http://www.clasp.org/issues/rss/highlights.xml?type=work_life_and_job_quality Featured Highlights from the Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP) en-us Wed, 19 Jun 2013 17:38:00 -0500 info@clasp.org webmaster@clasp.org 40 Tue, 18 Jun 2013 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.clasp.org/issues/pages?type=work_life_and_job_quality&id=0033 A study in the "American Journal of Public Health" found that diseases like influenza spread more quickly throughout the workplace when employees don't have earned sick days. Despite this, politicians have lately been making controversial decisions on earned sick leave bills. http://www.clasp.org/issues/pages?type=work_life_and_job_quality&id=0033 Tue, 11 Jun 2013 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.clasp.org/issues/in_focus?type=work_life_and_job_quality&id=0067 The first-ever national compilation of business supporters for earned sick days and family leave insurance is now available online through a partnership between the American Sustainable Business Council (ASBC), the Main Street Alliance and Social Venture Network (SVN). http://www.clasp.org/issues/in_focus?type=work_life_and_job_quality&id=0067 Thu, 06 Jun 2013 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.clasp.org/resources_and_publications/publication?id=1253&list=publications Getting Down to Business is CLASP's monthly update on the latest news about business and paid leave. http://www.clasp.org/resources_and_publications/publication?id=1253&list=publications Mon, 06 May 2013 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.clasp.org/resources_and_publications/publication?id=1241&list=publications Getting Down to Business is a CLASP monthly update on the latest news about business and paid leave. http://www.clasp.org/resources_and_publications/publication?id=1241&list=publications Thu, 18 Apr 2013 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.clasp.org/admin/site/publications/files/CLASP-Workforce-Ed-Mark-Up-April-16-to-Committee-April-15.pdf As the Committee on Education and the Workforce considers The Working Families Flexibility Act (H.R. 1406) sponsored by Representative Martha Roby (R-AL), CLASP urges the Committee not to move measure forward. A mission of the Committee is to protect the workforce; the bill would add a new wage rule that raises the specter of greater vulnerability for the non-exempt workforce. Since enforcement of basic wage rules is woefully under resourced, we need to fix that first. http://www.clasp.org/admin/site/publications/files/CLASP-Workforce-Ed-Mark-Up-April-16-to-Committee-April-15.pdf Tue, 26 Mar 2013 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.clasp.org/admin/site/publications/files/SF-Implementation-Brief-FINAL.pdf Implementing a new law is always a complex process. But what happens when you are the first jurisdiction in the country to pass such a law? This was the unique challenge facing San Francisco when it passed the nation's first earned sick days law in 2006. The City and County government took on the challenge admirably, employing a variety of creative strategies to conduct outreach to the public, write meaningful rules, and ensure the law would be properly enforced. http://www.clasp.org/admin/site/publications/files/SF-Implementation-Brief-FINAL.pdf Mon, 01 Apr 2013 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.clasp.org/admin/site/publications/files/Earned-Paid-Sick-Time-Business-Questionnaire_MA_3_27_13.pdf http://www.clasp.org/admin/site/publications/files/Earned-Paid-Sick-Time-Business-Questionnaire_MA_3_27_13.pdf Tue, 02 Apr 2013 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.clasp.org/resources_and_publications/publication?id=1228&list=publications Getting Down to Business is a CLASP monthly update on the latest news about business and paid leave. http://www.clasp.org/resources_and_publications/publication?id=1228&list=publications Wed, 20 Mar 2013 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.clasp.org/admin/site/publications/files/Business-Voices-on-Ease-of-Implementation-of-Sick-Days-DC-and-SF.pdf Around the nation, city councils and state legislatures are increasingly considering legislation to establish a sick daysaEUR(TM) law. Employers, particularly those who are not familiar with sick daysaEUR(TM) policy, are leery of administering it. For some, this worry leads them to oppose passage of legislation. However, in locations where laws are already implemented, many businesses have stepped forward to acknowledge that administering sick daysaEUR(TM) policy is actually pretty simple. http://www.clasp.org/admin/site/publications/files/Business-Voices-on-Ease-of-Implementation-of-Sick-Days-DC-and-SF.pdf Mon, 04 Mar 2013 00:00:00 -0600 http://www.clasp.org/resources_and_publications/publication?id=1215&list=publications Getting Down to Business is a CLASP monthly update on the latest news about business and paid leave. http://www.clasp.org/resources_and_publications/publication?id=1215&list=publications Fri, 01 Mar 2013 00:00:00 -0600 http://www.clasp.org/issues/in_focus?type=work_life_and_job_quality&id=0063 Today, CLASP and its partner, the American Sustainable Business Council (ASBC), released a new tool for job quality advocates, including advocates for earned sick days and paid family leave. The jointly produced brief provides advocates with a primer on the nuts and bolts of the business certification movement and suggests ways to foster fruitful relationships between the movement and campaigns for improved job quality, such as earned sick days campaigns. http://www.clasp.org/issues/in_focus?type=work_life_and_job_quality&id=0063 Wed, 27 Feb 2013 00:00:00 -0600 http://www.clasp.org/admin/site/publications/files/Seattle-Sick-Days-Implementation-CLASP.pdf Advocates in Seattle fought hard to build the support necessary to pass the cityaEUR(TM)s Paid Sick and Safe Time (PSST) Ordinance. But the hard work did not end when the law passed in November 2011. Once the ink on SeattleaEUR(TM)s ordinance had dried, the process of implementing the law began. http://www.clasp.org/admin/site/publications/files/Seattle-Sick-Days-Implementation-CLASP.pdf Tue, 19 Feb 2013 00:00:00 -0600 http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jodie-levinepstein/fmla-anniversary_b_2617109.html All politicians -- whether Democratic or Republican -- have a mother. While their politics may differ, they share a need to care for parents and other family at some point in their lives. That's common ground. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jodie-levinepstein/fmla-anniversary_b_2617109.html Thu, 14 Feb 2013 00:00:00 -0600 http://www.clasp.org/issues/pages?type=work_life_and_job_quality&id=0029 aEURoeHoly smokes!aEUR? is how James Heckman, a Nobel prize winner in economics, enthusiastically reacted to the details of President ObamaaEUR(TM)s early childhood education plans. HeckmanaEUR(TM)s shout-out makes sense. One doesnaEUR(TM)t need to be a Nobel laureate nor an economist to see how this early education agenda could make a huge difference in providing opportunity to many more children. While the agenda is bold and multifaceted and deserves high marks, it also missed a vital opportunity by neglecting to address paid family leave. http://www.clasp.org/issues/pages?type=work_life_and_job_quality&id=0029 Mon, 03 Sep 2007 00:00:00 -0500 http://clasp.articulatedman.com/admin/site/publications/files/0374.pdf This paper describes the state of job quality in the U.S. today and makes the case that improving job quality is a critical part of the agenda for reducing poverty, supporting families, rewarding effort, and expanding opportunity for all. It is part of Opportunity at Work, CLASPaEUR(TM)s job quality initiative. http://clasp.articulatedman.com/admin/site/publications/files/0374.pdf Wed, 13 Feb 2013 00:00:00 -0600 http://www.clasp.org/issues/pages?type=work_life_and_job_quality&id=0028#FMLA-20th-event Last week marked the twentieth anniversary of the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), which has offered millions of workers access to up to 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave. More than 100 million workers have accessed this leave to take care of newborns, family members and themselves. As we celebrate FMLA 20 years later, we are also reminded of how far the U.S. still has to go in offering paid leave and fully supporting the needs of children and families. http://www.clasp.org/issues/pages?type=work_life_and_job_quality&id=0028#FMLA-20th-event Thu, 07 Feb 2013 00:00:00 -0600 http://www.clasp.org/admin/site/publications/files/Businesses-FMLA-Unmet-Need-Paid-Leave.pdf The Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), which enables workers to take up to 12 weeks of unpaid job-protected leave to care for their own serious illness, a sick family member, or to bond with a new baby, has been used by millions of workers since its passage in 1993. As this important piece of legislation celebrates its 20th anniversary, new data shows that the vast majority of businesses find administering the law easy, and 80 percent of small businesses favor the legislation. But the data also point to a pressing need for paid leave programs, like those in California and New Jersey. In those states, family leave insurance programs have made it possible for employees to take paid family leave, easing the financial burden of caring for oneself and one's family. Research shows that businesses in California have found the state's Paid Family Leave (PFL) program to be good for or have little effect on business. This brief from CLASP demonstrates business support for both the FMLA and paid family leave, while highlighting the pressing need for paid leave. http://www.clasp.org/admin/site/publications/files/Businesses-FMLA-Unmet-Need-Paid-Leave.pdf Fri, 01 Feb 2013 00:00:00 -0600 http://www.clasp.org/resources_and_publications/publication?id=1202&list=publications#ASBC Getting Down to Business is a CLASP monthly update on the latest news about business and paid leave. http://www.clasp.org/resources_and_publications/publication?id=1202&list=publications#ASBC Fri, 18 Jan 2013 00:00:00 -0600 http://www.clasp.org/issues/pages?type=work_life_and_job_quality&id=0025 Workers deserve to be assured they will be paid for the hours they work aEUR" this basic proposition seems obvious to most of us. Yet, for millions of workers across the country who are victims of wage theft, something that appears to be a question of simple fairness is out of reach. But there is hope for workers in Chicago, where yesterday City Council passed one of the strongest municipal anti-wage theft laws in the country. In a unanimous vote, the Council passed the law, which will allow the City to revoke or deny licenses to employers that steal their workersaEUR(TM) wages. http://www.clasp.org/issues/pages?type=work_life_and_job_quality&id=0025 Fri, 18 Jan 2013 00:00:00 -0600 http://www.clasp.org/issues/pages?type=work_life_and_job_quality&id=0024 While many people assume that paid sick days are widely available to all, that is far from the truth for too many workers. This critical workplace protection is important both to workers and consumers. A new poll demonstrates that restaurants that do not offer their employees the opportunity to earn paid sick days do so at their own peril. The survey, put out by the National Consumers League (NCL), found that 92 percent of consumers believe that it is very important or important that the servers and cooks in the restaurants they patronize do not cook or serve while sick. Well over half of respondents agreed on the importance of allowing these workers to earn paid sick days. With consumers expressing a clear preference for fair sick leave policies, the message to business owners is also clear: to satisfy customers, employers must provide restaurant workers with just working conditions, including earned sick days. Policymakers should take note as well. http://www.clasp.org/issues/pages?type=work_life_and_job_quality&id=0024