Help wanted — sixty-five million need not apply

[cory777]

Source: Yahoo News

In 2008, Johnny Magee, who is developmentally disabled, was laid off from his landscaping job in Livermore, California, thanks to government budget cuts. He applied for a new position as a garden center attendant at a nearby Lowe's Home Improvement store. Despite his prior experience, Magee wasn't hired. Why? A background check had turned up a 1999 misdemeanor conviction, stemming from an incident in which he unknowingly picked up a package for his uncle that contained drugs. Later that year, Magee's conviction was dismissed—but that was too late for him to get the job at Lowe's.

Sixty-five million Americans—or one in four adults—have a criminal record. But employers—including major companies like Bank of America, Omni Hotel, and Domino's Pizza—routinely post job ads on Craigslist that explicitly exclude such applicants, according to a new report conducted by the National Employment Law Center (NELP), a labor-affiliated advocacy group.

The practice appears in some cases to be against the law, and at a time of record long-term joblessness, advocates for the poor say it places yet another obstacle in front of people like Magee, who are working to get their life back on track. In addition, there's widespread agreement that helping those with criminal records to find stable employment is crucial for preventing recidivism and preventing future crime. Indeed, that's the reason that the government runs programs designed to make it easier for ex-offenders to find work.

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Because discriminating against those with criminal records disproportionately hurts African Americans, the practice may violate the Civil Rights Act, which prohibits race-based hiring discrimination. Indeed, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has said that although considering an applicant's criminal record may be acceptable on a case-by-case basis, an "absolute bar to employment" for such people is illegal.

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_thelookout/20110323/ts_yblog_thelookout/help-wanted-sixty-five-million-need-not-apply

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http://activistnews.blogspot.com/

[Vinee]

1. what we need are more desperate people looking for work in America.

That way the employers will have even more power to pick and choose. Oh, you smoke? sorry. we only hire non-smokers. Oh, and you, you're twenty pounds over weight. sorry. You, you spent 2 hours on facebook yesterday. sorry. You, oh, your credit report says you were foreclosed on? Sorry. You, you quit a job without notice ten years ago. Sorry, next.. You, you got a B+ in economics? Oh, that's unacceptable. next.you, you have no real work history but you're willing to work for half of what anybody else will and you don't expect any benefits you say? Step right up, you're fucking hired buddy. Security, clear the rest of this rabble out.

[Hannah Bell]

2. +100.

[Tripod]

3. k&r

[SoCalDem]

4. A big part of the problem? "...major companies..."

When locals owned & operated businesses, they KNEW their fellow townspeople, and could decide on their own if they wanted to take a chance on someone who may have been handicapped or who might have had a brush with the law decades ago, but now that the local businesses have mostly been put out of business, the corporate world with all its paperwork & rigid HR rules, makes many people just flat-out unemployable.

[Charleston Chew]

5. +1

[Overseas]

6. Further GOP type cruelty.

That's the sad power of "voluntary regulation" and defunding regulatory agencies.

Absolutist jerks can dominate our economy and ignore our laws.

Polluters can set aside funds to pay the small penalties if they should ever be caught by the reduced staff for enforcement. Small price to pay for the freedom to pollute and save money for those precious quarterly reports.