Tech worker was frustrated with ghost jobs—now he’s trying to pass a national ban
When Eric Thompson lost his job in October 2024 and began to look for a new one, he began a war drawn with something that many job seekers knew very well: the scary ghost work.
He was so tired of the application that he brought together A Working Group To propose a federal legislation that will make the truth or practice in the Business Advertising and Accountable Act illegal.
For the first time, 53 -year -old Thompson heard the term “ghost business”, 2023, and his friend was arguing that he had never been released and never returned. Wasn’t all the roles he sent actually real?
The Ghost Jobs refers to an application in which businesses have released a specific intentional opening to hire advertising. Companies have different reasons to do this, as if filling multiple empty positions with this title, collecting and storing resumes for a future need, or informing investors that they grow faster than they really are.
Cnbc make it it it.
A federal offer to prohibit ghost business
For job seekers, they all boil as a time -consuming headache.
“There is nothing illegal about sending a job and never filling,” Virginia says Thompson, a Network Engineering leader in Warrenton. “It is really hard to prove, and therefore it is legally one of the reasons why it is a gray area.”
While the Thompson phenomenon is more investigating, he has connected with former colleagues and professional connections throughout the country. Together, eight of them decided to establish the TJAAA Working Group, leading to the efforts of federal legislation to officially prohibit the publication of businesses to publish ghost affairs.
Prepared a group in May The first offer: TJAAA aims to require all public business lists to include information such as the following:
- Initial Rental and Start Dates
- Whether it’s a new role or fill
- If it is presented internally by choosing existing employees
- According to the draft language, how many times the location has been published in the last two years and other factors.
A problem that many people know. But when people find a job, they forget it.
Eric Thompson
Founding Member of the Tjaaa Working Group
Furthermore, it determines the instructions on how long a ship should remain (not more than 90 calendar days) and how long the shipping time may be (at least four calendar days) before the reviews are reviewed.
The proposed legislation is valid for enterprises with more than 50 employees, and those who violate can be fined at least $ 2,500 for each violation.
The proposal provides a framework at the federal level, because the policies at state -level policies will not apply to employers who publish lists in multiple states or use third -party platforms working beyond the state boundaries.
MPs attract attention
Thompson said that he spent 20 to 30 hours a week on his advocacy efforts and had done legislative social assistance. So far, he says he has held nearly 30 meetings with congress workers working with elected authorities on both sides of the corridor.
Thompson says, “Many people will support it if it came to the ground. But now we’re very busy to make it a priority right now.”
Eric Thompson is a founding member of the facts in the work group of business advertising and accountability.
By the permission of the subject
Thompson says that he and his TJAAA defenders are now focusing on driving this base campaign to enable people to support the arrival of legislators to the ground. “
Thompson’s work is part of a growing movement Break the ghost work.
As of January 1, 2026, Ontario, some companies in Canada, It will be subject to new laws It aims to ask job applicants to inform the applicants about their status on time (essentially prohibiting ik Godriting in the interview process) and also to eliminate the publication of ghost jobs.
New Jersey, Kentucky and California in the USA their own offers To prevent the transparency and ghost business advertisements and to promote transparency in the recruitment process.
For now, Thompson’s advocacy efforts are tending to learn what to do about the legislative process and to encourage job seekers to talk about their experiences. He says he has never done this kind of job before and learned that he learned on his way.
“A problem that many people know, Thom says Thompson. “But when people find a job, they forget it.”
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