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Katie Dixon and Stacy Villalobos Express Concerns in KQED about Lawmakers’ Recent Efforts to Combat Unemployment Fraud

KQED - May 5, 2021

Fair Chance Community Organizer, Katie Dixon, and Staff Attorney Stacy Villalobos discuss with KQED potential problems with legislators' recent efforts to combat unemployment fraud occurring in California prisons. "Current proposals could end up penalizing vulnerable people, both with and without criminal records both with and without conviction records," said Katie Dixon, due to a lack of complete and reliable data from California's criminal justice system. "'We just don't believe that the [California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation] is capable of disseminating accurate information to anyone, let alone someone outside of their already complicated landscape.'"

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Alexis Alvarez Speaks with CBS Channel 5 About How Employers Can Require Employees to Be Vaccinated.

CBS Channel 5 - KPIX - May 3, 2021

Alexis discusses the power that employers have to demand vaccinations and a return to work, while noting that “employers should be following their legal obligations and that having that balance makes space for all workers in our workplaces.”

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Katie Wutchiett Speaks with the San Jose Mercury News about the Need for Employers to Give COVID-related Paid Sick Leave

San Jose Mercury News - May 3, 2021

Katie noted that, although only employers with more than 25 employees are required to provide this COVID-19-related time off, it is in everyone’s interest for all employers to provide this leave.

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Sharon Terman Highlights Importance of Equitable and Accessible Paid Leave Policy in Bloomberg Law

Bloomberg Law - April 28, 2021

In light of the Biden administration's proposed federal paid leave program, LAAW's Work and Family Program Director Sharon Terman reflects on the lessons learned from California's groundbreaking program. "'We have learned in our experience in California the critical components that are necessary for paid leave policy to be truly equitable and accessible,'" said Terman, such as a sliding wage replacement rate and broader eligibility requirements than those outlined in the federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA).

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New Employment Law Clinic for Low-Wage Workers to Open in Ontario, California

The Warehouse Worker Resource Center and Legal Aid at Work Team Up to Provide Free Legal Services in the Inland Empire

- April 6, 2021

(Ontario, CA, April 6, 2021) — The Warehouse Worker Resource Center is pleased to announce that it will launch Legal Aid at Work’s newest location of its Workers’ Rights Clinic, devoted to the employment issues of low-wage workers. The Clinic, located at 521 N Euclid Avenue in Ontario, will begin on April 14 and will … Continue reading “New Employment Law Clinic for Low-Wage Workers to Open in Ontario, California”

Sharon Terman Speaks with the San Jose Mercury News about the Need for New Policies to Support Working Parents, Even after the COVID-19 Pandemic Has Passed

San Jose Mercury News - April 6, 2021

Sharon Terman, Director of LAAW's Work & Family Program, discusses the need for new policies to help working parents even after the current crises caused by the COVID-19 Pandemic has passed. "Whether schools are open or not, we need equitable policies to help families beyond this crisis . . . . Our workplace policies simply do not meet the needs of most families, and particularly families and people of color. The pandemic added more to the shoulders of women.”

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Katie Wutchiett Discusses the New COVID-19 Paid Sick Leave Law with the LA Times

- March 30, 2021

Katie Wutchiett discusses the new COVID-19 Supplemental Paid Sick Leave Law (SB 95), including which employees are covered and when leave can be taken. “Since CDC guidance recommends that people who are exposed to COVID-19 quarantine for 14 days, [the mere 3 days previously provided by law was] not nearly enough,” said Katherine Wutchiett, an attorney with Legal Aid at Work. “We were seeing workers who were having to choose between going to work sick and endangering their customers and co-workers, or staying home but risking their jobs and their income

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Maddening March Gender Inequity: Tip of the Unfairness Iceberg for U.S. Girls and Women

March 29, 2021

Kim Turner, Director, Fair Play for Girls in Sports

Everyone saw how blatantly unfair it was for the women’s basketball teams in the NCAA tournament to have one tiny stack of weights and a couple of yoga mats whereas men’s basketball teams had an entire weight room complex. The uproar was quick and effective as the NCAA apologized, dashed to equalize the weight rooms, … Continue reading “Maddening March Gender Inequity: Tip of the Unfairness Iceberg for U.S. Girls and Women”

Infographic showing the wages lost over a 40 year career, with a woman next to bags of money of various sizes: AAPI Women at 400k, white women at $555k, black women at $964k, native women at $986k, and Latina/Hispanic women at $1,163k.

Working for Free: A Day in the Life of a Female American Worker

March 24, 2021

Nora Cassidy, Staff Attorney, Legal Aid at Work

As I write this in the middle of my workday, I think about the fact that as of 2:40 p.m. I started working for free. Those calls I made, emails I sent, clients I spoke with—all for free. The grocery store cashier who rang up my groceries, the journalist who interviewed me on how to … Continue reading “Working for Free: A Day in the Life of a Female American Worker”