FamilyValues@Work.org

Family Values @ Work executive director, Ellen Bravo, had a letter to the editor in the New York Times about the importance of paid sick days in protecting public health during a crisis like the H1N1 epidemic. Ellen’s letter was in response to an article by Richard P. Wenzel, a specialist in infectious disease.

Richard Lillie, who works for the Department of Health in Washington state, writes into the News Tribune today about the recently kicked off campaign for paid sick days in Tacoma. This is a man who knows about foodborne illness from his job – and from his children and grandchildren.  As a professional, he knows the [...]

Five years ago, San Diego’s City Council passed an ordinance requiring contractors to pay a living wage to their workers. A study released last month shows mostly positive effects for both employers and employees. Prior to the ordinance’s passage, only a small percentage of contractors paid what could be considered a living wage – and [...]

In February 2007, San Francisco implemented the nation’s first paid sick days law, allowing all workers within the city to earn a minimum amount of paid sick leave. Restaurants are among the employers least likely to provide sick leave benefits, absent such a requirement. Therefore, if minimum paid leave standards effect the number of jobs [...]

A recent study (Seattle Times report) from the Journal of Pediatrics finds that the lives of nearly 900 infants – and billions of dollars in health care costs – could be saved if 90% of U.S. women breastfed their babies for the first 6 months of their life. Government guidelines recommend babies receive only breast [...]

Yesterday, Family Values @ Work executive director, Ellen Bravo, posted her reflections on attending the White House Forum on Workplace Flexibility. You can read more about what happened at the forum on the White House website, as well as watch a video of some of the comments by President Obama and the First Lady. At [...]

A view from the White House Forum on Workplace Flexibility By Ellen Bravo As executive director of the Family Values @ Work consortium, I was one of the 100 people invited to participate in yesterday’s White House Forum on Workplace Flexibility. Anyone familiar with workplace change knows what a difference it makes in a company [...]