CareerCurve™

I wrote a post back in November that listed 5 Smart Reasons To Hire The Unemployed.  This was prompted by the increasingly common practice by employers of stating in their job descriptions that they would not consider those who are currently unemployed.  This practice, of course, led to discussions of whether or not this is discriminatory. 

Apparently, as of Monday, it is.  At least in New Jersey, where a new law was passed and will take effect in a month.  I took a look at the law, especially because everything I’m reading is claiming that New Jersey is the first state to put a law in place that forbids businesses to discriminate against unemployed job candidates.   What I read made me wonder.  According to this law an employer may not run ads that contain any of the following three items:

1. Any provision stating that the qualifications for a job include current employment;
2. Any provision stating that the employer or employer’s agent, representative, or designee will not consider or review an application for employment submitted by any job applicant currently unemployed; or
3. Any provision stating that the employer or employer’s agent, representative, or designee will only consider or review applications for employment submitted by job applicants who are currently employed.

The law is short, sweet and to the point.  (You can check it out for yourself here.)  It repeatedly references that employers cannot “knowingly or purposefully publish, in print or on the Internet” any ads, or other documents that state any of the 3 items listed above.

Maybe I am missing something here but I see nothing in this law that forbids discrimination against the unemployed.  Yes, if you blatantly state in an ad that you will not accept applications from the unemployed you’ll get smacked with a fine, but I see nothing in this law that says it is discrimination not to consider them for a job.  I’m no lawyer, but the way I read this law, an employer can tell a candidate over the phone that the company will not consider anyone unemployed and even THAT is not illegal!  To summarize, it reads to me that employers can discriminate all they want when it comes to the unemployed, as long as they don’t say they are doing it, in print or on the internet or in any ad, anywhere.

Maybe the law in New Jersey is a victory that will soon be irrelevant.  On April 4,  H.R. 1113 The Fair Employment Act of 2011 was introduced to the House Committee on Education and the Workforce.  This would amend Title VII of the Civil Rights Act to add the unemployed to the list of applicants already protected against discrimination due to race, color, religion, etc. This would provide real protection for the unemployed, although as in all discrimination cases it would be tough to prove – and the burden of proof will fall on the plaintiffs to show they were discriminated against. 

If this makes it through and is enacted, then I would agree that a law was passed forbidding companies to discriminate against the unemployed.

Given the economic conditions, it is highly likely that you have employees currently experiencing the stress of an unemployed spouse.  Unemployment ranks near the top of the list when it comes to most stress-inducing life experiences, along with divorce and death.  If an employee is living with someone who is going through this doesn’t it stand to reason that this is affecting your employee as well? And does this stress decrease your employee’s productivity?  According to a recent study, yes it does.

Associate Professor Maw-Der Foo and lead author Professor Zhaoli Song of the National University of Singapore co-authored a paper called “Unraveling the Stress Crossover Between the Unemployed and Their Spouses”.  To summarize part of what they discovered, an unemployed spouse can mean a less productive employee.  According to Foo, “our findings call for more attention on the family as an integrated system in responding to the unemployment situation.”

Can and should your organization do anything to assist?  I can think of a few reasons that you should: 

• A calmer and happier employee will be more productive.
• Engagement and retention rates will be higher for those who feel supported by their organization.
• Demonstrating that you care for your employees will positively influence your corporate culture and brand, making you attractive to top performers when you are hiring.

Learning how to support an unemployed spouse in a healthy way could really make a difference to an employee who not only has the added burden of being the sole bread winner, but also has to navigate the emotional terrain of their partner.   But what can your company actually do?

Offer stress management information.  This could be in the form of newsletters, literature, webinars or a counseling session on site.  This could also be as simple as sending a mass email with a link to a relevant article every Friday.

Provide coaching for the employee.  These employees may find themselves stuck between being so compassionate they end up enabling and pushing so hard they seem uncaring.  A healthy balance makes all the difference in successfully supporting their spouse.

Schedule financial management workshops focused on suggestions of how to save money.  Most people have experienced the fear of instability in one way or another over the last couple of years.  As a result, more people are thinking of the future.  This means that practical suggestions on how to live on less money would be very useful, not only to employees with an unemployed spouse but to all employees.

Create a support group within the organization.  This could be done using social media or your intranet.  You could also provide resources to external support groups that already exist.

Taking a little initiative to understand and assist this employee challenge can mean a big payoff for your company.

I posted last week about a dilemma that stemmed from organizations who will not consider hiring the unemployed.  In the past I could understand to a  certain degree why companies would’ve shied away from those who were laid off simply because traditionally, the majority of employees reduced in a layoff were let go because they were not as productive as the workforce that remained. 

But is it fair to assume that this is still true in this economy, where employees may have made it through the first 3 rounds of layoffs, but have now been let go?  We are talking ROUNDS of layoffs and I can’t imagine THAT many unproductive employees would’ve stayed on the payroll through multiple layoffs.  The world has changed and I don’t think you can safely assume that the unemployed were all a part of a reduction in force due to their own actions. 

That being said, here are some other reasons it makes sense to consider hiring the unemployed.

Better retention – Those without a job are not going to be eager to risk one once they get one.  They may even help retain your current employees by sharing the struggles they endured while they were out of work.

Strong employer brand – Now that it is common knowledge that many companies won’t even consider hiring the unemployed, think about what it will do to your employer brand that you do.  You are open-minded, non-discriminatory, and have a heart – all things that attract talent and inspire loyalty.

Updated skills and a different perspective – Many of the unemployed are using this time to brush up on their abilities, learn about trends and build up industry knowledge.  They just may be able to provide valuable insight simply because they invested time in learning while they were off.

New networks – Candidates looking for work spend a considerable amount of time networking.  These relationships could prove very beneficial to your business in the form of customers, industry experts, and additional highly qualified hires.  A lot of success comes from who you know.

The Hiring Incentives to Restore Employment (HIRE) Act  – Many organizations can take advantage of tax breaks by hiring the unemployed.  This can help your company recover financially as well as help the entire economy move forward.  There isn’t much time left though, unless it is extended.

What do you think about hiring the unemployed?

I’ve been doing a lot of thinking since my post about the 99ers and the video I watched.  There are so many facets to the discussion about extending unemployment and what can be done to help these people.  One area I am interested in getting feedback on is corporate social responsibility.  Does this come into play when an organization is preparing for a down-sizing?

Corporate social responsibility is defined as a form of self-regulation integrated into a business model.  The concept is that business embraces responsibility for the impact their decisions have on the environment, the community, the employees, the stakeholders and everyone else in the public sphere. 

Shouldn’t that mean there is a responsibility to the people they’ve let go?  And where does that responsibility end?  Should providing outplacement services and the coaching I discussed in that post be a social responsibility of the company?  There can’t be a much better example of how a business decision impacts communities, employees and people, than a down-sizing.

I wonder if the concept of social responsibility is ever discussed when it comes to layoffs.  Is it mentioned and disregarded as “not our problem” or “there is little we can do” or is it not even discussed at all?  And is it realistic to think you can be socially responsible and profitable at the same time?

There is a very interesting article on the case against social responsibility that says that more often than not, a company cannot do well by doing good and choices have to be made.  So what choices do you make?

What do you think?  Is any thought put into what will happen to the people who are let go?  Should there be?  How responsible is the company for what happens to their displaced employees?