All Featured Highlights: Employees and Responsive Workplaces
- Mar 15, 2013 | Introduction by Jodie Levin-Epstein Can Technology Push Workers Over a Workplace Cliff? Read Online
- Mar 01, 2013 | CLASP and ASBC New Tool for Job Quality Advocates: A Primer on Business Certifications 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. Read Online
- Feb 19, 2013 | Jodie Levin-Epstein When Family Leave Crosses the Aisle 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. Read Online
- Feb 07, 2013 | Liz Ben-Ishai Business Support for the Family and Medical Leave Act 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. Download PDF
- Jan 18, 2013 | Liz Ben-Ishai Chicago City Council Unanimously Passes Strong Anti-Wage Theft Ordinance Workers deserve to be assured they will be paid for the hours they work – 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 workers’ wages. Read Online
- Jan 15, 2013 | CLASP and Partner Organizations Comments on Inclusion of Work Data in Electronic Health Records These comments were submitted to the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology Policy Committee at HHS by CLASP and several partner organizations. The comments advocate for the inclusion of industry and occupation data in electronic health records in order to provide useful data for improving job quality. Download PDF
- Sep 03, 2007 | Elizabeth Lower-Basch Opportunity at Work: Improving Job Quality 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, CLASP’s job quality initiative. Download PDF
- Aug 30, 2012 | Labor Project for Working Families Unions Win It: Paid Time Off Employees may need to be away from work for any number of reasons; illness, family responsibilities, rest, personal business, or other reasons. A critical component of a job is whether it allows workers to take time off without risk of losing pay or a job. Leave from work may come in various forms, depending on the employer. Traditionally, leave has been offered in separate buckets for vacation, illness, or personal days. Paid Time Off (PTO) is an alternative to traditional paid leave plans that consolidate multiple types of leave into a single plan that individuals can draw upon for any reason that they need to be absent from work. PTO for an individual employee is different than a group bank through which employees can access other employees’ donated leave. Download PDF
- Jan 12, 2011 | Eileen Appelbaum and Ruth Milkman Leaves That Pay: Employer and Worker Experiences with Paid Family Leave in California Download PDF
- Jul 08, 2009 | Elizabeth Lower-Basch Flexible Work Arrangements and Low-Wage Work In this New America Foundation forum, CLASP Senior Policy Analyst Elizabeth Lower-Basch presented on the implications of unpredictable work schedules for low-wage workers and their families and discussed possible policy responses. Read Online