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Vicki Shabo

Jersey City Poised to Establish the Nation’s Next Paid Sick Days Law

| Sep 25, 2013

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Tonight, the Jersey City Council overwhelmingly approved a measure to guarantee workers can earn sick days, demonstrating its commitment to the city and its residents — and positioning the city to be the sixth in the nation to establish this fundamental and common sense right.

The proposal now goes to one of its strongest supporters, Mayor Fulop, to be signed into law. When he signs this bill, he will secure the city’s position as a leader for working families, and pave the way for the state standard more than one million New Jerseyites urgently need.

This victory adds to the growing momentum around paid sick days policies in New Jersey, in other cities and states, and at the federal level. Paid sick days campaigns are active from Tacoma, Washington, to our nation’s capital, and support continues to grow.

Every member of the Jersey City Council who voted for this bill, Mayor Fulop who advocated for it, and the coalition of organizations, workers and businesses who stood up for it, should be proud. This bill’s success is terrific news for Jersey City, the state of New Jersey and the country.

About the Author

Vicki Shabo

Vicki Shabo

Vicki Shabo is vice president at the National Partnership for Women & Families and is one of the nation's leading experts on paid family and medical leave, paid sick days and the workplace policy advocacy landscape. She previously served for more than four years as the organization's director of work and family programs. Shabo is responsible for the strategic direction of the National Partnership’s work to promote fair and family friendly workplaces and leads the organization’s work on paid family and medical leave, paid sick days, expansion and enforcement of the Family and Medical Leave Act, workplace flexibility, fair pay and pregnancy discrimination. She serves as a contact on workplace policy issues for key national allies, researchers, businesses and state and local advocates and has been quoted in the New York Times, Washington Post, Associated Press, USA Today, CNN and MSNBC, among other outlets.

Shabo brings a unique background in law and politics to her work: Prior to joining the National Partnership in 2010, she practiced law in the litigation department at WilmerHale, a large international law firm. Before embarking on a legal career, she worked with both Celinda Lake and Harrison Hickman, serving as a pollster and political strategist to political candidates, ballot campaigns, advocacy organizations and media outlets. Through this work, she developed research and communications expertise on issues of particular concern to women. Shabo's earlier professional experience includes a stint with the U.S. House of Representatives Judiciary Committee.

Shabo graduated summa cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts in politics and American studies from Pomona College, and holds a Master of Arts in political science from the University of Michigan. She earned her law degree with high honors from the University of North Carolina, where she served as editor in chief of the North Carolina Law Review. After law school, she clerked for the Honorable Michael R. Murphy on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit in Salt Lake City.

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