Unemployment Discrimination

My Facebook status:

Matthew Rozsa
Want at least one cheap, simple way of dealing with America's unemployment problem? Pass a bill that makes it illegal for companies to engage in hiring practices like this one (as excerpted from an article on CNNMoney.com):
"Looking for work? Unemployed need not apply... Employment experts say they believe companies are... increasingly interested only in applicants who already have a job."

Matthew Rozsa
Here's a link to the article:
http://money.cnn.com/2010/06/16/news/economy/unemployed_need_not_apply/index.htm?source=cnn_bin&hpt=Sbin
It's most salient point is that many employers operate under the assumption that the unemployed are in their current predicament because of poor performance at their previous job. Although economists from all over the ideological spectrum have long since dismissed this belief as a myth (which is doubly true in times of economic hardship, such as this one), employers still embrace this perspective, in part out of convenience (it reduces the number of applications they have to sift through) and in part because they're plain out-of-touch.

Tiguhs OndaBayou
It's a bitch out there, I imagine those employers that discriminate against the unemployed will lose out to competitors that weild such untapped talent

Morgan Kanter
How do you *enforce* such a law?

Tiguhs OndaBayou
You can't. It's just pointless regulation Matt supports, are you surprised?

Morgan Kanter
Look, I'm not saying it's pointless and I don't like the implication that I'm supporting such a position. The free market correcting itself has the same flaws of timing here that it has in countless other applications. If the regulation is actually enforceable, it does not seem like a poor idea.
If it's not enforceable though, it could clearly cause obvious problems.

Matthew Rozsa
I'm not sure how regulation that can put the unemployed back to work can be considered "pointless". While enforceability would be difficult, it is hardly impossible. Because there are already laws banning hiring discrimination based on race, gender, religion, and sexual orientation, one could easily (and cheaply) expand those laws to encompass individuals who are currently unemployed. Although the system for guaranteeing fair employment standards would inevitably still have some injustices to slip through the cracks, merely having those standards in place - and particularly making it possible for lawsuits to be pressed against employers who violate those standards - should go a long way toward correcting the problem.

Tiguhs OndaBayou
Now that's rich, you simply assume the policy would be successful if implemented!! lol

Tiguhs OndaBayou
Morgan, if it's not enforceable it's = pointless

Morgan Kanter
I did not say anything to indicate that that wasn't the case.

Matthew Rozsa
Did I say that the policy would be successful simply because it had been implemented?

What I said is that, if incorporated into existing legislation protecting select groups from hiring discrimination, it would probably have the same amount of effectiveness in protecting the unemployed as those laws have in protecting racial, religious, and sexual minorities. Would it be perfect? No. Would it be better than the status quo? Yes - and it would be both cheap and relatively easy to put in place.