New Job Openings…But for the Employed Only

Randy Coffey, a partner in the Kansas City office, was a guest on the NPR news program Tell Me More in a segment entitled "New Job Openings But for the Employed Only." According to data from the National Employment Law Project, a non profit organization that conducts research and advocacy on behalf of low wage and unemployed workers, many employers will not consider new applicants unless they already have profitable jobs. Some see this hiring practice as a form of discrimination. Others say it is an efficient screening tool. Randy said that an employer might see this practice as a screening tool when faced with a large number of applicants or others might think that in a tough economy, businesses are keeping their best employees. He pointed out, however, that that in 25 years of practicing law he's never had a client that intentionally excluded the unemployed from a pool of job candidates.