What had us chanting and dancing in the snowfall for hours? Our “Not My Boss’s Business” rally outside of the Supreme Court! We rallied outside while justices heard oral arguments for a case that would give bosses the right to deny their employees birth control coverage just because they oppose it.
“A National Partnership for Women & Families report says if that disparity was eliminated, a working Austin woman could pay for 73 more weeks of food, or buy nearly 2,400 additional gallons of gas.”
Statement of Debra L. Ness, President, National Partnership for Women & Families
Vicki Shabo, Director of Work and Family Programs at the National Partnership for Women & Families, says the same factors–non-linear careers, greater responsibilities at home, and outright discrimination–that maintain the wage gap in lower-earning professions are shaping the conversation around compensation in top-tier professions as well.
Statement of Debra L. Ness, President, National Partnership for Women & Families
Guaranteed paid leave reinforces “the idea of caregiving and taking care of oneself as a value and a norm, standardized across gender,” Vicki Shabo, director of work and family programs at the National Partnership for Women & Families, added.
Statement of Debra L. Ness, President, National Partnership for Women & Families
At the progressive National Partnership for Women and Families, president Debra Ness hailed Obama’s move as a big step for “women and working families.”
Worker advocates have expressed support for the White House plan. Debra Ness, president of the National Partnership for Women and Families, said the order is “very welcome and badly needed move to promote fair pay by requiring employers to pay more low-wage workers the wages they rightfully deserve for overtime work.”
“It’s a very welcome and badly needed move to promote fair pay,” said Debra Ness, president of the National Partnership for Women & Families.
“When families can’t afford the basics, local businesses lose sales,“ said Vicki Shabo of the National Partnership for Women & Families.
From the National Partnership for Women and Families: “At a time when gender- and race-based wage discrimination persist, when complaints of pregnancy discrimination are on the rise, and when women and men of color too often are denied opportunities to advance their careers, confirming a fair and tireless advocate should have been an easy call and a top priority for every senator.”
“Business owners play a key role in confirming that family-friendly workplace policies like paid sick days and paid family and medical leave are win-win for employees and employers,” Vicki Shabo, director of work and family programs at the National Partnership, told RH Reality Check.
Statement of Judith L. Lichtman, Senior Advisor, National Partnership for Women & Families
Statement of Debra L. Ness, President, National Partnership for Women & Families
Concerns over what paid sick leave could mean for small businesses owners have led to what Vicki Shabo, director of work and family programs at the National Partnership for Women & Families, calls a “counter trend” — legislatures enacting laws against paid sick leave before support for the measure can take hold.
A handful of states are passing laws requiring employers to offer paid sick leave for employees. It’s been a hotly debated topic in recent years with a number of factors playing a role. Vicki Shabo is the Vice President of the National Partnership for Women and Families and she tells Tim Muma why employees need to be given the benefit of paid time off for illnesss.
According to the National Partnership for Women and Families, a campaign group, the payroll tax costs employees less than $2.25 per month. And when employees use PFL instead of relying on employer-provided paid leave, businesses save money. Indeed 9% of Californian businesses said that PFL had generated cost savings for their firm.
Statement of Debra L. Ness, President, National Partnership for Women & Families
Almost 40 million U.S. workers lack paid sick leave, the National Partnership for Women & Families notes. Its report found that almost one-quarter of adults have either lost a job or been threatened with firing for taking time off to deal with an illness or a sick dependent.
