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JOB QUALITY NEWSLETTER
OCTOBER 2020

Fighting Austerity for Racial and Economic Justice

CLASP's new brief, Fighting Austerity for Racial and Economic Justice, analyzes the harmful austerity policies--including spending cuts to public benefits programs, higher education, and more--implemented after the 2008 Great Recession. The authors, Asha Banerjee and Emma Williamson, warn that austerity measures implemented during the current health and economic crisis will disproportionately harm communities of color. Instead, they propose bold policies such as fiscal aid to states, paid leave and other job quality measures, and investment in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), unemployment insurance, and Medicaid.

The Job Quality team would like to thank Emma Williamson for all her contributions to this brief and the countless other projects she was a part of this past summer as our Emerson Hunger Fellow!

Webinar on Enforcing Labor Standards in a Recession

We co-hosted a webinar, Enforcing Labor Standards in a Recession: An Opportunity to Support Workers Who Risk Their Lives. It addressed the results of a national study on labor standards violations during the Great Recession of 2007-2009, including the rise of minimum wage violations that mirrored rising unemployment. Panelists discussed the importance of strategic enforcement of workers’ rights, particularly during a recession.

In Their Own Voices: How Workers Earning Low Wages Struggle with COVID-19

The COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent recession have crippled the economy and propelled many working families into economic uncertainty. To amplify and assess the needs of workers during this time, CLASP has been collecting stories from workers nationwide. This brief shares some initial findings of workers’ challenges in balancing work and caring for themselves or loved ones when they are ill.

Other JQ Updates

The COVID-19 Crisis Underscores the Need for Sustainable Domestic Worker Protections

With over 2.2 million house cleaners, care workers, and nannies working in private homes across the country, domestic workers are some of the most essential workers in our economy and homes. Their often-overlooked work allows families to become more economically secure and prosper. This brief details how the COVID-19 pandemic exacerbates existing threats to the economic livelihoods of domestic workers. The brief also outlines the policy remedies needed to protect domestic workers during the pandemic and beyond.

FFCRA and Paid Leave

Congress created a temporary right in the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) to paid leave to care for a child whose school is closed or child care provider is unavailable because of COVID-19. Along with other guidance and FAQs, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) recently issued a Revised Rule, interpreting the FFCRA. Our fact sheet provides information from DOL’s Revised Rule and sub-regulatory guidance on working parents’ rights to COVID-related paid sick days and paid family leave to care for a child whose school is closed or child care provider is unavailable. In an updated fact sheet, we also interpret and describe the impact of DOL’s guidance and revised regulation on employees’ rights to paid sick days and paid family leave.

The Involuntary Part-Time Work and Underemployment Problem in the U.S.

This study, researched and written by Lonnie Golden and Jaeseung Kim for CLASP, shows the breadth of underemployment pre-dating the COVID-19 pandemic for workers, especially workers of color, young workers and workers in low-wage occupations. Using a 2016 national survey, the authors create a broader, more inclusive measure of part-time worker underemployment than the measure used by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). The report reveals that with this broader measure, part-time underemployment is double the rate captured by BLS and is probably even higher given the current recession. The authors also find that being part time and underemployed is associated with workers having reduced satisfaction with their jobs, financial situation, and work-family balance. The authors offer policy solutions advancing job quality standards so that working families may be more economically secure.

CLASP Comments on the Effectiveness of Current State- and Employer-Provided Paid Leave Programs

In response to a U.S. DOL Request for Information on Paid Leave, CLASP submitted these comments to the DOL Women’s Bureau. CLASP provided evidence on how the lack of access to paid leave hurts families and showcased the effectiveness of current state paid leave programs, emphasizing critical program elements for equity.

Action Alert

Submit an official comment to the U.S. DOL

Due October 26, 11:59pm ET

The U.S. Department of Labor issued a proposed interpretive regulation that would make it much easier for employers to classify workers as independent contractors under the FLSA, thereby depriving them of the protections of the minimum wage, overtime, and child labor laws. To fight back against this proposal, we ask that you share this action alert link so that individuals can register their opposition to the proposed regulation. There is some prepared text, but individuals can also customize the alert to tell their own stories. Please send this out over list-servs and social media. Email Judy Conti at [email protected] with any questions. Sumbit a comment here.