Late yesterday, it became disappointingly clear that voters in Orange County will not see a proposal for earned sick time on their ballots in November. Despite the will of at least 46,000 Orange County voters and a broad coalition of workers, businesses and advocates who played by the rules, Mayor Teresa Jacobs and county commissioners ignored their duties and caved to special interests to keep citizens from being able to vote. This is the most blatant example I’ve seen of moneyed special interests using their clout to subvert the purest tool of citizen democracy: the right of citizens to...

By Vicki Shabo, Director of Work and Family Programs, National Partnership for Women & Families Health reform has underscored the imperative to increase access to health care, improve quality and reduce costs. According to a thought-provoking new report released by the Institute for Women’s Policy Research (IWPR) this week, paid sick days can – and should – play a significant role in reaching these goals. Paid Sick Days and Health: Cost Savings from Reduced Emergency Room Visits finds that, regardless of workers' access to health insurance, there are undeniable connections between the...

The arrival of a new child should be a time of pure celebration. Sadly, for millions of working parents without paid leave in this country, the joyous occasion can be short-lived. Many of these parents have to make an impossible choice: take time off to recover and care for their new child, or return to work to keep their jobs and protect their families’ economic security. A mere 11 percent of workers in this country have paid family leave through their employers, and fewer than 40 percent have access to personal medical leave through employer-provided short-term disability insurance. As the...