Employers Still Ruling Out Jobless Applicants: Report

Employers are still discriminating against unemployed people in their online job ads despite an increase of scrutiny on hiring practices, a new report by the National Employment Law Project has found.

HuffPost reported back in June 2010 that a number of job postings on sites such as Craigslist, Monster.com and Indeed.com explicitly ruled out jobless applicants using the language "must be currently employed," or "no unemployed candidates will be considered." According to the new NELP survey of a number of "heavily-trafficked job posting websites," employers have continued to screen out applicants solely because they are unemployed.

"This pernicious practice adds a tremendous burden for unemployed workers as they look for jobs," said Christine Owens, executive director of NELP. "For the millions of jobless Americans struggling to climb out of the deepest job hole in many decades, nothing can be more demoralizing than the double-whammy of losing a job and then learning they will not be considered for new positions because they are not currently working."

The jobs crisis is far from over: As of June, nearly 6.3 million U.S. workers had been out of work for six months or longer, according the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The average length of unemployment has steadily risen to almost 40 weeks, and there were nearly five job applicants for every job opening as of the most recent data in May.

In order to even out the playing field in the job market, Reps. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.) and Hank Johnson (D-Ga.) have introduced the Fair Employment Opportunity Act of 2011, which makes it illegal to discriminate against the jobless in a job advertisement or otherwise.

"I just thought about how unfair that was, to discriminate against people who had lost their jobs due to no fault of their own, who were just victims of corporate downsizing during a tough economy. And then to be penalized for having that status is just very unfair," Johnson told HuffPost. "It reminded me of the days when blacks were told to not apply for jobs, or job advertisements said 'no women allowed.'"

"I'm hopeful that this can be a bipartisan effort," he said, "because unemployment knows no demographic difference."

Comments

[Adartist777]

09:23 PM on 07/17/2011

After reading these comments I must say that I'm now a member of the serfdom class. I do work hard when I find day work. But many companies will not hire serfs. Even educated ones.

[mochaview]

07:13 PM on 07/17/2011

Thank you Laura Bassett for writing this article but you need to go further. The agencies I've been to enjoy humiliating unemployed workers. There is one called Choice Staffing where the man there, Harold is a particularly nasty fellow. Thinks he can say anything to any of us like we're a bunch of embacils. Just arrogant. One from another agency called me in disbelief, laughing at me while he asked in astonishment if I was still actually looking for a job.
Despite recent reports to the contrary in the NY Times that we seem complacent, over time, when we lose our cellphone service and internet service we'll slowly lose our minds and that revolution will not be televised.
More reports about how we are actually being treated, how the recruiters are enjoying rejecting us need to be reported. They may one day be on our hit list.

[ZeraLee]

02:51 AM on 07/16/2011

If these companies are just cycling through workers instead of creating jobs, then they should not benefit from credits for new workers.

[Craig A Olson]

04:21 PM on 07/15/2011

What the heck is unemployed? There are always a long list of things to do. I would never hire an unemployed worker. Unemployment is a choice, unless the person is mentall ill or physically disabled.

[mochaview]

07:08 PM on 07/17/2011

Craig A Olson, you are an A**. I and other workers wanted to keep our jobs or at least find another one but the companies laid off everyone. WE DID NOT HAVE A CHOICE. I hope someone in your area remembers your name, it that's your real one, and when they find themselves out on the street, reduced to nothing they come right after you. They don't necessarily have to bop you upside the head, They just need to sit there, day in and day out and there be so many of them the laid off police are no longer there to get rid of them.

[Craig A Olson]

07:40 PM on 07/17/2011

I rest my case. Most have no clue how to figure out how to be productive on their own, or are too lazy or d**b to figure it out. They should have thought about things before they happen, not after. They tie themselves to risk, and then they blame others when they lose their jobs! How big is your garden? Why aren't you running the side businesses you established while you had your job? I have to forego many money-making opportunities daily because there is no time to do them, and besides, the government takes most of the proceeds to give to the lazy. The USA is producing a leech mentality and is going down the tube because of it. I thank my Savior Jesus that He has shown me how to be productive and not lazy. Turn to Him.

[Cynthia Morse Linton]

05:14 PM on 07/14/2011

It would have been nice if this article had included a little more than a reread of the report with a couple of quotes thrown into the mix. There's no discussion of WHY they are doing it, what is the logic behind it. Now that would be real reporting.

[sandracknox]

08:56 PM on 07/14/2011

Amen!

[Dingo Bob]

01:33 PM on 07/14/2011

Xanax Anyone?

[kemcha]

10:06 AM on 07/14/2011

Republicans will never allow this bill to pass.

[dvm]

10:03 AM on 07/14/2011

The trolleez are out in force...but how amusing. The arguments get more and more desperate and more and more transparent.

They all amount to: The unemployed are bad people. Therefore we should not help them.

As usual, laughably shortsighted. Unable to think more than 1 step down the road.

[angry in ct]

04:29 PM on 07/14/2011

And the worst of the bunch is a couple of posts down on this thread.

[JeffreyGold]

07:40 PM on 07/13/2011

Attention all ye ignorant: while no individual owes you a job, the society does---if the society has not set aside public lands upon which those who have lost everything can live. In other words, if they cannot be accommodated within society, there must be provisions provided by society allowing citizens to live external to that society. It is illegal to be poor and destitute in America; if you have nothing, and own nothing or cannot rent space, you are encroaching on federal, state, or private property. This conundrum exists because the level of intelligence required to understand this exceeds the intelligence of most Americans: the thinking of this society is incomplete and deficient. In the absence of Law, which must include provisions for taking care of the citizens captured with the legal framework of that society, then abandoned citizens have rights existing within Natural Law. In this country, there is a disconnect between government and business and the population---the former arise from the population, and are not mutually exclusive to it. Unfortunately, government and business in this country have been allowed to have far too many interests that diverge from the common interests of the citizens, and the legal structures and frameworks of this society have largely been written by unempathetic beings who have no understanding of human complexity, nor of human---not American---needs.

[Hotness]

08:16 AM on 07/14/2011

You are not authorized a fema trailer, no matter how much you overload your brain into thinking you or anyone are owed something....I'm sure you have days when you think its going to explode due to all of the injustice in the world and all of the "victims" being "abandoned" -- it keeps you awake at night don't it. Its more than a gandhi type like you can take.

[JeffreyGold]

01:09 PM on 07/14/2011

It appears you lack the requisite intelligence to understand what I wrote (unless you didn't read it, but merely had a knee-jerk reaction by assuming I'm on the opposite of whatever political spectrum you see emanating from the prism of manufactured political idiocy. If you had the fined-tuned intelligence, coupled with a sense of history, you would know that the founding fathers wrestled with issues as fragile as the one I describe. Their 'compromise' resulted in the Declaration of Independence. What I describe is the next step in human political evolution, as the founding fathers, and those who preceded them, had the luxury of finding land to which to escape their uncompromising political existence. No one who finds themselves landlocked or victimized by the brutal, exploitative economic plutocracy or the domestic economic errorists[sic] of this country has that luxury, even if they have the moxie to not be a professional victim.

I intercepted a message, which obviously was intended for you. I've attached it for your edification.

Attention Shill:

Please report back to HQ for your next assignment. Your work here is now complete. Excellent work. Management is considering you for promotion to "kapo."

The Management

[sandracknox]

09:11 PM on 07/14/2011

What? I agree that the trend, not just in America but, in what were once many great societies, is to dummy down on thinking and doing for the greater good. Just listening to the rationale of Congressional "leadership" for putting us in a economic black hole defies all sense of decency. Out of pure, unadulterated hatred, they are willing to bring this country to rack and ruin. It's not politics, per se, as much as it is an unwillingness to give up the "old boy" habits and the sense of entitlement that they have enjoyed for decades on end. Intelligence left the Capitol a long time ago.

[JeffreyGold]

06:47 PM on 07/13/2011

Then it is hypocritical of these conservative business owners to tell the unemployed to go find work. If you're going to talk the talk, then walk the walk, or shut the you-know-what up.

Just another demonstration how severely limited and compartmentalized the thinking of the majority of Americans is---simply unable to piece things together.

If not enough jobs are being created, and not enough exist, how are the unemployed supposed to survive? You mean other people are supposed to take care of them (a big assumption)---an externality which the government and business both push back on the populace. Kind of insane if you think about it. All three are made up of people, and certainly of the same society, but for the purposes of distributing power and money and labor, there are three disparate groups. Insane, especially when you realize that business has the least accountability in both legal requirements and in practice.

[Craig A Olson]

04:24 PM on 07/15/2011

They can wash cars or collect cans, if they are too uneducated to figure things out for themselves.

[JeffreyGold]

01:08 AM on 07/17/2011

CraigAOlson: "They can wash cars or collect cans, if they are too uneducated to figure things out for themselves­. "

Washing cars and collecting cans does not constitute a living. Nor existence. It sounds like you're talking from a place of mathematical and economic ignorance. Oh, I get it, you were trying to be facetious or funny.

[mochaview]

07:24 PM on 07/17/2011

According to the SHRM- Society of Human Resource Managers, employers feel they have gotten rid of the most unwanted problematic workers and can pick, choose and refuse from the currently employed. HR people are trying to tell them that the workers they already have are going to jump ship the minute as soon as they can find another job in a better economy and they aren't very happy at all where they currently are. Right now we have computer access and cellphone service. Once the UI runs out and there is nothing coming in and those in that position start to grow, anarchy is going to break out. The media can only stick their heads in the sand and pretend they don't exist and say things like the reason shoplifting is up is because the economy is growing. No, theft is up because people need basic necessities and although most are no good criminals, a few are simply desperate. I've witnessed them of all colors using spare change to buy deoderant and other much needed personal products. Even the NY Times gets in on the act with an article that says we're invisible as opposed to days gone by. That is until more become homeless and lose their minds and then start acting out. When they are in their tent cities and have thrown aside their laptops and cellphones, it will be a different story.

[ProverbsThirtyone Sista]

06:00 PM on 07/13/2011

Ladies and gentleman, instead of getting upset at your current circumstances... get KNOWLEDGE and WISDOM. You might not like hearing it, but there are a few people I have peeped on this comment board that are TELLING YOU the mentality of many employers in corporate America. Do I agree, NO, but I DO LISTEN and take note. I am currently doing a part time job, however I know one thing, I will NOT stop working. Keep working toward something, don't lose hope, I know it's hard out here, and be encouraged.

[wutzurbeef]

10:39 AM on 07/14/2011

Lol....... its very simple, just put on your application, currently employed, and then put the name of a friend, who, if they call them, will say YES he is WORKING!. If the employers are gonna pull this stupid charade, why shouldn't we? Fight fire with fire, I say.

[mochaview]

07:25 PM on 07/17/2011

I have considered trying the same thing too out of desperation. That just might be happening these days too. Bogus current employment among friends who can cover each other.

[cplusmob]

05:29 PM on 07/13/2011

ok so phase I;
get foot in door offer $3/hours "educated" employees (yeah right) to replace highly educated and experienced Americans
spend couple years going over the code and practices the Americans developed that took decades of trial and error and copy all of it

then

http://www.infoworld.com/d/the-industry-standard/infosys-eyes-products-business-opportunity-733

[bethel1974]

04:24 PM on 07/13/2011

I also have another example. In doing some due diligence I started to look at the old GM to assess their assets that was broken off during bankruptcy. Alot of large plants with huge 100's of acres of land for redevelopment. I inquired about a particular property and was told that the gov't of the town where the plant is will not allow GM sell the property because they were holding out for GM to come back and start the plant back up. They did not want vulture investors coming in and dismantling the plant for scrap metal. I was shocked until the GM plant in Doraville, GA was closed and how GM vetted the new buyers and the city issued a mandate on how they want the property redeveloped. They wanted office space and condos. The Atlanta Falcons want to build a new stadium there. My point is the jobs that America had are gone, the gatekeepers have to transition to accept the new types of jobs in engineering,planning,and investment is what is hiring right now and allowing developing companies find their way not hinder development.

[fortressfountain]

04:22 PM on 07/13/2011

I was taught you should ask for the highest salary possible. Look the interviewer in the eye when he asks you why you haven't worked for 2 years and say "the jobs were of inferior quality and I could not afford to pay the company for the privilege of working for them."
A lot of companies know who the bum companies are and they will think you were smart to research and come to this conclusion.

[bethel1974]

04:13 PM on 07/13/2011

In no way am I anti-capitalism. I am just stating the obvious, for example Duke Energy the largest electricity company in the U.S. has almost $1 trillion dollars invested in working with China to solve their energy problem. I applaud Duke Energy for being proactive and searching out new business opportunities but I also boo Duke Energy in not investing at least $50 billion in the United States and advancing our green initiative. There are plenty of investment opportunities in America that would supply better and more stable ROI than dealing with China.

[alunsulen]

04:18 PM on 07/13/2011

Invest $500 of your own in American green initiatives and see how much remains after 5 years :P

[TomTheSeal]

07:18 PM on 07/13/2011

Duke Energy should be severely penalized. The money they want to invest in China was earned in the USA.

Further, Duke Energy is displaying all the attributes of a traitor.

Unless and until we get government that comes down hard on this transfer of American wealth to foreigners, this will not only continue but it will get worse.

[Adartist777]

09:32 PM on 07/17/2011

I agree with you. First of all, I live in a state where this company has a monopoly on electric service. In 2005, our state legislature introduced a bill to allow competition to compete with Duke. However, it was shot down by Duke's powerful lobbyists.

What was the result? High electricity rates with no competition.