The High Cost of Unequal Pay

pay-gap-map_fall-2015-update_600pxThe gender pay gap is real, and it hurts women and families. It’s not myth, it’s math. Did you know that in 2014, women working full time in the United States were paid on average just 79 percent of what men were paid? Even one year out of college, within the same major, field and hours worked, men already earn 7 percent more than women — and that gap almost doubles in 10 years even though women are more likely to earn a master’s degree.

But the pay gap is about more than just numbers. Real people experience serious financial and personal hardship as a result of this persistent discrimination, aThe High Cost of Unequal Paynd working families and the entire economy suffer as a result.

Full story: U.S. Department of Labor Blog »

Seattle’s paid sick and safe time ordinance promotes safer families

MobilFrontiers_logo_031711October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month, and the Seattle Office of Labor Standards is highlighting the safe time provisions of Seattle’s Paid Sick and Safe Time (PSST) law.

You can download new flier about safe time protections to educate your co-workers, family, neighbors, and sister organizations. Available in English or Spanish.

Visit the Office of Labor Standards website or Twitter page to find community resources for:

  • Domestic Violence
  • Sexual Assault
  • Legal Help

Learn more about Seattle’s Paid Sick and Safe Time law at: http://www.seattle.gov/laborstandards/paid-sick-and-safe-time

Paid family-leave proposal arrives with force before D.C. Council

working-dadDozens of supporters of a controversial proposal for the nation’s most generous family-leave law, including parents, small-business owners and union members, urged city lawmakers Tuesday to pass the measure supported by a majority of the D.C. Council.

“We’re here for all of the obvious reasons,” said Jamie Smith, of the Chevy Chase neighborhood, who had her 10-month-old son, Adam, bouncing on her lap at Tuesday’s council meeting at the Wilson Building. “It’s just the right thing to do.”

Seven of the council’s 13 members co-introduced the proposed law Tuesday that would give every D.C. resident as much as 16 weeks of paid family leave.

The measure, developed with the help of the Obama administration, would allow residents to take paid leave following the birth or adoption of a child, to care for a terminally ill relative, or for just about any life-changing event in between.

The broad new benefit would be paid for by a tax on D.C. employers of up to 1 percent of employees’ salaries. Business leaders warned that could be hurtful and put them at a competitive disadvantage regionally, but D.C. Council Chairman Phil Mendelson (D) moved to streamline a review of the proposed law, keeping it before his committee and therefore one step from a councilwide vote.

Full story: Washington Post »