President Barack Obama American Jobs Act; Proposals Prohibit Employers from Discriminating Against Unemployed Workers in Hiring
It seems wrong and backward, but several recent reports suggest that a job applicant's current status as unemployed is cutting him or her out of many job opportunities.

ANN ARBOR, MI, October 21, 2011 /24-7PressRelease/ -- by: David Blanchard

It seems wrong and backward, but several recent reports suggest that a job applicant's current status as unemployed is cutting him or her out of many job opportunities. In Michigan, with one of the Nation's highest unemployment rates, this trend seems especially unfair. If we are going to get serious as a nation about putting people back to work, we have to make sure that the unemployed are not cut out from equal job opportunities. It seems that the White House gets it.

Earlier this month, the White House released President Obama's proposed American Jobs Act. Point three of the Jobs Act specifically addresses this area of job search discrimination: "Pathways Back to Work for Americans Looking for Jobs." The Act proposes a $4,000 tax credit to employers to hire long-term unemployed workers and prohibits discriminating against unemployed workers when hiring.

The Act still allows employers to consider the reasons why an applicant is unemployed, but it establishes a sort of "relevance test" that would seem to at least prohibit blanket policies of refusing to consider unemployed job candidates. If passed with this provision, the Jobs Act would be a significant step forward in the struggle to get the unemployed victims of the economy back into the workforce. It remains unclear whether Congress will pass the proposed Jobs Act and if so, whether it will include protections for the unemployed.

The lawyers at Nacht Law will continue to monitor the developments as the congressional debate over the Jobs Act continues. If you have any questions or would like more information on the issues discussed in this comment, please contact the author. Attorney David Blanchard is a principal at the Law Firm of Nacht, Roumel, Salvatore, Blanchard & Walker PC, practicing in the area of employment rights and civil rights.

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David Blanchard
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