Employment

[ZeldaHeart]

Recently, I went into a certain store which I won't name but I'll say that there are mostly boys there.  I know a lot about the stuff they sell at this store and the manager there was like "Hey, you should work here!"  He's young and I'm pretty sure he likes me.  I'm about to start the name changing process but will not have surgery for years.  Would it be possible to get a job there after the name change and them NOT know that I was born male?  All the people who work there really like me and see me as a girl and it would just feel awful for that to be ruined.  However, I'd love to work there. 

[envie]

If you live in the US the situation is a bit tricky and the answer is not straight forward.

The problem with gender mark could come up when you need to give the HR department your social security number. As of yet the only way to change the gender mark with the social security administration is to have a proof of performed surgery. So unless you had the SRS you will be still male in the records. The HR department could get the so called "no match" response from the SSA and then they would get back to you because they can't pay your income if they don't have "proper" SS number.
As of lately there has been some talk about abandoning the gender match between the SSA and the employer but the verdict is to my knowledge still up in the air.
So it really depends if people in the HR department mention the pronoun and someone on the other line says well we have a guy under that name and the number and not a lady.

I decide for myself to interview as female and first after it looks as the job is being secured then I'd say there is one more thing to mention regarding the SS number and then just calmly explain that I am still in the SSA records enter as male. I would share this only with the HR department as the sales personal really doesn't need this peace of information
At that point if they have objections then you have clear case of discrimination and that is against the law.

I am myself stuck between the gender markers. My drivers ID and everything else is changed to F and yet I am still under M with the SSA. I got rejected I believe on September  26th this year by the SSA     

[Jeneva]

I'm pretty sure they don't send no-match letters anymore.  Here is a link that says that http://www.bilerico.com/2011/09/trans_employees_no_longer_under_threat_from_social.php.


edit: fix the link to have the period AFTER the url tag not inside it.

[envie]

Oh, that is a relieve!
I am not sure why that link didn't work so here is the one that google spit out for me that worked:
http://www.bilerico.com/2011/09/trans_employees_no_longer_under_threat_from_social.php

[Jaime]

If they do a background check on you as many places do when you are going to handle any money or merchandise, they'll likely find out you're trans. Plus there's that whole "have you ever been known by any other name" question that can be on some applications.

[envie]

If they do a background check on you as many places do when you are going to handle any money or merchandise, they'll likely find out you're trans.

I am not so sure about that. When I was applying for my most recent job i got the chance to look onto the screen and the whole background check was rather a joke.
There were 2 different web sites the lady ran the search on and it was literally just "search found no results" after typing in my name.
I am not informed if there is any more thorough back ground check option than that but that was it in this case. Basically looking only for my name on the federal list of felons.

Plus there's that whole "have you ever been known by any other name" question that can be on some applications.

This is for sure something to be concerned about as lying about it would make you a potential felon or count as misdemeanor or something. But then again I haven't run into this question except on the Green Card application or similar.

Contacting a lawyer who is familiar with the LGBT laws might not be a bad Idea. I'd look for an organization like GLAAD or Qlaw. Often they give advices without a charge!

[SandraJane]

This might help....


http://www.ssa.gov/employer/w2news/

and this explains it more...the SSA no longer does gender matches....

http://myemail.constantcontact.com/Victory--Gender-No-Match-Letters-End.html?soid=1100409733839&aid=Nq4-dpwODDE

[tgchar21]

Plus there's that whole "have you ever been known by any other name" question that can be on some applications.

In some areas (not necessarily correlated with TG-friendliness* as the focus is usually on other types of name changes) that question is illegal to ask in a general sense (if they ask if they need to know about another name used in order to properly verify your work or school records that is acceptable, which means that if you can't update such records that they ask for you will likely need to disclose the old name). It's like applications asking for your date of birth or whether or not you're a U.S. citizen; you may see the questions asked but worded as I put them can be dicey for the employer, but asking whether you're 18+ (or 21+ in some places when serving alcohol, etc.) or authorized to work in the U.S. are acceptable (and if you are asked the question in an illegal form you may be allowed to answer it without the extraneous information that can be used to discriminate). Here's a thread started by me a couple of months or so ago on this issue if you're interested.

*For example sources from California say it's legal to ask, while employer guideline pages or packets I've seen online made for places like Montana and Oklahoma say it's not.

[lilacwoman]

The issue is not to do with paperwork but your acceptance.   
They like you and you would like to work there so this might be a case of biting the bullet and outing yourself to the manager. 
He has to sell stuff and employ nice staff to make customers buy so he may be OK with employing you.
It's the 2st century now so he should have some idea of sex change and as he sees you as natural girl he may be happy to have you work there 'while you save money for your op in ** years time'.   
Make sure you tell him he won't be starting you then you demand weeks off for sex change and he may be happy.
If its a nationwide chain a call to HR at head office will get info on policy of employing TS etc.

[angelfaced]

as far as background checks go the answer is it depends. i changed my name in march and this is all from what i understand. I live in and was born in texas so thats where my stuff was done. most background checks will consist of just a criminal check and as long as you have never been arrested or have a record theres a chance they wont find out. however, if your job includes driving , they might run a check on your drivers license. your name change will pop up on this becuase your license number doesnt change, at least here in texas.

  as far as your social security card, if you have had a name change i doubt it will come up because your name would match. i changed my gender on everything including my license and my social security card. regardless of what laws apply, honestly it all depends on if there is a ts friendly judge in your area that will put out a court order of gender change ( and im pre op and got this done ). go find yourself a good lawyer and get the name and gender done at the same time. my advice would be to get ahold of a ts group near you and ask around about lawyers that will help with gender marker/name change stuff. my lawyer cost 600 dollars and it was all extremely painless.

[tgchar21]

This is for sure something to be concerned about as lying about it would make you a potential felon or count as misdemeanor or something. But then again I haven't run into this question except on the Green Card application or similar.

In most cases I don't think that lying on an application for a job with a private employer (in the U.S. at least from my experience as I've never seen a warning of criminal charges on such an application) is a criminal offense* (unless you lied about information the employer needs in order to be legally compliant or you're doing something otherwise illegal, like saying you have a license that you don't or giving out a false SSN). Government jobs are an entirely different animal though, and there they do give warnings of fine and/or imprisonment for false information (and they can also ask questions that private employers are not allowed to such as your gender for Selective Service purposes).

*It can of course get you fired without recourse (unless it was a question that the employer wasn't supposed to ask to begin with).