A Better Balance

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A Better Balance is a national nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization with headquarters in New York City and offices in Nashville, Washington, D.C., and Denver. The organization focuses on legislative advocacy and education on labor issues, particularly relating to sick leave, parental leave, pregnancy discrimination, and work–life balance. [1] The organization also provides a legal helpline for inquiries on workplace rights. [2] [3]

Contents

Work

A Better Balance's work focuses on a range of work-family issues, including:

History

A Better Balance was founded in New York City in 2006 by Dina Bakst and Sherry Leiwant. [5] Since then, the organization has expanded to include offices in Nashville, Tennessee; Washington, D.C.; and Denver, Colorado. [6]

In 2013, A Better Balance was part of the coalition that campaigned successfully for New York City's Earned Sick Time Act, which went into effect in 2014. [7] The organization also played a leading role in the coalition to pass New York's paid family leave law, which went into effect in 2018. [8]

In 2014, A Better Balance opened a Southern Office in Nashville, Tennessee. [9]

Since its founding, the organization has played a role in drafting and passing legislation providing workers with paid sick leave, paid family and medical leave, and an affirmative right to workplace pregnancy accommodations in numerous localities and states across the country, including in Tennessee, Connecticut, Louisiana, Colorado, Massachusetts, and more. [10]

In 2017, alongside the National Women's Law Center and Mehri & Skalet, and Sedey Harper & Westhoff, A Better Balance filed a nationwide class-action lawsuit against Walmart for failure to accommodate pregnant workers. A Better Balance filed additional charges of disability discrimination against Walmart later that year. [11] In 2020, a federal court granted final approval to a $14 million settlement in the matter of Borders v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. [12]

Pregnant Workers Fairness Act

A Better Balance played a leading role in the 2022 passage of the federal Pregnant Workers Fairness Act, which granted federal protections for pregnant and postpartum workers. [13] Representative Jerry Nadler credited a January 2012 New York Times op-ed, "Pregnant, and Pushed Out of a Job," penned by the organization's co-founder and co-president Dina Bakst, as an inspiration for first introducing the bill in 2012. [14] [15] Bakst presented witness testimony at a 2019 House Education and Labor Committee hearing on the bill. [16] The organization helped draft the language of the bill [17] [18] and was credited by Fast Company as the "primary driver" of the law. [19] [20] The organization has also published online resources to educate workers of their rights under the law. [21]

Recognition

In 2020, Time magazine named A Better Balance and co-founder & co-president Dina Bakst on their list of "16 People and Groups Fighting for a More Equal America." [22]

In 2021, co-founders and co-presidents Bakst and Sherry Leiwant were awarded the Heinz Award for the Economy for A Better Balance's advocacy and policy work. [23]

See also

Related Research Articles

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Parental leave, or family leave, is an employee benefit available in almost all countries. The term "parental leave" may include maternity, paternity, and adoption leave; or may be used distinctively from "maternity leave" and "paternity leave" to describe separate family leave available to either parent to care for small children. In some countries and jurisdictions, "family leave" also includes leave provided to care for ill family members. Often, the minimum benefits and eligibility requirements are stipulated by law.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993</span> US labor law

The Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 (FMLA) is a United States labor law requiring covered employers to provide employees with job-protected, unpaid leave for qualified medical and family reasons. The FMLA was a major part of President Bill Clinton's first-term domestic agenda, and he signed it into law on February 5, 1993. The FMLA is administered by the Wage and Hour Division of the United States Department of Labor.

Pregnancy discrimination is a type of employment discrimination that occurs when expectant women are fired, not hired, or otherwise discriminated against due to their pregnancy or intention to become pregnant. Common forms of pregnancy discrimination include not being hired due to visible pregnancy or likelihood of becoming pregnant, being fired after informing an employer of one's pregnancy, being fired after maternity leave, and receiving a pay dock due to pregnancy. Pregnancy discrimination may also take the form of denying reasonable accommodations to workers based on pregnancy, childbirth, and related medical conditions. Pregnancy discrimination has also been examined to have an indirect relationship with the decline of a mother's physical and mental health. Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women prohibits dismissal on the grounds of maternity or pregnancy and ensures right to maternity leave or comparable social benefits. The Maternity Protection Convention C 183 proclaims adequate protection for pregnancy as well. Though women have some protection in the United States because of the Pregnancy Discrimination Act of 1978, it has not completely curbed the incidence of pregnancy discrimination. The Equal Rights Amendment could ensure more robust sex equality ensuring that women and men could both work and have children at the same time.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">National Partnership for Women & Families</span>

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pregnant Workers Fairness Act</span> 2022 United States federal law

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Chelsey Glasson is an American user researcher, author, and workers' rights advocate. She sued Google, her former employer, for pregnancy discrimination, which ended in an undisclosed settlement after two years of litigation. She has successfully lobbied for pregnancy anti-discrimination and labor rights laws in Washington State.

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Dina Bakst is an American lawyer and worker's rights advocate. She is co-founder and co-president of A Better Balance, a national nonprofit organization that focuses on legislative advocacy and education on labor issues, particularly relating to pregnancy discrimination, sick leave, parental leave, and work–life balance.

References

  1. ↑ Mehta, Diane (April 17, 2020). "How to Ask for Parental Leave When You're an Hourly Worker". The New York Times. Retrieved November 28, 2023.
  2. ↑ Bogage, Jacob (August 8, 2023). "Pregnant workers would get new protections under proposed rules". Washington Post. Retrieved November 28, 2023.
  3. ↑ "Get Help". A Better Balance.
  4. ↑ "Our Issues". A Better Balance. Retrieved 22 November 2023.
  5. ↑ "Our History". A Better Balance.
  6. ↑ "Our Offices". A Better Balance.
  7. ↑ Lander, Brad (May 8, 2013). "Paid Sick Days for a Million More New Yorkers". HuffPost.
  8. ↑ Gontcharova, Natalie (January 3, 2018). "Here's What You Should Know About New York's New Paid Family Leave Program". Refinery29.
  9. ↑ "Family advocates open Nashville wing, write to senator". The Tennessean. May 9, 2014.
  10. ↑ Carter, Christine Michel (August 6, 2021). "The Nonprofit Organization Secretly Advancing Public Policy For The Past 15 Years". Forbes.
  11. ↑ "A Better Balance Files Four New Charges of Disability Discrimination Against Walmart Following "Pointing Out" Report" (Press release). PR Newswire. July 25, 2017.
  12. ↑ Mulvaney, Erin (April 29, 2020). "Walmart's $14 Million Deal With Pregnant Workers Gets Approval". Bloomberg Law.
  13. ↑ Mohan, Pavithra (July 27, 2022). "Why the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act still hasn't passed". Fast Company.
  14. ↑ Nadler, Jerrold. "Making the new Pregnant Workers Fairness Act work for women and families". The Hill.
  15. ↑ Gardner, Sophie (July 7, 2023). "The decade-long journey to end pregnancy discrimination". Politico.
  16. ↑ "Full Committee Hearings | Committee Activity | House Committee on Education and Labor". edlabor.house.gov. Retrieved 2022-05-09.
  17. ↑ Gurley, Lauren Kaori. "Congress expands protections for pregnant and nursing workers". Washington Post.
  18. ↑ Gupta, Alisha Haridasani (June 27, 2023). "A New Law Aims to Stop Pregnancy Discrimination at Work". The New York Times.
  19. ↑ Rainey, Clint (December 22, 2022). "Parents and pregnant workers score big wins in the omnibus spending package". Fast Company.
  20. ↑ Peck, Emily (December 22, 2022). "Senate passes milestone protections for pregnant workers and new mothers". Axios.
  21. ↑ Covert, Bryce (August 14, 2023). "The New Law to Protect Pregnant Workers Is Already Changing Lives". The Nation. Retrieved November 30, 2023.
  22. ↑ "These 16 People and Groups Are Fighting for a More Equal America". Time.
  23. ↑ "Dina Bakst & Sherry Leiwant". Heinz Awards.
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