of returning to UkraineA correct way to express the same underlying interest from the employer

The right to lie (Recht zur Lüge) and when it doesn’t apply

On unlawful questions, a candidate has a legal right to answer untruthfully — in German law this is called Recht zur Lüge, the right to lie. It applies specifically to the areas covered by anti-discrimination law: religion, origin, political views, and other protected categories. For instance, age doesn’t need to come up in an interview at all — that information is only needed by whoever processes the hire, not by whoever conducts the interview.

age doesn’t need to come up in an interview at all — that information is only needed by whoever processes the hire, not by whoever conducts the interview

But the right to lie isn’t without risk. If a false answer influenced the hiring decision, the employer may be able to challenge the employment contract on grounds of deception. The dividing line is job-relatedness: having children, religion, or other characteristics protected by law can’t be grounds for dismissal, because they don’t affect job performance. Lying about a health condition, however, can be grounds for dismissal if health is a genuine requirement for the specific position. The same applies to lying about professional qualifications and skills: misrepresenting one’s qualifications concerns the ability to do the job rather than private life, so the protection of the right to lie doesn’t extend to it.

Frequently asked questions

Can I refuse to answer if an employer still asks about children or marital status during the interview?

Yes, a candidate has the right not to answer a banned question on its merits. Instead of refusing outright, you can shift the conversation to practical terms: say you’re willing to work shifts or overtime as needed — this closes the topic without creating conflict with the employer.

Can an employee be fired if it turns out they lied in response to an inappropriate interview question?

No, if the lie concerned a characteristic protected by law — children, religion, marital status, and the like — it can’t be grounds for dismissal, since it doesn’t affect job performance. A lie only becomes grounds for dismissal when it concerns health critical to the position or professional qualifications.

What if the employer insists on an answer after I’ve asked how the question relates to the position?

The law doesn’t require a candidate to keep justifying their refusal — you can restate that you’re happy to answer anything related to the job and leave the topic closed. An employer’s insistence on a personal topic after that signal is itself a sign the interview has gone beyond what’s appropriate.

Is it okay to leave age off a resume submitted for a job in Germany?

Yes, age isn’t required information for an interview — that data is only needed by whoever later processes the hire, not by whoever conducts the interview. A candidate can choose not to list age on a resume, just as they have the right not to state it verbally.

Does the right to lie apply to a written application form, not just a spoken interview?

This material describes the right specifically for interview questions, and the same logic applies to written forms: if a form’s question concerns a characteristic protected by law, a candidate has the right to answer untruthfully. But if the question concerns qualifications or health critical to the position, lying there carries the risk of the contract being challenged.