WTFlocka?! Heading into the 2011 new year as an unemployed person can be very heavy on the heart. USA Today reported on the unfortunate dilemma that faces long-term unemployed Americans: employers are frowning on you as soon as they see the last date of hire on an application. PMG Indiana recently ran an ad for a production assistant that read: “Must have worked in the previous 12 months.”
An unemployed man, Henri Shenter lost his job in construction sales 15 months ago. Shenter has been turned down for jobs nearly 50 times, despite being 35 with 15 years of experience.
“They throw it in the trash,” said Shenter, of when employers look at his late date of hire, “There is absolute discrimination going on.”
USA Today also reported,
“And on top of that, some companies — including PMG Indiana, Sony Ericsson, and retailers nationwide — have explicitly barred the unemployed or long-term unemployed from certain job openings, outright telling them in job ads that they need not apply. Whether that discrimination is legal is up for debate.”
“An employer that discriminates against the unemployed risks legal action,” said Michael Blickman, partner in the labor and employment group at Ice Miller, adding he is unaware of any legal precedent. The unemployed are facing a hardship in whether they can sue or not.
Today 4.4 million Americans have been out of work for more than a year. This group makes up more than 40% of the total unemployed, the highest percentage since World War II.
I think the unemployed could use a little bit of Oprah giveaways right about now.
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