Christopher DeGroff Quoted in Human Resource Executive Online
“Discrimination Against the Unemployed?”

Employment Partner Christopher DeGroff was quoted March 3, 2011, in Human Resource Executive Online. According to the article, some companies are excluding unemployed job candidates from applicant pools when hiring. The United States Equal  Employment Opportunity Commission discussed this topic during a hearing on February 16, and opinions were mixed.

The article mentions that some employers are using caveats such as “No unemployed candidates will be considered at all” in their job postings. Chris warns against using such phrases, asserting that while they aren’t illegal, they can garner the attention of the EEOC or other agencies.

"If you say, 'We're only looking for energetic employees,' the EEOC takes that as proxy that you only want younger employees and uses that as evidence of age discrimination," Chris remarks. Such logic could also be applied to job posts targeting only employed applicants.