The Fair Employment Opportunity Act of 2011 (H.R. 2501) has been introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives by Representatives Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut and Henry Johnson, Jr. of Georgia. The bill is designed to prohibit discrimination in employment on the basis of an individual's status or history of unemployment.
The legislation, if passed by the House and Senate, would apply to employers with over 15 employees and would provide protection to job applicants who are discriminated against because they are unemployed.
Key provisions of the Fair Employment Opportunity Act of 2011 include:
(a) Employers - It shall be an unlawful practice for an employer to--
- refuse to consider for employment or refuse to offer employment to an individual because of the individual's status as unemployed;
- publish in print, on the Internet, or in any other medium, an advertisement or announcement for any job that includes--
- direct or request that an employment agency take an individual's status as unemployed into account in screening or referring applicants for employment.
- any provision stating or indicating that an individual's status as unemployed disqualifies the individual for a job; and
- any provision stating or indicating that an employer will not consider an applicant for employment based on that individual's status as unemployed; and
More: Text of H.R. 2501
Related: Unemployment Benefits | Unemployment Extension | Unemployment Compensation
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Another law that cannot be enforced just like age discrimination. Just substitute age in place of employment status. All of us over 50 know we are automatically ruled out for the position even though the employer doesn’t blatantly state that is the reason.
This is another attempt by do-gooders to micromanage society. It gives a perfect example of a Federal government run amok, adding regulation upon regulation in a fruitless attempt to build a perfect society. Instead they run it into the ground.
Supporters of the bill speak of discrimination and of the need to eliminate it. They confuse discrimination on the basis of who a person is (such as belonging to a particular ethnic group or having a particular sex) with discrimination on the basis of what a person does. The latter form of discrimination, far from being evil, is both good and absolutely necessary for our society to function. If a judge did not discriminate between the guilty and the innocent when passing sentence, there would be gross miscarriages of justice. If a policeman did not discriminate between the person speeding and the person obeying the speed limit when pulling people over, highways would be chaos. If a company did not discriminate between employees and non-employees when handing out paychecks, it would go out of business in very short order.
If a business wishes to cut its throat by eliminating a large chunk of the talent pool from consideration, it should be allowed to do so. Its resulting failure will be punishment enough for its folly.
- John F. Fay