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Worker's Civil Rights

Layoffs (Require Financial Proof)

   Companies typically lay off their employees when the nation experiences an economic downturn. This is often carried out even when businesses are not experiencing a financial difficulty at the time, and layoffs are used as an excuse to reduce the workforce in order to increase profits. During the Great Recession of America (2007-2009), companies laid off millions of workers even though many businesses weren't in financial trouble at the time.

   For example, Microsoft laid off approximately 5,000 workers even though they had over $20 billion in cash. Other companies followed suit which further exacerbated the problem into becoming a deep recession. In the end, many executives got away with violating their workers' civil rights by laying off employees without the appropriate financial justification for doing so.

   To prevent this in the future, companies should be required to file an official form with the Department of Labor to prove their financial hardship prior to laying off their employees. Essentially, showing that they are unable to make payroll in order to justify the reduction in the workforce.

   If this policy was in effect back then, it could have prevented the snowball effect of mass layoffs that caused a serious economic recession in this country.
Layoffs (Guarantee Job)

   Another unethical practice by employers is that they typically lay off older workers during an economic slowdown in favor of hiring younger and cheaper laborers. This is clearly discrimination and often occurs during a recession. To prevent this, federal law should require companies to rehire their former employees who were previously laid off before they may find a replacement for the position.
Layoffs (CEO)

   As an additional measure to prevent unnecessary layoffs from occurring, legislation should be considered that requires the CEO of a company to be laid off along with their employees. Adopting this policy will ensure that the executive did everything that was possible in order to prevent the layoffs from occurring within their company.
Unpaid Work
 
   Employers not paying for overtime work by salaried employees is a violation of a worker's civil rights. America is not a slavery state so federal law is needed to require companies to pay for all work performed by their employees, whether they are salary- or hourly-based.
Non-Compete
 
   Many companies require the newly hired to sign a non-compete agreement or they won't be offered the job. However, non-compete clauses limits the availability to find work elsewhere, which is a violation of a worker's civil rights.

   Employers may say that non-compete clauses are necessary to retain qualified workers, but that effort should be accomplished by offering greater incentives to their employees such as higher pay and benefits. Legislation needs to be considered that makes non-compete agreements null and void in value, and by doing so, reinstates a citizen's right to work in this country.
Outsourcing
 
   Outsourcing jobs to foreign countries not only harms workers by limiting their prospects, it also negatively affects the entire economy as well. Solving this is simple: require companies that wish to do business in the country provide such products and services within the nation and not elsewhere (c.f. World Trade).
Artificial Intelligence (A.I.)
 
   Businesses promote the use of artificial intelligence as a means of improving productivity, however, many workers fear that they may lose their jobs from the new technology.

   Using artificial intelligence in certain fields such as assisting law enforcement to apprehend suspects, or identifying medical issues for patients, are worthwhile that benefit the entire community. However, using artificial intelligence to actually replace workers is a violation of a worker's civil rights, and legislation should be considered to ban such use in the future.
Automated Interview
 
   Despite federal laws, many people have been discriminated against during the job interview process without their knowledge.

   Examples are an applicant's appearance (height/weight/hairstyle/clothing), presentation (manner of speech/body language/facial expression), personal preferences (sports/hobbies/activities), and in some cases, work-related concerns (inexperience/duration-unemployed, etc.). For the latter, the situation has gotten to the point where employers are bold enough to advertise that applicants must be "gainfully employed" at the time of their application. These are discriminatory in nature and violate workers' civil rights in this country.

   A better manner of solving these issues is to automate the interview process where the interviewer doesn't have direct contact with the applicant. The questions that are normally asked during the interview process will be submitted privately to the applicant (by email or postal mail correspondence). By doing this, employers will be able to evaluate candidates to the same degree as before, but without the possibility of discriminating against them since the correspondence is handled entirely without direct contact.

   For the special case of not discriminating against the long-term unemployed, businesses should be required to hide the applicant's employment dates from the hiring manager. That way, only the duration of previous employment would be known (e.g., 2.5 years at a particular job), and not the actual timeframe where it may be determined that the applicant is not currently working at the time.

   To ensure compliance by everyone, the automated interview system should be offered by the Department of Labor as a free, but mandatory, service for all businesses in the country.

   Job postings will be listed on the Labor Dept.'s website and job applicants will apply online as well (or paper version). The federally-mandated system will ensure that job applicants will not be discriminated by sending employers only discrete information such as, "This is candidate #1's answers." No names, ethnicity, or creed will be provided, so nearly all forms of discrimination will be prevented during the interview process.

   Since businesses will be required to submit changes regarding their workers' statuses to this national employment registry system (e.g., hirings/firings), the information may be used to provide accurate unemployment figures for matters such as determining the nation's fiscal policy.

   Overall, the advantage of having a federally-mandated automated interview system required by the Labor Department is that it will ensure compliance by all businesses and guarantees that job applicants will be treated in a fair and equal manner during the hiring process.
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