New York Employment Attorneys Blog

A recent article in the Huffington Post- Disturbing Job Ads: 'The Unemployed Will Not Be Considered' explores a troubling new trend found in job ads being placed for open employment opportunities. A number of business are saying upfront that individuals who are not currently employed will not be considered for jobs, with one posting going so far as to state a "Client will not consider/review anyone NOT currently employed regardless of the reason." Pretty harsh, especially in one of the worst economic downturns since the Great Depression.

As ridiculous as this may be, there are no laws protecting people from discrimination on the basis of being unemployed, with the exception of the burden of proof showing that a policy barring the unemployed has a disparate impact on minority groups.

One employer with such a policy stated "It's our preference that they currently be employed," he said. "We typically go after people that are happy where they are and then tell them about the opportunities here." While it makes sense to ensure that applicants have the proper set of skills and are current with whatever field they are in, this approach seems to ignore the realities of the current economic climate, and that there are millions of talented individuals who are out of work for no reason other than a poor economy and bad luck. It wrongfully assumes that these individuals deserve to be or enjoy being unemployed.

Conversely, in bad economies, employers are likely to retain their best and most efficient talent, making currently employed individuals more desirable. But is this blanket ban a good business decision? These policies smack more of lazy employers than lazy employees.

Any type of prohibition for a certain group of employees is suspect, and to go target the unemployed seems like a highly questionable business decision. Do you know of any companies with these policies? Let us know.

A Brooklyn chef working at Tina's Restaurant was fired after telling his boss he needed to go to the hospital. The 36 year old father of two was let go after taking the time off to see to his illness, leaving him unemployed with very few other options.

The employee has attracted the attention of Councilwoman Gael Brewer, who has introduced legislation recently that would require employers to give full time employees paid sick time. This maneuver would help workers across the city cope with the effects of illnesses without losing their jobs. Having to pay for health care on top of losing ones job is a situation no able worker should be in.

We here at the Harman Firm believe workers should not have to risk their jobs to attain health care. We support the actions of Councilwoman Brewer in her quest to help workers cope with illness and protect their jobs in their absence.

On September 23, the House approved an extension of unemployment benefits for those collecting in states with an unemployment rate over 8.75%. This extension will apply to 27 states and the District of Columbia, and come at a time when many states unemployment roles are swelling while coffers are dwindling.

At the same time, Senator Max Bacchus from Montana is looking at ways to fund programs in the remaining states, not just the states with an employment rate near 9 percent. The remaining 23 states with lower rates of unemployment would seem to be left out of this current extension, forcing these states to figure out novel ways to cope with increasing unemployment.

The rise in unemployment throughout the country has been straining the budgets of states everywhere are recovery efforts are slow to trickle back down to hiring. Despite rosy pictures of economic outlooks from economists, this upturn has failed to result in substantial job hiring across the board, causing many to wonder what good is coming out of a recession if there are no jobs. This jobless recovery is a troubling paradox and a symbol of the recovery efforts so far.

We here at The Harman Firm sympathize with all workers who have been out of work and continue to look for suitable employment.

The New York Times, on September 5- In Unemployment Report, Signs of a Jobless Recovery- took a look at the breakdown of numbers surrounding the current discussion of the economy. The results are mixed- unemployment continues to nag at the economy, teetering near 10 percent. At the same time, economists are seeing strong signs that the American economy is pulling out of recession and beginning to expand.

This recovery, while positive, is stated to be weaker than hoped, frightening many companies from aggressive maneuvers and holding off on large scale hiring. This factor continues to stall the progress of getting individuals back to work, and seeing improvements in unemployment rolls.

This to many appears to what can be called a "jobless recovery"- a situation wherein the economy and other indicators improve and show signs of turnaround, as well as averting a full blown depression. But the continuing unease with the market does not afford for much hiring, deepening unemployment and putting the economy in a precarious position.

While posing problems for job hunters, this also poses a political dilemma for the current Obama administration which has sank billions of dollars into helping companies recover from the brink of insolvency. Now these same companies are back on their feet, but terminated employees are still out of jobs and out of luck as companies are hiring conservatively, if not still thinning the herds of employees.

Creating jobs seems to be one of the most struggling areas in the picture of overall economic recovery, and something on which states and government should focus stimulus efforts on. With credit and banking industries mostly stabilized, we need to focus on getting American's back to work and to spur more economic development in order to move beyond the last two years of recession.

Snuck somewhere into the Stimulus Bills passed in February, President Obama added and extended COBRA coverage for millions of American workers. Affecting these workers, and their employers, the bill signed into law created an extension of COBRA Health Care benefits for workers who had been terminated between September 2008 and December 31, 2009. Eligible workers will now be able to maintain their employer managed health care plans by paying 35 percent of the premium, while the subsidy and their employer will have to pay the remaining 65 percent.

This bill also allows individuals who did not initially wish to continue their plan to purchase coverage if they had been terminated during this period. This is good news to those who were laid off and could not possibly continue to afford their health care coverage while only receiving unemployment benefits.

Employers, on top of being responsible for the new coverage amount, must also give notice to employees that had been terminated that they are eligible for these benefits, as well as inform them as to the terms of receiving the benefits.

This is excellent news for individuals who are already having trouble coping with the harsh economic realities of the recession and the difficulty of being unemployed. This move allows for more individuals to retain access to health care and avoid racking up even more debt through medical bills. This move, coupled with Obama's recent push for health care reform, could translate into better and more consistent coverage for all Americans.

In a startling revelation, it appears that some New York State inmates have been receiving unemployment benefits while incarcerated. Apparently eleven inmates in various penitentiaries collected over $30,000 in unemployment benefits. This came as the state comptroller and auditor froze payments of over $18.000 destined to be disbursed to these inmates.

The state was looking into how exactly these individuals were able to get benefits while behind bars. Some sources said that it was likely that these inmates were working with people on the outside that had access to their personal information. As part of the requirement for receiving jobless benefits, individuals must be ready to go to work and be actively looking for work, meaning that individuals must have been appearing on their behalf, or phoning in job search records for the inmates as they collected.

The fraud was only caught after a the jobless benefit records were compared against the prison logs for the year 2008. Defrauding the state is a felony offense, meaning that it is likely that these jailed individuals will see another set of charges attached to their rap sheet.

Laid off and hoping to get back on your feet quickly? According to a New York Times article published on August 3rd, this may be more difficult than anticipated, even as we pull out of the recession. The article details the troubles faced by many workers who have been laid off, particularly in gaining similar employment, or earning as much money as they previously had been making.

Many employees, even those who survived the recession of 2001, are finding that it is very difficult to continue on at their old salary, drastically changing the ways they live. It also explores the long term damage cause by a termination, showing that being laid off for a brief period of time can be more expensive than imagine and hurt future earning potential. This is often caused by the fact that laid off employees have to start with a new company, or start in an entirely new field, essentially resetting the bar on their wages. The promotions and raises that they had earned may not carry to their new employment, and make it difficult to reach the same wage levels they once previously had.

A new article in the Wall Street Journal- "Mandating Unemployment", takes a look at the ways in which the minimum wage increase will potentially affect those getting paid at the low end of the pay scale. The article suggests, amongst other things, that the higher minimum wage during the recession is actually hurtful to low-income workers, and will work to raise unemployment at this time.

The article explores the reality of the minimum wage raise, which while long overdue, could actually put more people out of jobs. The rate increase will actually make it harder for employers to pay their employees, and cut jobs in response to the raise.

The logic in the article is that an employee making the old minimum wage will be eligible for earned income tax credits at their pay rate that would effectively raise their wages to around 10 dollars an hour. On the other hand, the cuts that employers will make in response to the wage hike will only slow hiring, and explores the idea that a person making ten dollars an hour with earned income tax credits is much better off than the individual who would have no income following a lost job.

This article underscores the difficult nature of trying to provide employees with a sustainable, living wage with the harsh realities of the current economic market. What's your take on the new minimum wage increases- boon to lower income employees or shooting the economy in the foot?

New York City is home to a widening gap in unemployment between white and black workers in the city, according to new data found in an article in the New York Times- "Job Losses Show Wider Racial Gap in New York". This article explores the numbered behind this phenomenon, showing that while generally blacks make up a higher percentage of unemployed workers, the recession has hit this demographic particularly hard, and at rates much greater than their white counterparts.

The data, released by the City Comptrollers Office, showed that there are 80,000 more blacks on unemployment currently, even though there are over 1.5 million more white residents within the city. This data was troubling considering that many of the noticeable job loses had come from areas where minorities are not as highly represented, like finance and other professional industries.

However, looking at other areas where cuts have been made, like customer service and retail positions, which have been hit hard as consumers curtail spending. These areas traditionally hire more African American employees. Other areas where African American employees make up a larger percent of the workforce- such as government jobs, have been feeling the hurt as well as local areas and state agencies trim budgets. One such agency, the Post Office, who has traditionally employed many African American workers, has been forced to lay more workers of as the recession depends.

The study continues on to show that whites in New York City have actually gained 130,000 jobs, while most minority groups have lost jobs concurrently. This race gap is troubling for a number of reasons, the most of which points to the idea that the recession has had a disparate impact on minority workers. While the recession has affect many industries, it is no excuse to single out minority workers for termination during cuts in employment.

In a new Wall Street Journal article titled "Only the Employed Need Apply" has some interesting advice for potential job seekers. While the job market is most certainly titled in favor of employers, the article gives some advice to potential job seekers on the best way to find a new job- and that's to currently be employed.

The article discusses the experience of management and HR representatives, and their strategies for finding the right employees during the current recession. Quoting one executive, "If they're employed in today's economy, they have to be first string", emphasizing the idea that the best employees are the ones who have held on to their jobs, while others who have been shed may not be as ideal candidates.

This is unsettling advice for the unemployed worker, especially considering the fact that the nature of layoffs has been incredibly unpredictable, and that this philosophy does not take into account the state of the economy, which has forced businesses into unforeseen situations. These situations- like businesses declaring bankruptcy or closing factories, have put many out of work despite being outstanding, skilled employees.

Others who employ the tactics of targeting currently employed workers state that they do so to avoid a lengthy search in which many candidates are either over or under qualified for the position, and can directly search candidates would be a good fit in the position. This will cut down on weeding through the mass of responses employers get when posting job openings.

In any situation, this advice is counter intuitive, and does little to help the currently unemployed. What have been your experiences with finding work? Do you perceive a bias in employers for workers who are already employed?

In a speech Monday morning, President Obama laid out his plans to create over 600,000 jobs this Summer through Federal stimulus money. This ambitious plan would also include 125,000 jobs for teenagers who are suddenly finding summer jobs long held by teens and adolescents drying up as older and out of work job seekers start taking whatever jobs are around.

The announcement comes on the heels of some mixed economic news last week, with job losses slowing but overall unemployment up to a quarter of a century high. The plan announced, dubbed a "Roadmap to Recovery", plans to spend money in various areas to create jobs while expanding services throughout the country. For example, money will be distributed to health centers throughout the country to expand services while keeping jobs. Money would also flow to law enforcement officials to protect times, and save departments as budget cuts threaten jobs in municipalities across the country.

The NY Times has an interesting graphic and short article on a less covered side of the recession- individuals who have found new jobs, and industries that are desperate for qualified talent. While job losses often make the headlines, this article looks at the turn around and new hiring figures in various industries.

Check it out here.

In a report released by the Government on June 5th, economic data are painting two very different outlooks on the state of the economy. On one hand, job losses for May totaled 345,000. This figure marks the lowest number of job losses since September of 2008. This figure is down from nearly double that some months ago, where monthly job loss figures of nearly 600,000 were average.

However, at the same time the report stated that unemployment throughout the nation had reached nearly 9.4%, a twenty-six year high. This figure, inching ever towards a 10% percent unemployment rate, is a troubling picture of the overall employment market as more and more people begin to look for jobs.

These signs are a mixed bag, showing that while employers may be easing off firing, the economy has a long way to go in creating jobs necessary to stimulate the economy and pull us out of the recession.

The New York Press recently published an amusing, if not dramatic look at the dark realities of trying to collect unemployment in New York City. On his experience dealing with the sheer bureaucracy of the system, Daniel McCarthy writes:

"Many collecting benefits never visit the Department of Labor in Manhattan, but after a recent lapse in payment, I was told it was mandatory that I come to the downtown offices located on Varick Street to sort out the matter. Offices run by the state are notoriously difficult to deal with-or at the very least make the customer service representatives for online gambling sites seem warm and caring in comparison-and now I see why. Actual interaction with certain temperaments at the Department of Labor's downtown digs is something straight out of Kafka's The Trial."

The article goes on to describe the labyrinthine process of going down to the Unemployment Office just to reach someone on the phone. Do you have any crazy unemployment experiences, or have been given the run around by the system? Let us know in the comments below.

New York State is set to extend coverage of unemployment benefits, as State lawmakers announced last week. The vote today ensured that over 100,000 New Yorkers would continue to receive unemployment benefits after they were previously scheduled to run out at the end of the month.

The extension, drawing on over $645 million dollars in Federal Funds designed to help unemployment, is aimed at helping those that have been collecting unemployment for over a year, while the rest of the money is geared towards solving the gap between funds and budgetary restrictions in the unemployment programs.

The decision to apply these funds came after lawmakers could not agree on a way in which to fix the unemployment program in New York State.

However, the extension of these benefits come at a difficult time, with some wondering what good extending benefits will be as more new employees are added to unemployment rolls. Many say that by extending unemployment further, people will be less likely to seek out work and get comfortable with their unemployment payments.

The Obama administration is also pushing for changes to the unemployment laws, stating that states can qualify for unemployment when their state rate goes above 6.5 percent. Obama also wants states to process unemployment for people who move out of state to follow a spouse for job related reasons, or for people who must leave work to take care of elderly and sick relatives. The expansion of these benefits is good news to individuals who fall under these difficult circumstances.