American Jobs Act Would Ban Discrimination Against Jobless

WASHINGTON -- The jobs package President Obama sent to Congress on Monday includes a ban on hiring discrimination against the jobless.

Since last year companies and staffing firms have been slipping "must be currently employed" requirements into online job postings, a practice President Obama has said "makes absolutely no sense."

The provision is modeled on legislation first sponsored this year by Democrats in the House of Representatives, which would ban hiring discrimination against the jobless (but would not make employment status a protected class like race or sex). Republican leaders in the House have embraced some elements of Obama's overall proposal, but spokesmen for House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) and House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) did not respond to requests for comment on the jobless discrimination piece.

The proposed legislation states that hiring discrimination against the jobless undermines the nation's economic stability, squanders human capital, increases demand for unemployment insurance, imposes burdens on publicly funded health and welfare programs and depresses the government's tax revenue. The bill would ban discriminatory language in job ads and also discrimination against the jobless itself. Affected workers could file claims with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

The ban would nevertheless give employers tons of leeway to favor workers with relevant recent work experience. Language in the bill says it is not intended "to preclude an employer or employment agency from considering an individual's employment history or examining the reasons underlying an individual’s status as unemployed in assessing the individual's ability to perform the job or otherwise making employment decisions about the individual."

Practically speaking, it's also unlikely that eliminating overt anti-unemployed job ads would prevent businesses from quietly passing over the jobless, a practice that would be difficult to prove.

In August, HuffPost surveyed more than 30 businesses responsible for such ads. Of the ones that responded, most disavowed the discriminatory language, though several staffing firms insisted their clients only wanted employed recruits (see the slideshow below).

Rep. Hank Johnson (D-Ga.), one of the original sponsors of legislation to ban the discrimination, hailed Obama's proposal in a statement.

"Discrimination against the unemployed -- especially the long-term unemployed -- in job ads and hiring practices flies in the face of what we stand for as a nation: Equal opportunity for all," Johnson said. "I'm proud to work with President Obama to stop this injustice."

Six million people have been out of work for six months or longer, according to the U.S. Labor Department.

Below is a slideshow of anti-unemployed job ads:

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Frankel Staffing, Entry Level Paralegal, Raleigh, N.C.

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First Slide

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Frankel denied having an ad stating the unemployment need not apply. "That was not us, we never had an ad like that," they told HuffPost. "If we did have an ad, that would've been for one of our clients and not for us."

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Frankel denied having an ad stating the unemployment need not apply. "That was not us, we never had an ad like that," they told HuffPost. "If we did have an ad, that would've been for one of our clients and not for us."

comments(1574)

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Arthur Delaney is the author of "A People's History of the Great Recession," HuffPost's first e-book.

Comments

[qzy]

10:16 AM on 09/16/2011

No, it won't. "The American Jobs" act would eliminate coorporate taxes. Obama and the dems were too lazy to actually write a bill with that name.

[MansfieldX]

06:22 AM on 09/15/2011

After Solyndra, Boeing, Gibson Guitars, and the drilling moratorium this administration really has no business talking about job creation. Pathetic would be too gentle.

[kemcha]

01:26 AM on 09/15/2011

There is absolutely no way to prove that employers discriminate against the jobless unless they verbally admit that in front of another witness. All this means is that employers will stop saying anything about why you didn't get the job.

Employers will call you in for an interview with the intention of never considering you for the job anyways.

[Norm]

07:56 AM on 09/15/2011

Exactly, and going in for an interview when you have no chance of being hired is worse than reading about it in the newspaper. This kind of discrimination can not be legislated; it can only force employers to stop talking. Silly, silly stuff.

[theexperimentisfinished]

12:43 AM on 09/15/2011

another gift to the trial lawyers...

[LightShadow62]

10:49 PM on 09/14/2011

My wife was laid off more than 2 years ago, she bust her tail every day trying to find new work but finally threw in the towel when 80% of the applications listed "currently employed" as a criteria for application.
If companies will not hire the unemployed (most through no fault of their own) then how exactly do you reduce unemployment?

[Satoshi Hata]

11:37 PM on 09/14/2011

I have lived in some other countries in Asia and Europe, but I'm sure that the ridiculous hiring policy is an American thing. I have never heard of such a policy in any other countries. Maybe Americans have been dumber these days. They can't just through away the unemployed in the trash.

[LightShadow62]

11:58 PM on 09/14/2011

It is part of what I call the "MBA Model of Business" where they are only concerned with short term profits.
My wife is one of the victims. She was working for a national company had just received employee of the year for her district and was fired two weeks later because the head office decided to fire the newest hires. They was no discretion left to the local of district managers, they just fired the new people.
That type of move is straight out to the textbooks and is the sign of know nothing MBA students making decisions that drastically effect peoples lives but they are also taught to not care and just look out for the bottom line.

Yes Satoshi, America has become increasingly more ignorant as a whole, the Tea Party is a glaring piece of evidence of this fact.

[demilieu]

05:56 PM on 09/14/2011

Making something illegal still does not take away the stigma.

[wish2bfree]

05:35 PM on 09/14/2011

If you can't put teeth in the bill or enforce it, why bother?

This bill is useless as there is no way to prove discrimination if a company just eliminates the
biased advertising. What we need are government incentives to hire the long-term jobless starting with the most incentive money for hiring the ninety-niners...

[Disdain]

04:39 PM on 09/14/2011

How do you prove it? Companies who can afford it, will pay to make it go away to avoid a costly trial and the smaller companies will suffer. Just another small business job killing legislation.

[LightShadow62]

10:49 PM on 09/14/2011

You should really educate yourself with something besides Tea Party talking points.

[Disdain]

09:58 AM on 09/15/2011

How about refuting my point with a point of your own. Your comment is what liberals use when they have nothing to add to the discussion. I have seen it too many times on too many unrelated topics.

[DarkandStormyNight]

02:41 PM on 09/14/2011

r@ bid righties on parade!

[moose and squirrel]

07:44 AM on 09/15/2011

beautiful kitty!

[DarkandStormyNight]

01:48 PM on 09/14/2011

If all you people who want to sling mud, why don't you start with congress as they are pushing Obama into signing new trade deals that were agreed to under the Bush administration. Trade deals that would ship more jobs overseas. Why throw so much mud at unemployed people and call them deadbeats? You're labeling people you know nothing about - how is that fair? If you're angry with the government, then so be it. However, stop stomping on people who have been stomped on enough already. Unemployed people, collecting a max $500 a week (massachusetts) after taxes in some states. Do you really think they their just sitting back with their feet up wondering who is going to pay their 2K/month mortgage, pay the bills, take care of the kids....are you for real? If you've never been sent home because your company goes belly up, then you have no idea what it feels like. And you have no idea how difficult it is to find a job, even in good times.

[Pushing70]

01:55 PM on 09/14/2011

Well said and I fully agree people need to wake up and get after congress not to pass the agreement with Columbia/Panama/Korea.

[DarkandStormyNight]

02:39 PM on 09/14/2011

I'm guessing you're more of an Eisenhower conservative?

[leskataus]

02:06 PM on 09/14/2011

I think many of the people here are young and have never had any personal experience with thise and don't know anybody who has. That's why they can't relate. They fail to understand that unemployment benefits are not a form of welfare and that workers pay into it while they are still employed. I have been on unemployment in the past and believe me, it's not the wonderful thing they think it is. You don't get nearly as much money as you did while you were working and the benefits will run out. Unemployment benefits are meant as a way to help hold you over until you can get another job but in the case of many of these people, they can't find another job at all. Some of them have said they've even tried to find work at fast food places but they weren't interested in hiring them.

[DarkandStormyNight]

02:34 PM on 09/14/2011

Young people are in for a rough ride if this Country isn't put back on the road to progress. They are too far removed from what a depression really looks like to understand the consequences of what they espouse to.

[DarkandStormyNight]

02:36 PM on 09/14/2011

And I was also on unemployment for a while right after 9/11. My company was already on the way out because of bad business decisions made at the top that workers had no control over. Still, the CEO, CIOs and other senior managers walked away with golden parachutes while the rest of made due with 2 weeks severance.

[FatFeline]

01:38 PM on 09/14/2011

No to worry. When the House Republicans split this bill up to pass the parts that will actually be good for jobs, this provision will be left on the cutting room floor.

[DarkandStormyNight]

06:52 PM on 09/14/2011

Dream on!

[FatFeline]

01:22 PM on 09/14/2011

Obama's job plan would make it illegal to discriminate against deadbeats. Shades of Atlas Shrugged.

[DarkandStormyNight]

01:33 PM on 09/14/2011

Get a clue f@ tso!

[moose and squirrel]

07:46 AM on 09/15/2011

you come off as one of those people who is never happy about anything

[JoanMeijer]

01:13 PM on 09/14/2011

And he's going to enforce that how?... He has a gutless DOJ when it comes to enforcing crimes against America - He's got states putting through legislation to deprive Americans of the vote and is doing nothing about that.... and he's going to enforce job discrimination in a corporatocracy - really?

[FatFeline]

01:25 PM on 09/14/2011

The DOJ has done a fine job of enforcing obscure laws against Gibson Guitar while not even noticing other guitar manufacturers for doing the same thing. Gibson's crime was not being a union shop and their CEO contributed to Republicans.

I am sure that the DOJ will work very hard to enforce the law against firms whose management has contributed to Republicans or are not unionized.

[moose and squirrel]

07:49 AM on 09/15/2011

wake up shortbus. you are grousing over some minor deal when all of wall street went unpunished for the collusion and fraud that brought the economy down, and neither democrat or republican party is going to do anything about it

[Satoshi Hata]

01:10 PM on 09/14/2011

The average unemployed person in America has been looking for work for 39.7 weeks, or more than nine months.
http://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/06/03/average-length-of-unemployment-at-all-time-high/

The US unemployment rate for September, 1983 is 9.2%, which is close to the current unemployment rate. But the average unemployment duration for 1983 was shorter than half of 39.7 weeks. That might imply the unemployed have had a harder time landing a job these days than they used to have, while people currently working have had a less hard time landing a job. In other words, America's employment practices have been much more rigid recently. Such a ridiculous hiring policy may have been implemented at many firms in the US.

http://www.google.com/publicdata/explore?ds=z1ebjpgk2654c1_&met_y=unemployment_rate&tdim=true&fdim_y=seasonality:S&dl=en&hl=en&q=us+unemployment+rate#ctype=l&strail=false&nselm=h&met_y=unemployment_rate&fdim_y=seasonality:S&scale_y=lin&ind_y=false&rdim=state&ifdim=state&tdim=true&hl=en&dl=en

[JPMac]

01:10 PM on 09/14/2011

He just can't catch a break, first the company he lent 500k to a year ago and now this!!!

Obama to Tout Jobs Act at Company that Outsources
by Keith Koffler on September 14, 2011, 10:25 am

President Obama today is visiting a small North Carolina manufacturing company that has outsourced half its workforce to Costa Rica and whose president is a Democratic politician who has contributed $2,000 to Obama.

[FatFeline]

01:26 PM on 09/14/2011

He can not catch a break because is simply incompetent.

[leskataus]

01:52 PM on 09/14/2011

That's only true if you get your news from right wing news outlets. If you get your news from other sources, you will find that he actually has accomplished quite a bit during his presidency. Of course, it doesn't help that he constantly has to keep going up against "The Party of No", whose only reason for existing is to oppose him on every thing he tries to do.

[moose and squirrel]

07:51 AM on 09/15/2011

my pet goat

youre doing a hek of a job brownie

im the decider


you were saying?

[DarkandStormyNight]

01:34 PM on 09/14/2011

Did you miss the part of the bill that reward companines for hiring American workers?