California Paid Family Leave: Babies still crying, but nary a whimper from businesses

From Early Ed Watch:

This is the second in a series of podcasts this summer on California’s laws for extended-time off, with a special focus on the state’s paid family leave program that enables new parents to take time off from work to bond with their babies.

In this podcast, New America’s David Gray talks with Kate Karpilow, executive director of the California Center for Research on Women and Families, who says the program has thrived despite the initial concerns that it would hurt the business community. One reason may be that the program is paid for through the state’s disabilities fund and therefore does not require businesses to write paychecks to employees on leave. “The sky-is-falling scenarios didn’t pan out,” she says.

Listen here.

Washington Family Leave Coalition Newsletter | 08.02.2010

fli thumbnailSenate Appropriations Committee includes $10 million for state paid family leave programs:

In its draft budget, the U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee has included $10 million to help states cover start-up costs for paid family leave programs. It’s not the full $50 million that President Obama proposed, and the federal budget process isn’t finished yet, but this is a promising step for working Americans. So what does this mean for the status of Washington’s stalled paid family leave program? | Read more

Grocery workers’ sick deal

From Nicole Brodeur in the Seattle Times:

Tasha West-Baker can make you a latte, slice your lunch meat or make you a cake at Safeway.

And she could make your entire family ill for days.

West-Baker doesn’t get paid sick days from the grocery chain, where she has worked for seven years. She works four days a week to support three kids on her own. Just staying home with a cold for three days could cost her 75 percent of her weekly paycheck.

That means that when she’s sick, she’s at Safeway – at the Starbucks kiosk, at the deli, in the bakery – and sending her sickness home with our groceries.

Read the full newsletter »

Grocery workers’ sick deal

From the Seattle Times:

Tasha West-Baker can make you a latte, slice your lunch meat or make you a cake at Safeway.

And she could make your entire family ill for days.

West-Baker doesn’t get paid sick days from the grocery chain, where she has worked for seven years. She works four days a week to support three kids on her own. Just staying home with a cold for three days could cost her 75 percent of her weekly paycheck.

That means that when she’s sick, she’s at Safeway — at the Starbucks kiosk, at the deli, in the bakery — and sending her sickness home with our groceries.

Continue reading “Grocery workers’ sick deal”