New Jersey leads the nation in new legislation area concerning employment ads

In the story on a recently passed New Jersey law, it was the comments that were most interesting.

The news is that the state of New Jersey now has a law that prohibits employers from publishing job advertisements in print or online that state unemployed individuals can't apply for the position.

The comments quickly got to the core of the matter.

just because unemployed people can apply doesn't mean they will have any chance of getting hired

Toothless, meaningless, feel good legislation.

Employers can still exclude those not working currently. Bah humbug to the law. (...) The clueless are running the ship when it comes to screening job candidates and hiring a job candidate.

There is no penalty for later discovering that the person is unemployed and then not hiring him/her.

Why dont we give a tax break to the companies who hire people from Unemployment. But they have to keep the people for at least a year. There is not penalty if they dont keep them. this would help both the unemployed and the companies getting a tax break.

***Separately

see Looking for work? Unemployed need not apply , which includes the text:

"Most executive recruiters won't look at a candidate unless they have a job, even if they don't like to admit to it," said Lisa Chenofsky Singer, a human resources consultant from Millburn, NJ, specializing in media and publishing jobs. She said when she proposes candidates for openings, the first question she is often asked by a recruiter is if they currently have a job. If the answer is no, she's typically told the unemployed candidate won't be interviewed.

The Unemployed Need Not Apply , which includes the text:

Another question for the E.E.O.C. is whether it is acceptable for employers to use current employment as a proxy for relevant experience, or as an expedient to screen applicants. Testimony at the forum by Helen Norton, associate professor at the University of Colorado Law School, rebutted those and other possible justifications. Current employment is not relevant to jobs that provide on-the-job training. And even for jobs that require up-to-date skills, an interview or a test would be a more accurate and less discriminatory way to evaluate a candidate’s qualifications.

Norton, in her testimony before the EEOC, gave an example specific to New Jersey:

Several examples of such help-wanted ads were offered: A Texas electronics company said online that it would "not consider/review anyone NOT currently employed regardless of the reason"; an ad for a restaurant-manager position in New Jersey said applicants must be employed; a phone manufacturer's job announcement said "No Unemployed Candidates Will Be Considered At All," from Unemployed need not apply, some firms say