Have a Job to Get a Job: Disparate Treatment and Disparate Impact of the 'Currently Employed' Requirement

Countless people struggle to find a job in a competitive job market despite possessing solid qualifications. Although the news media reports that job numbers are improving, the problems of unemployment particularly loom for people of color, older workers, and people with disabilities. These groups are often unemployed longer than other job seekers. These groups also suffer the disparate impact of job advertisements that require "current employment" as a prerequisite for hiring. The harsh reality is that the longer a job seeker is unemployed, the closer a job seeker becomes to becoming permanently unemployed. Job advertisements that require "current employment" exacerbate the problem. However, traditional disparate impact analysis under the civil rights laws can help to address some of the issues faced by these long-term unemployed job seekers.