A Better Balance is delighted to announce the launch of the Earned Sick Time Advisor, a brand-new web tool that will provide individualized information to help workers understand and exercise their rights under the New York City Earned Sick Time Act! Through a series of plain-language questions, the Advisor allows workers to determine for themselves whether they qualify for paid or unpaid sick time, how many hours they have accrued, and when they may begin using it. ABB created the Advisor working in conjunction with Georgetown University Law Center and Neota Logic. This represents an exciting new outreach effort from A Better Balance, which helped to lead the campaign for sick time in New York City and continues to work around the country to enact similar protections in other cities and states.
Ms. Betzaida Cruz Cardona, who is due to have her first child in April, is homeless, broke, and out of a job, all because she was fired from her position as a Savers cashier when she announced she was pregnant. Without a paycheck, Ms. Cruz had to move out of her apartment and is now homeless and couch-surfing at seven months pregnant.
A Better Balance and Ms. Cruz are fighting back. We filed a discrimination charge with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission on behalf of Ms. Cruz, with our partners at the law firm Emery Celli Brinckerhoff & Abady LLP. Together, we are working to ensure Ms. Cruz is adequately compensated for the unjust treatment she was subjected to at Savers.
A Better Balance believes that every woman in New York State deserves fair and equal treatment under the law. That’s why we are working to pass women’s equality bills before the state legislature, which, among other things, would clarify employers’ obligations to accommodate pregnant workers and prevent more women from losing income at the precise moment they need it most.
In Tennessee, A Better Balance worked with lawmakers to introduce the TN Pregnant Workers Fairness Act, a bill that would ensure no woman has to choose between her health and her job in the state. The bill is sponsored by two Republicans (Rep. M. Hill & Sen. Massey). Second, we have worked with legislators on another bill that would authorize the state to apply for an implementation and feasibility study grant for paid family leave. This is an excellent opportunity to educate lawmakers and the public about the importance of paid family leave for family economic security, and as a public health measure. The bill has garnered bipartisan support and ABB will be available for questions at the subcommittee hearing this week. We are excited about organizing and leading a coalition of partners in support of these two fantastic bills!
ABB Southern Office Director Elizabeth Gedmark with KY State Representative Joni Jenkins
Last Monday, Kentucky House Bill 218, called the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act, unanimously passed out of the House Labor and Industry Committee. A Better Balance’s Southern Office Director, Elizabeth Gedmark, testified in support of the bill and shared testimony from our client Officer Lyndi Trischler. Officer Trischler was forced to take unpaid leave from her job with the Florence Police Department while pregnant last year. The economic hardship for her and women like her across the state and across the country is absolutely devastating. Officer Trischler and her 1-year-old daughter had to move out of their apartment because they could no longer afford to pay the rent.
ABB was in the audience as New York City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito championed some of the causes closest to our hearts in her State of the City address. The Speaker talked about the need for an adequate support system to allow working parents to be with their newborn baby, or to care for a child who is seriously ill, the importance of predictable and stable schedules, and committed to expanding laws that defend workers from discrimination based on caregiver status. We look forward to working with the Speaker and the rest of the city council on these and other issues important to working families.
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