Section 1 Short title
This Act may be cited as the “Fair Employment Opportunity Act of 2014”.
Fair Employment Opportunity Act of 2014
A BILL
To prohibit discrimination in employment on the basis of an individual’s status or history of unemployment.
Sec. 2 Findings and purpose
Findings— Congress finds that denial of employment opportunities to individuals because they are or have been unemployed is discriminatory and burdens commerce by—
reducing personal consumption and undermining economic stability and growth;
squandering human capital essential to the Nation’s economic vibrancy and growth;
increasing demands for Federal and State unemployment insurance benefits, reducing trust fund assets, and leading to higher payroll taxes for employers, cuts in benefits for jobless workers, or both;
imposing additional burdens on publicly funded health and welfare programs; and
depressing income, property, and other tax revenues that the Federal Government, States, and localities rely on to support operations and institutions essential to commerce.
Purposes— The purposes of this Act are—
to prohibit consideration of an individual’s status as unemployed in considering applicants for, screening for, or hiring for positions, except where a requirement related to employment status is a bona fide occupational qualification reasonably necessary to successful performance in the job; and
to eliminate the burdens imposed on commerce due to the exclusion of such individuals from employment.