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U.S. President Barack Obama speaks about his view on job creation and the current economy at a town hall meeting.

Unemployment remains high, and employers who are actually hiring find that they already have the pick of the litter. Industry veterans are applying for entry-level jobs and people with advanced degrees are vying for the jobs that high-school grads used to get.

Employers demanded more and more out of job applicants and they got it, so some took it a step further. Some employers made it clear in job postings that they would only consider applicants who were currently employed. This left the nation’s 14 million unemployed workers at an enormous disadvantage.

Some national jobs boards banned ads that say no to unemployed workers, and now the Obama Administration wants to make it law. In the President’s new jobs bill there’s a proposal that would add the unemployed to the list of workers that it’s illegal to discriminate against. That means people who unsuccessfully compete for a job can sue if they believe their employment status was part of the decision making process. Labor advocates say this is an appropriate reaction to an employment market that’s making unfair demands on potential employees, and in a nation where millions are unemployed, the last thing we need is more hurdles for workers.

Critics, including the national Chamber of Commerce, say so few employers actually have an employment requirement that it’s totally unnecessary, and this opens job creators up to spurious lawsuits.

WEIGH IN:

Do they have a point? Or are employers being unnecessarily picky when it comes to applicants? How would a worker prove his or her employment status was reason for not landing the job? And will the bill have an effect on our runaway unemployment numbers?

Guests:

Judy Conti, Federal Advocacy Coordinator, National Employment Law Project (NELP)

Michael A. Kalish, lawyer specializing in employment law, Epstein Becker and Green