Md. legislation targets employer bias against unemployed, By Eileen Ambrose, March 18, 2012, Baltimore Sun: “Many long-term unemployed have discovered an ugly truth: You need a job to get one. Jobless workers across the country have recounted tales of being written off by a prospective employer if they have been out of work for six months or more. And some job ads have explicitly stated that a candidate must be currently employed. Now Maryland has joined a growing number of states considering legislation to prevent employers from discriminating against the unemployed…”
Tag: Job losses
US Unemployment
Unemployment claims drop, but new data paint a muddied economic picture, By Howard Schneider, March 1, 2012, Washington Post: “New claims for unemployment benefits fell to a new four-year low last week, suggesting that the U.S. labor market continues to improve. And a survey of factory purchasing managers indicated that manufacturing activity continues to grow. But new data on personal incomes, consumption and construction spending all cast doubt on the overall strength and durability of the U.S. economic recovery. The U.S. economy, after a year of concern about problems in Europe and the possibility of a broad “double dip” recession, gathered pace at the end of last year. The faster growth began being felt, as well, in an expanding job market and falling unemployment…”
Hiring Discrimination and the Unemployed
Measures aim to end bias against long-term jobless, By Shelly Banjo, February 24, 2012, Wall Street Journal: “More than a dozen states are considering legislation to make it illegal for companies to discriminate against the unemployed. State lawmakers say they see the bias turning up in a nation with an 8.3% unemployment rate: Companies that explicitly advertise that they won’t hire someone who isn’t currently employed. The proposals from Connecticut to California range in scope from banning advertisements that require current employment to allowing unsuccessful job candidates to sue businesses under the same discrimination laws that apply to bias on the basis of religion, race, gender or national origin. The efforts come as the percent of the long-term unemployed-people looking for work for more than six months-has consistently topped 40% since December 2009, when it broke that threshold for the first time since 1948, the year such data began being collected…”