Celebrate National Work and Family Month

Celebrate National Work and Family Month with a Facebook chat about the need for paid family and medical leave this Thursday, 10/23 from 1-2 pm.

The chat will be co-hosted by the National Partnership for Women and Families, MomsRising, CLASP, Family Values @ Work, and Working Mother magazine, on behalf of the FAMILY Act coalition.

Join the conversation here.

Listen to "Good Businesses Providing a Good Place to Work" Wednesday the 19th at Noon!

Trust Across America, a national radio show on the Voice America Variety

channel, will air “Good Businesses Providing a Good Place to Work” Wednesday, December, 19 at noon.

During the hour long show, hosts Stephenie Hendricks and Richard Eidlin will explore a number of strategies that help to shape a good workplace; including the emerging field of the Culture of the Workplace, and other issues such as earned sick days and minimum wage.

The guests represent businsses from across the country and include:
Andy Shallal-Owner of Busboys and Poets and Eatonville Restaurants, Member of D.C. Restaurant Industry Roundtable
Jason Michaud-owner of LOCAL and Redhill Restaurant, Member of L.A. Restaurant Industry Roundtable;
Lew Prince-Managing Partner, Vintage Vinyl in St. Louis, MO.

Please listen and Call-In at (866) 472-5787 on Wednesday!

New Report Shows How Youth Whose Parents Are In Low-Wage Jobs Are At-Risk

The Center for Social Policy at University of Massachusetts Boston recently released
the report "How Youth Are Put At Risk by Parents' Low-Wage Jobs," which focuses on the connection between parents who work low-wage jobs and the development and well-being of their children. The researchers identify specific policy initiatives, including paid sick days, which could improve the outcomes for parents working low-wage jobs and their children.

Today, 16 million U.S. families are headed by parents working low-wage jobs. In 2012, the National Center for Children in Poverty reported that 44 percent of all children live in families that are poor or low-income. Furthermore, low-wage work is estimated to account for two of every three new jobs in the U.S. over the next decade.

The study clearly states, "working families need decent, sustainable jobs and parents must have the freedom to take care of their children."

Staggering New Poverty Data Released

According to the first SPM (Supplemental Poverty Measure) data, which was released last November, 49.1 million, or 16%, Americans lived in poverty in 2010, significantly more than the official poverty measure for the same time period, under which 46.6 million people, or 15% of Americans, were living in poverty. 

Without refundable tax credits the overall rate would grow from 16.1% to 18.9%.

Read the entire article

Working Parents’ Lack of Access to Paid Leave and Workplace Flexibility

Most workers whose employers offer paid sick days are able to take them in order to
stay home and provide care for ill family members. Others with access to workplace
flexibility can work from home or otherwise change their schedules in order to stay home with a sick child. But all too often this is not an option for working parents because they do not have access to paid sick leave or workplace flexibility. This can place parents in a precarious situation when their children fall ill—something which can happen quite frequently.

Unlike every other advanced economy, the United States does not guarantee workers the right to paid sick days or paid parental leave after the arrival of a new child. Other economies such as Germany, Sweden, and Switzerland are excelling while guaranteeing leave benefits for workers.

Read the Full Article

Read the Entire Report from
the Center for American Progress

Myths vs. Facts on Paid Sick Days

Critics of paid sick days argue that additional benefits for employees mean greater overhead for businesses and, consequently, fewer jobs.
But these claims are both oversimplified and off-base. Read the most common misconceptions about paid sick leave—a vital policy that more than 40 million American workers still lack.

Read Here

University of Michigan Poll Shows Need for Paid Sick Days

Read the Full Report

The University of Michigan C.S. Mott Children's Hospital National Poll on Children's Health recently asked parents who have children younger than six years old in child care about the impact of child care illness on their families.

In the poll, almost one-half of parents with young children in child care indicated that they've missed work in the last year to care for sick kids, and one-quarter missed work three or more times. 33 percent of parents were concerned about losing pay or jobs because of missing work for sick kids, 31 percent said they don't have enough paid leave to cover the days they need for sick children.

Tell Philadelphia City Council support Paid Sick Days!

Paid Sick Days Becoming Virginia Senate Campaign Issue!

Women's Town Hall in Virginia for Senate Candidate Time Kaine (D) brings Paid Sick Leave to the forefront.

More workers are taking unpaid leave to care for children and family because paid sick leave is not available. This puts job security in danger and forces women and men alike into a precarious position.

Read the full story here:
Here

Tell your councilman the Paid Sick Days should be addressed Today!
Philadelphia City Council

The U.S. Department of Labor Women's Bureau invites you to its Women's Economic Security Forum: Promoting Equal Pay, Workplace Flexibility, and Resources for Women Owned Businesses

The U.S. Department of Labor Women’s Bureau invites you to its Women’s Economic Security Forum: Promoting Equal Pay, Workplace Flexibility, and Resources for Women Owned Businesses

Monday, September 12, 2011
8:00 a.m. to 12 p.m.
Papadakis Integrated Sciences Building at Drexel University (located at the corner of 33rd and Chestnut St.)

The event is free and open to the public.

REGISTER TODAY AT: http://equalpay.eventbrite.com/
Questions? Please contact Rose Holandez at holandez.rose@dol.gov

Participating agencies and organizations: U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, U.S. Small Business Administration, U.S. Department of Labor Office of Federal Contract and Compliance Programs, Drexel University, PathWays PA

"Mothers Gather at Childspace to Support Earned Sick Days"

The Coalition for Healthy Families and Workplaces is trying to get legislation passed that would allow Philadelphia workers to accrue earned time off for being sick or taking care of sick children.
By Zach Subar

One by one, mothers, daughters and pregnant women came forward with similar messages at a rally at Childspace Day Care Center on Monday.

They communicated those messages through stories they shared at the gathering. Tioga resident Rebecca Lovelace, whose mother has been in and out of the hospital for the past two years, said she doesn't get time off from one of her jobs—at Dollar General—and fears losing her job if she needs to take time off to care for her condition. Katja Pigur, who is originally from Germany and is the mother of a six-year old, said she is thankful that she has sick days at her job, but said that the number of sick days Americans get pales in comparison to what people in her home country receive. And Aislyn Washington talked about how she hasn't been able to hold a steady job for the past three years because her kids—she has five children under the age of 18, and three more who are older—keep getting sick and she keeps needing to take care of them.

To read the full story, visit the Mt. Airy Patch.

For Mother's Day, Moms want Philadelphia City Council to give them Earned Sick Days

For Immediate Release:
May 9, 2011

Contact:
Lauren Townsend 215-939-7621
Earned Sick Time Campaign
Coalition for Healthy Families and Workplaces

For Mother's Day, Moms want Philadelphia City Council to give them Earned Sick Days

Mothers to Speak TODAY, May 9th at 3 pm about Importance of Sick Days

to Take Care of Children and Elderly Parents

“My husband’s family lives in Puerto Rico while mine lives in Germany, leaving us without the kinship-care support we would need in emergency situations. The school’s policy requires a sick child be picked up within an hour of calling the parents. Since we both have paid sick days, my husband and I are able to leave work and pick him up. We can be responsible and caring parents without having the fear that we could lose our jobs or critical pay just because our child needs us.“ - Philadelphia mother, Katja Pigur (son is 6 years old)

WHAT:
Today at 3 pm, Philadelphia mothers will talk about good parenting and why earned sick days are critical in the lives of working parents who sometimes need to be home with sick children to help them get well. The participating moms support the Promoting Healthy Families and Workplaces Act (Bill 080474), a bill that would allow Philadelphia workers the opportunity to earn up to seven days of sick time per year.

WHO:
Philadelphia Mothers scheduled to speak on Monday include:

• Aislyn Washington, mother of 5 from Germantown who recently lost her job because she didn't have paid sick days
• Sarah Friedman, expectant mother from Mt Airy
• Kenyette Barnes-Higgs, mother of a 5 year-old and a 2 ½ year old
• Katja Pigur, mother of a 6 year old boy who is thankful for her paid sick days
• Rebecca Lovelace, resident of Tioga who does not have sick days and has a mother who needs care

WHEN:
TODAY, Monday, May 9, 2011 at 3:00 PM

WHERE:
Childspace Day Care Center - 13 E. Mount Pleasant Ave. Philadelphia 19119 (corner of Germantown Ave. and Mt. Pleasant Ave)

Background:
Promoting Healthy Families and Workplaces Act (Bill 080474) is a bill that would allow Philadelphia workers the opportunity to earn up to seven days of sick time per year. It was voted out of the Public Health and Human Services Committee on March 1, 2011. The bill could affect up to 200,000 workers in Philadelphia who do not have access to paid sick days.

With over 40 percent of Philadelphians lacking earned sick days, a large portion of the population cannot take the time off work to go see a doctor or obtain medical treatment - regardless of the medical coverage they have.

Employees with earned sick days are more likely to stay home when they are sick, limiting the spread of the illness and protecting co-workers, customers, or anyone else they meet during the work day. During the height of the H1N1 pandemic, people were urged to stay home if they had any signs of the flu, however, those without earned sick days were less likely to stay home because they could not afford to. As a result, nearly 8 million H1N1 cases were traced back to employees going to work while sick.

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Listen to Today's Earned Sick Days/ Equal Pay Press Conference Online!

This Equal Pay Day, please take the time to hear how the need for earned sick days impacts pay inequity in the workplace.  Please share with your friends, and call your City Council members to let them know how important earned sick days are to all families!

Why Earned Sick Days Matter For Working Women and Families

Contact:
Lauren Townsend 215-939-7621 (c)
Philadelphia Earned Sick Days Campaign

WHY EARNED SICK DAYS MATTER FOR WORKING WOMEN AND FAMILIES

Ellen Bravo: “ Women will never see equal pay until they stop being punished for being caregivers ”

This morning, national and Philadelphia experts on working women briefed members of the news media about why having paid sick days is especially important for working women.

Ellen Bravo, Professor of Women’s Studies at the University of Wisconsin and Executive Director of Family Values @ Work participated in the briefing.

Bravo said, “Women will never see equal pay until they stop being punished for being caregivers. That means policies such as paid sick days, that help women stay employed and have steady earnings.”

Bravo stressed that working mothers often jeopardize their economic wellbeing when they take time off to care for a sick child or elderly parent and do not have paid sick days.

The conference call was moderated by Carol Goertzel, CEO of PathWays PA, who is a founding member of Coalition for Healthy Families and Workplaces that is pressing for the passage of an Earned Sick Days bill in Philadelphia City Council.

Katherine Black, Director of Health and Safety at the American Federation of State County and Municipal Employees District Council 47 and President of the Philadelphia Chapter of the Coalition of Labor Union Women, said, “The fact that women's wages continue to lag behind men's by 23% - and much more for women of color - is just one factor to consider when quantifying women's second class status in the workplace. More than half of all women work in the retail, clerical and service sectors, where they are much less likely to be provided with health care, pensions or paid leave benefits. That means most women's expenses are higher than men's, and their income insecurity and disadvantage extends past their working life all through their retirement years. Having a modest cushion of paid sick days would provide working women with a few more threads in a very frayed employment security safety net.”

"As many as 100,000 working women in Philadelphia don't have access to a single paid sick day at work, " said Amy Traub, Director of Research at The Drum Major Institute for Public Policy. " Because women are more likely to be caregivers for sick children, they bear a disproportionate burden from the failure to guarantee paid sick leave to all workers. Our research shows that guaranteeing paid sick leave doesn't harm business growth or job growth -- but the lack of paid leave hits women and their families hard."

Caryn Hunt, President of the Philadelphia Chapter of the National Organization for Women, said, “The wage gap between men and women workers has not narrowed in over 15 years, and that includes throughout the economic boom years. That it takes women 3 months into the new year to equal the pay of men the previous year is outrageous, not just for women, but for their families that increasingly rely on that income. It's simply unfair. In Philadelphia, Earned Sick Time helps the city take a step closer to worker equity as it would primarily effect workers in healthcare and the food service industry which are predominantly women. It has the added virtue of protecting the public health by giving workers the choice to stay home when they or a loved one is sick.”

Background:

Having no sick days is a double-whammy when women still receive 20 - 30 cents less for every dollar a man makes. Missing even one day - particularly for working mothers - can undermine a woman's financial stability.

When care giving responsibilities and jobs collide, women often bear the brunt of the problem:

• Half of all working mothers miss work when their child is sick, compared to 30% of working fathers. Of the mothers that miss work, 50% report losing pay when doing so.
• Even when women have access to sick days, studies show that mothers are the only demographic group more likely to use sick time to care for someone else than for themselves.  
• Since women are more likely to bear the burden of care giving AND work in low-wage jobs without sick days, they are also more likely to lose their jobs because of a lack of sick days. This job loss prevents longer job tenure and higher wages, and increases the likelihood of a family growing up in poverty.

Promoting Healthy Families and Workplaces Act (Bill 080474) is a bill that would allow Philadelphia workers the opportunity to earn up to nine days of sick time per year. It was voted out of the Public Health and Human Services Committee on March 1, 2011. The bill could affect up to 200,000 workers in Philadelphia who do not have access to paid sick days.

With over 40 percent of Philadelphians lacking earned sick days, a large portion of the population cannot take the time off work to go see a doctor or obtain medical treatment - regardless of the medical coverage they have.

Employees with earned sick days are more likely to stay home when they are sick, limiting the spread of the illness and protecting co-workers, customers, or anyone else they meet during the workday. During the height of the H1N1 pandemic, people were urged to stay home if they had any signs of the flu, however, those without earned sick days were less likely to stay home because they could not afford to. As a result, nearly 8 million H1N1 cases were traced back to employees going to work while sick.

NPR Series: The Work-Life Balance

The majority of our society no longer looks the way it did in the 1950s, with one member of the household, generally the husband, working outside the home. Today, if two adults are in a household, both of their incomes are usually needed to keep up with the added costs of daily life. In other households, single parents may be on their own caring for their children. These new family models make the standard 40 hour, 9-to-5 workweek difficult for many parents.

To discuss this issue, NPR is doing a three-part series on how employers can give employees some flexibility so they can have more of a work-life balance. Some of the techniques used by employers include flex-time, results-only work environments, and telecommuting. Employers interviewed in the first segment said that by giving employees more options, they have a more productive staff and less turnover.

First, more and more employers are discovering that loosening the traditionally rigid work schedule pays off. [Katie] Sleep says her retention rate over 16 years is an astonishing 95 percent. And study after study shows productivity also shoots up. More than half of companies now say they offer flextime, and one-third allow telecommuting at least part-time.

To read or listen to the first two parts of the series see More Employers Make Room for Work-Life Balance and The End Of 9-To-5: When Work Time Is Anytime. Stay tuned for part three tomorrow.