Elizabeth Gedmark is a staff attorney at A Better Balance, a national legal advocacy organization dedicated to advancing fair and family-friendly laws and workplace policies. She is also a co-author of the Know Your Rights guide, Babygate: What You Really Need To Know About Pregnancy and Parening in the American Workplace.
Elizabeth Gedmark
Elizabeth Gedmark is a staff attorney at A Better Balance, a national legal advocacy organization dedicated to advancing fair and family-friendly laws and workplace policies. She is also a co-author of the Know Your Rights guide, Babygate: What You Really
Blog Post List
November 26, 2013
A survey of recent University of Pennsylvania Wharton School graduates reveals that many young adults are planning to solve the work/family crunch by removing family from the equation. Only 42% of the undergraduate class of 2012 plans to have children, compared to 78% of the class of 1992, according to research by Stewart Friedman, author of the new book, “Baby Bust.” Of course, this is only one privileged subset of the population. However, the overall American birthrate has recently declined as well to below the replacement rate (although it now appears to be stabilizing). Friedman reports...
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January 15, 2013
The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals gave pregnant women and advocates a very disappointing decision last week. Peggy Young asked for light duty during her pregnancy, at her doctor’s recommendation. Her employer, UPS, denied her request even though it had a policy of giving light duty to a lot of other workers —such as employees with disabilities and those with on-the-job injuries. She was pushed onto unpaid leave and lost her health insurance. The Pregnancy Discrimination Act of 1978 says that employers have to treat pregnant workers the same as other employees who are similarly situated in...
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September 19, 2012
Natasha Jackson was working as a customer account representative at a Rent-A-Center in South Carolina when she became pregnant. For the first month her supervisor accommodated her without incident (other workers were available to move large items), but when the district manager found out what was going on, he made her use up her vacation days and then pushed her onto unpaid leave from work. The company never let her come back to her job despite repeated attempts. Natasha and her husband lost the house they were hoping to buy once she was no longer bringing in income. We heard about Natasha’s...
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September 22, 2011
Elizabeth Gedmark is a Law Fellow at A Better Balance. NBC’s new comedy show, “Up All Night,” which premiered Wednesday night stars Christina Applegate as a working mother who has just come back to work after taking maternity leave. Her husband, played by Will Arnett, is a new stay-at-home Dad who recently left his job at a law firm. But watching this couple exhaustedly struggle with their new baby was actually a reminder that in the United States, in many ways, they are very lucky. The mother is lucky that she was able to take maternity leave and that her employer welcomed her back. Under...
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