By Katie Bethel | MomsRising.org
If you shop at Wal-Mart, you may be coming home with more than a good deal–you might be exposed to contagious illnesses like colds and the flu.
Why? As the New York Times recently reported, employees receive demerits, lose pay, and ultimately risk termination for taking sick days.
That’s exactly what happened to this family: “My husband just got fired for missing sick days. He missed 5 1/2 days in 6 months.”
Michelle Obama on work and family:
I’d like to just spend a few brief moments talking about today, an issue that I’ve talked a lot about, and that’s the issue of work-life balance. You know it: the constant struggle to meet our responsibilities both as employees, but also as breadwinners, and mothers and fathers. … And as the mother of two young girls it’s an issue that is particularly near and dear to my heart.
And while there’s certainly plenty of employers out there who recognize the value of good work-life policies, many people in this country just aren’t as fortunate to work with those employers. And with the job market the way it is right now, many folks can’t afford to be picky. You just can’t. When you have a job, you keep it; and you settle for the terms that you have because you know you’re blessed to even have a job. And many don’t have access, as a result, to good family leave policies or any kind of flexibility in the workplace at all. It’s just not possible. So they struggle to find affordable childcare and emergency childcare when their usual arrangements fall through, which they always do — right?
And believe it or not, today roughly 40 percent of private-sector employees work at companies that don’t offer a single day of paid sick leave. Not a single day.
Continue reading “Michelle Obama: Why paid sick days mean more innovation, productivity and health”
Huffington Post -> Paid Leave Makes Horse Sense: Vacations are good for your health. And, you don’t need to get away to any fancy Caribbean retreat to get the benefit of time-off from work. But it helps if you are a horse. In New York City, that is. | More
Sloan Work and Family Network -> The Work-Life Tip Sheet – 10 Steps to a Successful Workplace: Over the years, there’s been plenty of shaming big employers — picketing, signs with attack slogans, marching in the streets. But the game of us-against-them doesn’t work. In order to transform the workplace to better reflect today’s workforce, we need to think about how to make working women and their families happy. | More
Huffington Post -> Shop Wal-Mart, Get…Sick?: If you shop at Wal-Mart to finish up that last bit of holiday shopping this week, you may be coming home with more than a good deal — you might be exposed to contagious illnesses like colds and the flu. Why? As the New York Times recently reported, employees can receive “occurrences,” commonly known as demerits, lose pay, and ultimately risk termination for taking sick days. | More
Washington Work and Family Coalition