Lost dignity of work

The oldest employment rule in the book is it's better to have a job when looking for another job. No one can argue that truth except of course if you're someone who needs to close one door to open another or you're stuck in the crosswinds of structural change.

Fast forward to the present or wake of the Great Recession. Employers are taking the current employment rule to the streets, according to today's New York Times: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/26/business/help-wanted-ads-exclude-the-long-term-jobless.html?ref=business

While not hiring the long-term unemployed is understandable from the employer point of view, especially the point about incompetence, there's something fundamentally wrong about denying someone work simply because he or she doesn't have a current job. This slope started with the advent of credit checks to deny applicants work.

Try going a little deeper here or beyond the surface of basic dollars and cents. Those who haven't worked for a long time generally need or want to even if they have to depend on public assistance. To be denied this desire can lead to mental or emotional problems. Or the loss of basic dignity.

It would serve large employers and their leaders well to evaluate whether the value called the dignity of work still exists in their workplace. Chances are if it doesn't exists then it becomes easier for HR folks and lawyers to list current employment as an essential for consideration.

Let us never forget that there are human beings behind these laws and rules even though it's difficult to recognize at times. Is the dignity of work a leadership responsibility?

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