Blog Archive

Vicki Shabo, Director of Work and Family Programs

From the desk of ... Vicki Shabo, Paid Sick Days

Paid Sick Days: Healthier Families, More Than $1 Billion in Savings

November 17, 2011 | Work and Family

Health reform has underscored the imperative to increase access to health care, improve quality and reduce costs.

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From the desk of ... Vicki Shabo

Workplace Support a Critical Step toward Eliminating Poverty

October 28, 2011 | Work and Family

One of the biggest threats to the well-being of our nation's women and families is poverty.

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From the desk of ... Vicki Shabo

Victory in Seattle!

September 12, 2011 | Work and Family

It is an exciting day for Seattle workers. After a tireless campaign that brought together workers, business leaders, lawmakers and advocates like never before, Seattle City Council members voted 8-1 in support of a strong paid sick days standard for the city.

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From the desk of ... Vicki Shabo

Connecticut Poll: Paid Sick Days are a Voting Issue

September 1, 2011 | Work and Family

Connecticut recently became the first state to pass a law offering many workers the right to earn paid sick days.

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From the desk of ... Vicki Shabo

The Good, the Bad and the Hope for Breastfeeding Rights

August 22, 2011 | Work and Family

Roughly four million women give birth in the United States every year - and most choose to breastfeed (74 percent). After all, the nutritional value of breast milk is well documented. Numerous studies show that breastfeeding protects mothers and children from a range of acute and chronic health conditions. But with two-thirds of today's working women returning to work within three months of giving birth, the lack of supportive workplace policies and laws is forcing too many nursing mothers to quit breastfeeding early - or never start.

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From the desk of ... Vicki Shabo, Paid Sick Days

New Report Quantifies Paid Sick Days' Value to Working Families

June 30, 2011 | Work and Family

For working families today, paid sick days can mean the difference between staying afloat and being unable to afford basic expenses like food and transportation - and this lifeline comes at minimal or no cost to businesses.

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From the desk of ... Vicki Shabo

It's Time for a Family Friendly America

May 6, 2011 | Work and Family

Mother's Day. It's a day when we shower the mothers in our lives with well-deserved compliments and gifts that show our appreciation. The heartfelt thanks, expressed in cards, flowers and chocolates, certainly have their place, but mothers today also need something much more lasting - policies that let them meet their own needs and those of their families.

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From the desk of ... Vicki Shabo, Paid Sick Days

Paid Sick Days Standards Promote LGBT Health

March 31, 2011 | Work and Family

As we near the end of LGBT Health Awareness Week - a time to focus on eliminating the health disparities and health care discrimination faced by the LGBT community - we cannot forget the role that access to health care plays in promoting the health and well-being of LGBT workers and their families. Access to health care goes beyond health insurance and health care services. It also includes workers' ability to take paid sick time to recover from a common illness, care for a sick loved one or seek preventive care.

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From the desk of ... Vicki Shabo

Anniversary a Time to Commit to a New Wave of Workplace Reforms

March 24, 2011 | Work and Family

Locked doors. It's one of the many reasons that 146 workers - mainly young immigrant women - died in a fire at the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory in New York City 100 years ago today. Even though great progress has been made since then, workers today are trapped by a different kind of locked door: public and workplace policies that too often are unfair and force workers to make impossible choices between their caregiving responsibilities and their economic security.

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From the desk of ... Vicki Shabo, Paid Sick Days

San Francisco Paid Sick Days Law Is A Proven Success

February 16, 2011 | Work and Family

A new study released today shows that San Francisco's Paid Sick Leave Ordinance (PSLO)—the first citywide paid sick days standard in the country—has been proven a success.

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From the desk of ... Vicki Shabo

California Passes the Nation's Paid Family Leave Test

February 3, 2011 | Work and Family

More than eight years ago, California lawmakers showed a historic commitment to working families in their state by establishing the nation's first paid family leave program. Earlier this month, six-and-a-half years after the program was implemented, the results of its test are in—and they send a compelling message to employers, workers and lawmakers throughout the country.

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From the desk of ... Vicki Shabo, Paid Sick Days

New Data a Sobering Reminder that Nation's Policies are Failing Millions of Workers, Families

January 12, 2011 | Work and Family

Few workplace policies in the United States recognize the dual demands of work and family. Our lack of a paid sick time standard is a prime example. Last week, the Institute for Women's Policy Research (IWPR) released new data revealing that our nation's failure to give all workers the right to earn paid sick days affects even more people than government reports reflect.

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From the desk of ... Vicki Shabo, Paid Sick Days

A Step in the Right Direction

December 17, 2010 | Work and Family

Our country needs more adequate, reasonable and flexible sick leave policies. Tens of millions of workers in this country don't have a single paid sick day. Many of those who do can't use them to meet their family's health needs. As a result, kids and their parents are forced to go to school or work sick, contagion spreads, and public health suffers.

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From the desk of ... Vicki Shabo

Changing the Game: Workplace Flexibility for All

November 4, 2010 | Work and Family

The National Partnership was pleased to be invited to participate in the National Dialogue on Workplace Flexibility in smaller businesses, sponsored by the White House and U.S. Department of Labor in Dallas, Texas last month. This event was the first of four National Dialogue on Workplace Flexibility events, scheduled for 2010 and 2011. Next up is a regional event in Atlanta next week focused on workplace flexibility in the health care industry.

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From the desk of ... Vicki Shabo

Paid Sick Days - On Hold for Too Long

September 29, 2010 | Work and Family

Throughout the long, hot summer—despite the veto-proof majority in the New York City Council, despite the endless terrible experiences of workers who've been forced to work sick, despite the loads of testimony in favor of the Paid Sick Time Act—New York's proposed paid sick days law has remained in limbo. The Council was awaiting the results of an unrepresentative business-side study that—as we now know—used deeply flawed methodology to produce absurd results. In the meantime, more than one million New Yorkers are still without paid sick days, forced to put their jobs and economic security at risk every time they need to take a day off to recover from illness or care for a sick family member.

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