Reps. Johnson, DeLauro call for hearing on unemployment discrimination

Send letter to chair of the Committee Education and the Workforce to consider their Fair Employment Opportunity Act

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Representatives Hank Johnson (GA-4) and Rosa DeLauro (CT-3) called for a hearing in the Committee on Education and the Workforce on the Fair Employment Opportunity Act (FEOA).

The FEOA would make the recent trend in companies discriminating against the unemployed by refusing to consider them for job openings illegal. Many companies have begun to require current employment in order to be considered for an available position, and these discriminatory practices are eliminating employment opportunities.

Since the introduction of the Fair Employment Opportunity Act, indeem.com, one of the largest online employment websites, has eliminated any language stating that a job candidate must be employed to be considered for a job.

President Obama’s American Jobs Act also includes this legislation.

“With the national unemployment rate currently standing at 9.2 percent and hovering there for over 2 years, we must do everything in our power to ensure that the 6 million Americans who have been unemployed for more than six months have a fair chance at employment,” the letter states.

“In an economy in which unemployed workers are competing with tens and sometimes hundreds of others for every available job opening, it is unjust to impair reemployment by allowing employers to disregard a candidate because the worker is unemployed.”

To view the letter, click HERE.

###