Working Moms’ Challenges: Paid Leave, Child Care

by Jennifer Ludden

(Click here to listen to this piece)

The past week’s political firestorm in the presidential race focused on stay-at-home moms, but two-thirds of women with young children now work. Nearly half are their family’s primary breadwinner. What some feel is being lost in the political debate are the challenges they face in the workplace.

When Kids Get Sick

“We unfortunately have a number of workplaces that operate as if workers are still men, with wives at home full-time,” says Ellen Bravo, who heads Family Values at Work, a coalition that promotes paid-leave programs.

“So many moms are dying to be able to stay home at the most important moments – namely, when they give birth, and when their kid is sick – and aren’t allowed to do so,” she says.

That was the case for Marianne Bullock a few years ago, when her 18-month-old had a stomach virus. “It was the first time that my daughter had really been sick,” she says. “She was not nursing, and she was lethargic.” Bullock was a personal care assistant in Massachusetts; that day, she called in sick. The next day, she had to take her daughter to the hospital, where she was hydrated. The third morning, her daughter seemed better and Bullock got ready to leave for work.  “As I was walking out the door, she vomited again,” Bullock says. “And I was like, ‘I just have to take her to the hospital.’ And so I called in – and when I called in, the care manager that I spoke to said, ‘You just might as well not come back.’ ” Bullock was fired. She says the manager actually told her they’d rather hire someone without a child.

Many companies do offer generous leave policies, and this year Connecticut became the first state to mandate sick leave. But the United States is one of the only developed nations with no federal policy requiring paid leave.

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From the Boston Herald, April 19

A healthy proposal

By Sheila Decter
Thursday, April 19, 2012

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The earned sick time legislation has nothing to do with “buying back” sick time (“City ‘sick’ and tired,” April 17). It is about addressing the basic needs of the 1 million Bay Staters who are unable to take a single day off to care for themselves or their children.

On National Pay Equity Day, the Herald could have recognized that the majority of low-wage workers without earned sick time are women who have to make the impossible choice of sending a sick child to school or risk taking the day off and losing their job. Working mothers know the difficulties of balancing careers and families, and earned sick days are a critical step in creating fair workplaces.

The editorial was a broad mischaracterization of the earned sick time legislation which limits the amount of sick time a worker can take each year and does not require employers to pay for unused sick time after the worker leaves employment. This bill provides exemptions for small and seasonal businesses, keeps workers in their jobs and encourages an equitable workplace for working parents.

— Sheila Decter,

Executive Director Jewish Alliance for Law and Social Action, Boston

Efforts to Wipe Out MCAD’s Administrative Process Still Pending

Committee Hearing has taken place.  But you may still send your letters opposing this bill to house Chair Peter V. Kocot, Room 22; Senate Chair Kenneth J. Donnelly, Room 413D; State House, Boston, MA 02133.

Massachusetts’ anti-discrimination law – 151 B – provides an administrative process to help eradicate discrimination. A key aspect of this process allows individuals to file a complaint with the MCAD and ask for an investigation without needing to hire a lawyer and go to court. If a person has individual representation and wants to go to court, they may do so.   But, the existing statute leaves the decision as to whether to look for relief via the administrative process or the courts up to the person filing the complaint.

>>Proposed House 1739 would wipe out the MCAD’s administrative enforcement powers by allowing respondents to opt-out of MCAD procedures entirely and force the matter into court. This proposed legislation would effectively over-rule the case of Stonehill College v. MCAD, 441 Mass. 549 (2004) which makes it clear that the MCAD’s administrative enforcement powers are exercised in the public interest and cannot be nullified or avoided.

>>H 1739 would also require plaintiff’s to pay $250 before they could file a complaint, clearly limiting the ability of the most vulnerable of workers to seek the help intended by 151 B, the Massachusetts anti-discrimination law.

>>JALSA members have a long personal association with 151B. Our CLSA leaders wrote this legislation, encouraged its passage, and have worked for years to fund this agency and protect this public policy to eliminate discrimination.

>>ACTION Needed

The hearing on this proposed legislation before the Joint Committee on State Administration and Regulatory Oversight is today, February 27, at the Weymouth Town Hall. Assuming few of you have the luxury of a last-minute run to Weymouth, please send your letters opposing this bill to

House Chair Peter V. Kocot, Room 22;

Senate Chair Kenneth J. Donnelly, Room 413D;

State House, Boston, MA 02133.

There is also an organizational letter being prepared. If you would like to see that letter with the prospect of your organizational signature, please email Sheila Decter or call the JALSA office, 617-227-3000.

VICTORY

Trader Joe’s and The Coalition of Immokalee Workers

Sign Fair Food Agreement

The CIW has thanked tens of thousands of Fair Food activists around the country who helped make this tremendous step forward possible, especially those who had planned actions in over 40 cities this coming weekend. In light of this great news, all actions planned for this weekend are cancelled.

Congratulations JALSA members who have participated in these efforts.

Instead of delivering letters sharing our concern, please take a moment to congratulate Trader Joe’s for having joined the Fair Food program.

The Fair Food Program is a groundbreaking approach to social responsibility in the US produce industry that combines the Fair Food Code of Conduct – a set of labor standards developed in a unique collaboration among farmworkers, tomato growers, and the food industry leaders who purchase Florida tomatoes – with a small price premium to help improve harvesters’ wages.