Imagine you've recently come back to work after maternity leave and you're using every last minute of your break time to pump breast milk to feed your baby at home. You just need a little help from your employer — an extra 20 minutes a few times a week. But your employer refuses to help, and tells you that, instead of breastfeeding your baby, you should consider switching to feeding him formula. Worse yet — imagine that after you complain, you're fired.
Last week, the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission issued updated guidance on employers' use of criminal records to screen potential employees. On the day the guidance was published, we applauded the EEOC for helping to balance the civil rights of workers with the legitimate concerns of employers. Now that the dust has settled, some groups have complained that the EEOC guidance creates new law that will prevent employers from ensuring safety in the workplace. Are those criticisms well-founded? In a word: no.
On Friday, Betty Ford died at the age of 93. As first lady, she was best known for her outspoken nature and willingness to voice an often controversial opinion on any number of hot-button issues. A Midwesterner who never cared much for political life, it hardly occurred to her that she should only publicly state her opinion when it aligned with her husband's views or the GOP platform.
Betty Ford was a tireless advocate for women's rights. Civil liberties supporters often cite her work on the Equal Rights Amendment, which was designed to grant women full legal rights under the Constitution. While it ultimately failed, Ford's dedication was unquestionable. She continued to fight for it past her short term as first lady. When debate opened on removing the ERA from the GOP platform at the 1980 Republican National Convention, Ford walked out of the convention to join the National Organization for Women's protest.
By Chris Calabrese, Legislative Counsel, ACLU Washington Legislative Office at 3:41pm
The war on America's immigrants can lead to some very strange results. In a classic example, last year Republicans actually said, when it comes to immigration at least, new government regulations actually create jobs. But these attacks on immigrants cause real harm to ordinary Americans who don't think that immigration affects them. We've already talked about how mistakes in E-Verify, the federal database of eligible workers, can keep Americans from getting jobs. Tomorrow the House Judiciary Committee will hold a hearing that highlights another problem with E-Verify.
By Galen Sherwin, ACLU Women's Rights Project at 11:08am
Tom Stemberg, co-founder of the Staples office supply chain, complained in a recent interview that the Affordable Care Act (known by opponents as “Obamacare”) will cost jobs by mandating that employers set up “lactation chambers.”
This statement came on the same day as a court ruling in Houston that firing an employee because she asked for a private place to pump breast milk wasn’t sex discrimination under federal law, because lactation is not “a medical condition related to pregnancy or childbirth.”
By Sandra Fulton, ACLU Washington Legislative Office at 5:15pm
Citing a variety of privacy concerns, a broad coalition of advocacy groups from across the political spectrum including libertarians, consumer groups and privacy advocates sent letters to both the House and Senate Monday opposing a mandatory E-Verify system. Problems with the system include increased identity theft and the danger of a national ID system. The letters include a full list of signatories and in-depth description of the privacy problems with the legislation.
By Amshula Jayaram, ACLU Washington Legislative Office at 5:54pm
The New York Times issued an editorial Tuesday praising President Obama’s Executive Order to end human trafficking in government contracts. The Times viewed the order as an important step towards eliminating this shameful practice. The Times also called for Congress to pass the End Trafficking in Government Contracting Act, which would provide the legislative muscle to enforce and make permanent the measures contained in the Executive Order to eliminate human trafficking from government contracting processes.
"Year in and year out, Evelyn Coke left her Queens house early to go to the homes of elderly, sick, often dying people. She bathed them, cooked for them, helped them dress and monitored their medications. She sometimes worked three consecutive 24-hour shifts. She sometimes worked 70 hours a week. She loved the work, but she earned only around $7 an hour and got no overtime pay…”
Though this New York Times’ obituary tells the story of one woman’s life, it illuminates some of what life is like for the approximately two million home care workers. Last week, a much-needed advancement began to move forward for these workers. The Obama administration proposed new regulations that, if adopted, would extend minimum wage and overtime protections to approximately two million home care workers.
