Archive for the 'Work & Family' Category

Next Up: Paid Sick Days for 30 Million Workers

Published on March 4, 2010 in Rachna Choudhry and Work & Family. 0 Comments
Rachna Choudhry

Rachna Choudhry

It’s hard to believe, but the sick truth is tens of millions of workers in the good ole U. S. of A. don’t have a single paid sick day.

We’re working hard to change this, and yesterday we co-hosted a standing-room-only briefing on Capitol Hill for congressional staff and advocates about the need for a paid-sick-days standard to promote economic security among working families.

Healthy Families Act Briefing March 2010

Healthy Families Act Briefing, March 2010

We planned for 40 people and more than 75 showed up!  The big crowd was a clear indication of strong congressional interest in this issue.

Gail Cohen of the Joint Economic Committee presented new research on the Healthy Families Act, legislation that would establish a basic workplace standard of seven paid sick days.  The Joint Economic Committee found that the legislation would give more than 30 million more workers access to paid sick time.

The Healthy Families Act would significantly expand access to this basic protection for millions of our nation’s most vulnerable workers, including low-wage workers, workers of color and women workers.  Nearly half of workers who would gain access to paid sick time if the legislation passes earn less than $10.63/hour, placing them in the lowest wage quartile.  Workers of color comprise nearly one-third of the workers who would be able to accrue paid sick time under the Healthy Families Act, including nearly four million additional African American workers and 5.6 million additional Latino workers.  Nearly half of workers who would gain access to paid sick days—13 million—are women.

Thanks to our partner organization, CLASP, Working Mother Media’s Jennifer Owens spoke at the event, discussing her company’s support for the Healthy Families Act.  An expert on best practices, Owens said that nearly nine in ten employers on Working Mother Magazine’s 100 Best Companies list offer paid sick time to their employees.

Jennifer also noted that Working Mother supports the Healthy Families Act as an employer with its own staff.  “We advocate for it because it fits snugly with our mission to celebrate the companies that support working families, both at work and home.”  She explained that her company hates “presenteeism,” when a staff member comes to work sick, infecting the whole office, school, housekeeping staff or restaurant.

Now more than ever—when families are struggling and jobs are scarce—workers need paid sick days.  The March 2 briefing confirmed what workers and responsible employers already know: when companies respond to the needs of working families, workers are committed and productive, and our communities, workplaces and schools stay healthy.

FMLA: After 17 Years, It’s Time to Take the Next Step

Published on February 5, 2010 in Vicki Shabo and Work & Family. 0 Comments
Vicki Shabo, Director of Work and Family Programs

Vicki Shabo, Director of Work and Family Programs

The Family and Medical Leave Act turns 17 today.

At the National Partnership, we are like proud parents. We remember the long fight to pass it, and the moment on February 5, 1993 when we stood beside President Clinton as he made it the very first bill he signed. For the first time, we had a national law to address the challenges facing workers who struggle to meet their job and family commitments.

The Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) was a huge step. It meant that millions of workers could take unpaid, but job-protected, leave to recover from illness or care for a sick family member or bond with a new baby or new foster or adopted child. It meant fewer workers had to make impossible choices when illness struck or babies came.

But it was intended as a first step in a national commitment to ensuring that workers are able to meet their responsibilities to their families as well as their employers.

We’ve yet to take the next one.

To be fair, we’ve made some progress. In the last two years, certain new categories of workers — members of the military, military families, and flight crews — gained FMLA protection.

But on the 17th birthday of the FMLA, when seven in ten working families with children have all adults in the labor force, one in four workers have elder-care responsibilities, and the average couple in this country works close to 90 hours a week combined, we need swift, concerted action to help workers meet their work and family obligations.

Fortunately, there are signs that the federal government is moving in the right direction. The President’s proposed fiscal year 2011 budget and the Department of Labor’s (DOL’s) 2011 strategic priorities recognize the demands on families and working caregivers.

Here’s what we’d like to see:

Paid Family and Medical Leave. The biggest barrier to taking family and medical leave is the inability to forgo a paycheck. Two states — California and New Jersey — have paid family leave insurance programs up and running. Washington State approved a program in 2007 but has yet to implement it for lack of start-up funds; other states have been slow to follow suit for the same reason. But there is good news. Just this week, President Obama proposed a FY2011 budget with a State Paid Leave Grant program, which would set aside $50 million for states that implement their own paid leave programs. This funding would be a critical first step to expand access to paid family leave. Congressional proposals to develop a national family leave insurance system or to provide significantly more in start-up funding for state paid leave programs would do even more.

FMLA Expansion. Affordability aside, not all workers or workplaces are covered by the FMLA, which doesn’t extend to particular types of leave that workers commonly need. Bills now before Congress would extend FMLA access to people who work for smaller companies and to employees who worked only part time during the prior year, which would expand the law’s protection to more low-wage workers. Other proposed legislation would extend FMLA leave to grandparents, grandchildren, and domestic partners or same sex spouses; to domestic violence and sexual assault victims; and to parents who need to attend routine medical appointments or parent-teacher conferences.

FMLA Restoration. The Bush Administration put regulations in place that make it harder for workers to take the leave the FMLA provides. The Department of Labor has yet to revise or reverse those regulations. Fixing these regulations is straightforward and should be a priority.

Current, Comprehensive, and Routinely Collected Data. The government last collected comprehensive FMLA data in 2000 – a full decade ago. The lack of recent data makes it impossible to know either how the FMLA serves workers or how to fails to serve their needs. The President’s proposed budget includes a small increase in funding for DOL to investigate the feasibility of collecting data on work-family “balance” issues. In addition to adding a standard series of questions about family leave-taking and caregiving to ongoing government surveys, policymakers and advocates need updated, comprehensive data to so that public policies can better reflect caregivers’ needs.

To ensure that workers are able to fulfill their commitments at home and at work while maintaining their family’s economic security, give the FMLA a birthday present and take action now.

Pregnancy Discrimination On Wisteria Lane!

Published on January 2, 2010 in Kesia Brown, Work & Family and Workplace Fairness. 0 Comments
Desperate Housewives

Desperate Housewives

If you haven’t seen the latest episodes of Desperate Housewives, you have missed more than just the usual melodrama swirling around the residents of Wisteria Lane. A new storyline may be all-too-familiar to many viewers — a woman facing pregnancy discrimination on the job.

Lynnette, a working wife, mother of four, and “desperate housewife” chose not to reveal her pregnancy to Carlos, her boss and longtime friend and neighbor. When Lynnette received a promotion over a coworker who was pregnant, it became clear to her that she would be discriminated against as well if Carlos found out about her pregnancy.

Her fears were confirmed in a recent episode. Once Carlos discovered that Lynnette was pregnant, she was quickly fired. Although Carlos claimed that she was fired because she refused to take a promotion and relocate, it was clear to her — and to the audience — that the real reason was her pregnancy. Can this happen in real life, or is it just another outlandish plot?

Statistics show that the Desperate Housewives pregnancy discrimination storyline is neither exaggerated nor rare. In 2008, pregnancy discrimination charges rose to their highest level in the history of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), which saw an almost 13 percent increase in claims over the previous year. And the most recent increase is part of a trend; since 1992, pregnancy discrimination charges to the EEOC and its companion agencies have skyrocketed by 86 percent. Read about the increase here.

Some cases rival the drama on Wisteria Lane. In 2004, the Department of Justice joined a lawsuit against the Washington D.C. Fire and Emergency Medical Services Department, claiming that women in training for the program were required to take pregnancy tests and told that they could lose their jobs if they became pregnant. As a result, two women said they chose to terminate their pregnancies for fear of losing their jobs. The complaint the U.S. Department of Justice filed against the employer is here. The case was eventually settled and the women received $100,000 each.

In 2007, the EEOC settled a case of pregnancy discrimination for $350,000 against Mothers Ware Inc., which sells maternity clothes. According to the EEOC, the store refused to hire pregnant women and discriminated against a supervisor who complained about the policy. Read the EEOC’s press release about the case here.

In August, the EEOC brought a pregnancy discrimination suit against a New Jersey trucking company, Decker Transport. According to the EEOC, when one of the women working at Decker informed her boss she was pregnant, she was immediately put on leave and told she should not come back until she got “rid of the problem.” When she refused, she was fired.

Those are women who spoke up and complained. Many more may be afraid to do so, or may not even know that discrimination against pregnant women is illegal.
Find out more about your rights here.

Given the economic crisis, it is especially important that women have secure employment. For those outside of Wisteria Lane, pregnancy discrimination truly can create a desperate situation. Not only does it cause emotional suffering, but it also threatens the economic security of working families who rely on women’s income.

Learn more about the Pregnancy Discrimination Act and what protections it provides.

Wal-Mart’s Demerit Practice Makes Me Sick

Published on December 16, 2009 in Steffany Stern and Work & Family. 2 Comments
blog.photo.steffany.stern

Steffany Stern

Given the recent news about Wal-Mart’s sick days practice, we all may want to think twice about shopping there this holiday season—which regrettably overlaps with cold and flu season.

Because the breaking news on Wal-Mart’s practice is, well, sickening: as The New York Times recently reported, “At Wal-Mart, when employees miss one or more days because of illness or other reasons, they generally get a demerit point. Once employees obtain four points over a six-month period, they begin receiving warnings that can lead to dismissal.”

The article goes on to quote workers who felt pressured to go to work even when they were sick, including one who was sick with—you guessed it—the dreaded H1N1 virus!

Unfortunately, that makes complete sense: in this economy, with family budgets stretched to the breaking point and scores of workers vying for every job opening. Workers are simply too anxious to do anything that could jeopardize their paychecks or their jobs.

Wal-Mart’s practice is indefensibly bad for workers, their families, and our public health.

That’s why the National Partnership for Women & Families is joining with our allies at MomsRising.org, and our other partners, in the Demerit Wal-Mart campaign. We’re helping build a movement of thousands and thousands of people who are standing up to Wal-Mart until the company changes its short-sighted practice. It’s Wal-Mart and its executives who need a demerit badge, not its workers.

>>Give Wal-Mart a demerit badge of its own by clicking here!

Now, I know that Wal-Mart seems like an all-too-easy target for complaints from workers’ rights advocates. But really, they’re making it tough to ignore their actions.

Beyond our concerns for Wal-Mart’s workers, and our public health, we’ve got our eyes on Wal-Mart because it’s one of the largest private employers in the country. With about 1.4 million employees, and locations all across the nation, Wal-Mart often sets the standard for other employers. Which means we can’t let them off the hook when they’re not doing right by their workers or their customers. We have to urge Wal-Mart to fix this practice—sooner rather than later. And we have to let not only Wal-Mart, but all employers know that this kind of practice is unacceptable.

The National Partnership is particularly alarmed about the impact Wal-Mart’s practice has on women.

Women make up 72 percent of Wal-Mart’s workers, and since women still perform many of the caregiving duties for their families, they are disproportionately at risk for punishment or even firing under policies like this one.

The National Partnership is working to pass a national standard of paid sick days that workers can access without fear of punishment: the Healthy Families Act. But until the day we win that national standard, we are calling on standard-bearing employers like Wal-Mart to step up and change their ways.

To learn more and send Wal-Mart its own demerit badge, visit www.demeritwalmart.com.

What Are Lawmakers Afraid Of?

Published on November 17, 2009 in Jody Heymann and Work & Family. 1 Comment
Jody Heymann
Jody Heymann, Founding Director, Institute for Health and Social Policy, McGill University

Ensuring a floor of decent working conditions is crucial for the majority of Americans. 

For decades, we’ve debated whether the United States can afford to provide more family-friendly workplace policies and protections, and whether doing so will increase unemployment and harm our economic competitiveness.  

At the Institute for Health and Social Policy at McGill University, we set out to answer those questions through an eight-year study that examined policies, protections and supports in 190 of the world’s 192 countries. 

Through the study, we learned that the United States lacks many key work protections that are crucial for working adults and their families, and lags behind most of the 190 countries whose labor laws we examined. 

photo.blog.globalfloor.bookThe new study, Raising the Global Floor: Dismantling the Myth that We Can’t Afford Good Working Conditions for Everyone, found that:

• 164 nations guarantee paid annual leave; the U.S. does not.
• 163 nations guarantee paid sick leave; the U.S. does not.
• 157 nations guarantee workers a day of rest each week; the U.S. does not.
• 177 nations guarantee paid leave for new mothers; the U.S. does not.
• 74 nations guarantee paid leave for new fathers; the U.S. does not.

We also found that, globally, none of these working conditions are linked with lower levels of economic competitiveness or employment. In fact, many of these guarantees are associated with increased competitiveness. Of the world’s 15 most competitive countries, 14 provide paid sick leave, 14 provide paid annual leave, 13 guarantee a weekly day of rest, 13 provide paid leave for new mothers and 12 for new fathers.

Similarly, the majority of the 13 countries with consistently low unemployment rates provide paid annual leave (12), a weekly day of rest (12), paid leave for new mothers (12), paid sick leave (11), and paid leave for new fathers (9).

While the implications of guaranteeing decent work have always been important, they are particularly critical during the economic downturn that began in 2008 and that will likely affect United States workers for years to come.

So what are our lawmakers afraid of?  Now we know that the world’s most successful and competitive nations are providing the supports the United States lacks, without harming their competitiveness.  We can – and should – do better.

To learn more about the new study, visit www.RaisingtheGlobalFloor.org.

Does Your Child Care Center Provide Paid Sick Days?

Published on September 28, 2009 in Karen Pesapane and Work & Family. 0 Comments
Karen Pesapane

Karen Pesapane

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention keeps updating its guidelines to help child care and early childhood programs - - and all of us - - respond to influenza during the 2009-2010 flu season.

Guidelines for providers include separating children with signs of illness from healthy children until the ill child can be picked-up, and not allowing children back to school until 24 hours after their fever naturally subsides.

Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius unveiled a new PSA featuring Elmo practicing sneezing into his arm and went on record saying “If your child comes down with the flu, we hope you plan to keep them home and not share this with their playmates.”

It’s been said enough over the past few weeks that I think we all get it. Staying home when feeling sick is one of the best ways to prevent the spread of illness.

But for all the recent emphasis on keeping sick kids home, I wondered if my 2 year-old son’s child care teachers were sick, would they stay home? Could they stay home?

So I did the unthinkable and I asked the director of my son’s child care if teachers are able to stay home when they are sick without losing pay or worrying about job security. I was delighted to learn that the teachers at my son’s child care have a paid leave package that covers sick days, and that they also allow longer tenured employees (who earn more leave than newer employees) to transfer their leave hours to colleagues who may need them.

But I know the child care industry does not typically provide workers with paid sick days.

Case in point, my mother recently retired after 25 years of teaching child care in Connecticut. She told me recently how relieved she is that she retired when she did, because she never had any sick days. She shudders to think how any teachers in the same situation this flu season will not be able to follow the CDC’s advise and stay home when they are sick.

Unfortunately, the national emphasis on staying home when sick is neglecting to acknowledge the fact that millions of workers in this country don’t have a single paid sick day. If they stay home, they get no pay. This isn’t exactly a great time to be losing income, especially for working families.

We all need a reality check.

Ask your child care provider, or the barista at your favorite coffee joint, or the worker preparing your lunch order, or working members of your family: “Can you afford to stay home if you feel sick?”

If they say no, ask them to tell their leaders in Congress that we need a minimum standard of paid sick days in this country.

With H1N1 Spreading this Labor Day: We Need Paid Sick Days, Not Another iPhone App

Published on September 4, 2009 in Rachna Choudhry and Work & Family. 1 Comment
Rachna Choudhry

Rachna Choudhry

As schools reopen and cooler, drier temperatures return here to Washington, D.C., the nation waits for the second wave of the H1N1 flu to hit us.  Meanwhile, we are bombarded by information on the Internet, in the news and through our email inboxes.  Google, too, is in on the action, helping to track and map the H1N1 flu.  And now, there’s even an “iPhone app” for the H1N1 virus!  We know people are engaged when there’s an “app.”  This one will enable users to track, report and be notified of H1N1 outbreaks on the ground, in real time.  It will also allow researchers to collect data on new areas of flu activity. 

Yet, when we look beyond the hype, the actual prevention of the spread of the H1N1 virus is relatively uncomplicated.  Government officials are simply asking workers to stay home when they are sick, and to keep sick children home from school.  Of course, there’s other advice, including coughing into your inner elbows, washing your hands frequently and getting vaccinated.  But perhaps the most effective is to stay home when you’re sick. 

The CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) recommends that “people with influenza-like illness remain at home until at least 24 hours after they are free of fever…without the use of fever-reducing medications.”  Schools will need to rely on parents to keep children at home if they are feverish.

Staying home to prevent the spread of H1N1 doesn’t require an “iPhone app,” or even access to Google maps.  All a sick worker, or the parent of a sick child, needs is time off from work without the risk of losing their pay or their jobs.  What workers urgently need is a guarantee that if they do the right thing and stay home with the flu, they won’t be docked pay, disciplined by an employer or fired. 

A basic workplace standard of paid sick days would provide workers with such a guarantee.  And it would help protect the public’s health by removing a key reason that sick adults go to work, and parents send sick children to school: concern about their financial security. 

This policy establishing a standard of paid sick days has already been proposed by Rep. Rosa DeLauro, the late Sen. Ted Kennedy and Sen. Chris Dodd.  The Healthy Families Act (HR 2460/ S 1152) would guarantee workers seven paid sick days a year to recover from illness like the flu and care for ill family members. 

Now, we need urgent action from our elected leaders in the White House and Congress to make the Healthy Families Act the law of the land.  We’ve heard a lot from officials about how to cough into our elbows, and that’s good.  Now, we want to hear how they will ensure that working families don’t risk their financial security to do what is right for their own health and the health of others in their workplaces, schools and communities.   A real commitment to quickly enact the Healthy Families Act would make this a Labor Day to remember.

Life and Legacy of Ted Kennedy

Published on August 28, 2009 in Debra Ness, Health Care and Work & Family. 8 Comments
Debra Ness

Debra Ness

Here at the National Partnership, we are grieving the loss of our good friend and supporter Ted Kennedy.

Tomorrow, we join you in celebrating his life and legacy.

I had the privilege of working closely with Senator Kennedy for many years, and feel his absence keenly. The public outcry of grief and remembrance is both touching and fitting for his incredible service to our nation.

Senator Kennedy’s legislative legacy will never be rivaled, and yet it saddens me that the public policy closest to his heart, which he called the ‘cause of his life,’ was not finished before he left us.

So in this time of sadness and reflection, I encourage you to take a moment and recommit yourself to fighting for meaningful health insurance reform, one of the most important legislative challenges of our time.

You can start by sharing your story. We all have one.

Do you think we need health insurance reform, or is the status quo okay? What changes are needed to help you or your family? Are you happy with your existing insurance plan? Do you know friends or neighbors without coverage? Has the health care system failed you or a loved one?

Senator Kennedy shared his story with us during decades of public service, and I believe the greatest tribute we can pay him is to redouble our efforts to see his vision for universal health care become reality.

It’s a worthy ambition, so roll up your sleeves. You won’t regret it.

Share your story today.

Huge Loss for the Nation

Published on August 26, 2009 in Debra Ness, General, Health Care and Work & Family. 1 Comment
Debra Ness

Debra Ness

When Senator Edward M. Kennedy lost his battle with cancer, our nation lost a real champion of justice and equality, a man who truly understood the struggles of families in the United States, and a passionate, effective and tireless advocate for women’s and civil rights. At the National Partnership for Women & Families, we also lost a dear friend.

Senator Kennedy’s death marks the end of an era, when we could count on his vision and leadership to make this country a greater place for everyone. He was a partner we trusted completely to provide strategic guidance on a range of issues including health care reform, reproductive choice, paid sick days, women’s and civil rights, and other issues that are critically important to the nation. Not as well known as the Senator’s public positions were his keen political and strategic judgment, and his extraordinary capacity to bring together opposing parties to reach the agreements the country needed. Those were skills we treasured, and will miss terribly.

We also remember Senator Kennedy as a friend – someone who hosted events for the National Partnership in his home, who took the time to write a personal note if a family member was ill, and to call to say thank you when a bill we championed advanced.

Our work will be more difficult without Senator Kennedy’s presence and support, and our country will be much poorer without his leadership. Our thoughts are with his family and loved ones, who suffered the loss of his sister, Eunice Kennedy Shriver, so recently.

Senator Edward Kennedy was, in every way, a great leader. The greatest tribute we can pay him is to redouble our efforts to make his vision – of a nation in which every person has access to quality affordable health care, discrimination is no longer a problem, workplaces are family-friendly, and reproductive choices are secure – a reality.

Start Spreading the News: Paid Sick Days Coming to NYC

Published on August 21, 2009 in Steffany Stern and Work & Family. 5 Comments
Steffany Stern

Steffany Stern

Campaigns to make paid sick days a basic workplace standard have sprung up around the country—and now New York City is getting in on the action.

City Council Member Gale Brewer has introduced a bill that would guarantee paid sick days for all workers in the city, and she already has the support of a whopping 35 of the Council’s 52 members. The bill has generated a great deal of excitement outside the Council, too: it’s backed by a massive, diverse coalition that includes business owners, workers, public health and policy experts, and labor unions.

The timing for a New York City paid sick days standard could not be better. Nearly half of all private sector workers, including nearly one million New Yorkers, don’t have a single paid sick day. These workers need paid sick days to safeguard their economic security, and we all need a standard that will protect our public health, especially during a flu pandemic.

Included among those workers without paid sick days are those most in need of job-protected, paid time off when they are sick or a family member is sick: the overwhelming majority of low-wage workers, as well as those who prepare and serve our food or work in child care, nursing homes, and schools.

In this economy, family budgets are stretched so tightly that workers can’t afford to take a day away from work without pay, and they definitely can’t afford to risk losing their jobs. That’s why millions of workers come to work sick or send their kids to school sick, because they have no choice.

With a wave of new H1N1 cases expected in the fall, we need to make sure that families never have to make that choice. Ensuring that workers are able to take time off without losing their pay or their jobs must be a critical part of our public response to the flu pandemic. A paid sick days standard could play a central role in preventing the spread of the H1N1 virus.

Since New York is, well, New York, the City Council has an opportunity to take the lead in the national movement to guarantee paid sick days for all workers. All eyes are on the Big Apple. Let’s hope the Council acts quickly—and provides a good example for the rest of the country.

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