Is it legal for a company to exclude candidates from certain US states?

Question

In my many years of fielding recruiters' requests, I have never seen a Job Description include the fact that people from certain states of the US are ineligible. Is that legal/common?This one landed in my inbox today:Who we are looking for: ... > Lives in the United States (excluding Alaska and Hawaii) ...There's no mention of 'remote' in the email or the attachment. The JD mentions Healthcare, and protocols and terms like DICOM, HL7, PACS.

alexfromapex · Accepted Answer

The only way applicants are really protected from discrimination is what&rsquo;s on the EEOC website, everything else is fair gamehttps://www.eeoc.gov/employers/small-business/3-who-protecte...

mikewarot · Answer

There are tax implications of having employees in a given state, there are good reasons that people might want to avoid a specific state. It could cost them more than the employee from that state is worth.

sn0w_crash · Answer

It&rsquo;s not illegal to my knowledge. When a company hires someone for an office job, it is inherently EXcluding people from faraway places.While it might not be good practice, it is likely not illegal.

duped · Answer

If it's onsite and they're paying relocation costs I could see that being a problem if they have some kind of situation worked out with movers and relo companies

Is it legal for a company to exclude candidates from certain US states?

The only way applicants are really protected from discrimination is what’s on the EEOC website, everything else is fair game
https://www.eeoc.gov/employers/small-business/3-who-protecte...

There are tax implications of having employees in a given state, there are good reasons that people might want to avoid a specific state. It could cost them more than the employee from that state is worth.

It’s not illegal to my knowledge. When a company hires someone for an office job, it is inherently EXcluding people from faraway places.
While it might not be good practice, it is likely not illegal.

If it's onsite and they're paying relocation costs I could see that being a problem if they have some kind of situation worked out with movers and relo companies