Employers

Many long-term unemployed have discovered an ugly truth: You need a job to get one. Jobless workers across the country have recounted tales of being written off by a prospective employer if they have been out of work for six months or more. And some job ads have explicitly stated that a candidate must be currently employed. Now Maryland has joined a growing number of states considering legislation to prevent employers from discriminating against the unemployed. "It's about changing minds or changing attitudes, and then changing behaviors of the employers and the people who represent the employers," says Jackie Gray, a Baltimore resident who co-founded an advocacy group, Unemployed Rising, and supports the legislation.

While nearly 14 million unemployed Americans are searching for work, some employers are limiting their hiring to preferred candidates: People who already have jobs. Recruiters and worker advocates say companies are screening out applicants who don't have a job or who haven't worked for many months. The unfairness — at a time when nearly 45 percent of the unemployed have been out of work for more than six months — isn't lost on the jobless. "How ridiculous is that?

Two Maryland employers have warned state labor officials of layoffs that could affect nearly 400 workers. Saks Fifth Avenue said it would terminate a third of its workforce, or 223 employees, at its Aberdeen distribution and order fulfillment center starting in late May, the state Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation said Tuesday. Julia Bentley, a Saks spokeswoman, said the retailer was opening a new fulfillment center for saks.com in Tennessee and was phasing out such jobs in Aberdeen.

Maryland gained about 22,000 jobs in 2012, the smallest annual increase since the recession, underscoring the challenges facing the state in a year dominated by the federal budget and the collapse of a major employer. U.S. Department of Labor estimates released Friday show a volatile year in which the state move back and forth between job expansion and loss, ending with a gain in December. The preliminary figures suggest that the major culprit was government, which shed 8,500 jobs — the first time in nearly a decade that the usually reliable sector turned in an annual loss.

Employers in Maryland and across the United States face a deadline Wednesday that some may not know exists but that could prove costly if ignored. That's when all employers will be required to use an updated version of the federal I-9 form to prove the eligibility of new workers. The form appears to be short and simple, requesting an employee's name, address, Social Security number and citizenship status. But immigration and business experts say it's more complex than it looks.

Employers say one-fifth of American workers are not fully proficient in their jobs, and they express a lack of confidence in the ability of schools and colleges to prepare young people for the workplace, according to the first national survey ever done by the Census Bureau of hiring, training and management practices in American business.Researchers say the study, which was produced for the federal Department of Education, illustrates an alarming divide between the schools and the workplace even as national education and labor policy calls for closer cooperation, both to improve the skills of the nation's work force and to smooth the transition from school to work.

The state has approved tax credits for employers who hired just under 1,500 previously unemployed Marylanders in 2010, a surge in numbers from a few months ago but still far short of the total number of credits available. The H.I.R.E. Maryland effort, a $5,000 refundable tax credit in exchange for each person given a job after a stint on the unemployment rolls, had the budget to support 4,000 hires made between mid-March and Dec. 31. The state Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation says it's not yet clear what the total number of claims will be because there's no deadline to apply.

Preparing for a political battle with doctors, employers are stepping up efforts to block legislation they fear would raise the cost and lower the quality of health maintenance organizations, which provide care to three of every 10 Marylanders.In the latest action by the business community, about 40 mostly large employers met last week at the Towson headquarters of Black & Decker Corp. to plot strategy for defeating a bill that doctors' groups are expected to seek when the General Assembly convenes in January.

About two-thirds of employers that offer traditional pensions have closed their plans to new hires or frozen them for all employees, or plan to do so in the next two years, according to a recent study. The latest numbers show an acceleration in the decline of pensions - retirement plans in which employers, instead of employees, are responsible for investing retirement money and providing benefits. They also illustrate that the trend is no longer confined to troubled industries such as steel, auto and airlines, but now involves healthy companies.

David Williams missed work last Sunday to stay with his wife after the birth of their first child, and that will cost him $111,111. The response of his employer, the Houston Oilers, reflects a broader social problem: Is there really any support for a man who wants to be a New Dad?According to most experts on fatherhood and employers' family policies, the Houston Oilers were out of step in one sense: Most employers now allow men some time off, at least a day or two, to be with their wives when they give birth to a child.