The National Partnership for Women & Families is a nonprofit, nonpartisan 501(c)(3) organization based in Washington, D.C. Founded in 1971, the National Partnership works on public policies, education and outreach that focuses on women and families. [1]
The National Partnership for Women & Families (NPWF) was known as the Women's Legal Defense Fund (WLDF) until 1998. [1]
Judith L. Lichtman was hired as the National Partnership's first paid staff member in 1974. [2] Lichtman became president in 1988 and served in the role for 16 years. Lichtman is currently the organization's senior advisor. [3]
The organization's current president, Jocelyn C. Frye, assumed her position in December 2021. She previously served as an attorney focusing on issues around discrimination and gender inequality. Frye was also director of policy and special projects under the First Lady Michelle Obama. Frye took over for former NPWF President, Debra L. Ness. [4]
The organization is known for its work to shape, pass, protect and help expand the Family and Medical Leave Act – the first and only national law guaranteeing eligible workers job-protected, unpaid leave to care for a newborn or newly adopted child, seriously ill family member, or to recover from their own serious health conditions.
In 1977, the National Partnership litigated and achieved a significant victory in Barnes v. Costle, a U.S. Court of Appeals decision that held that any retaliation by a boss against an employee for rejecting sexual advances violates Title VII's prohibition against sex discrimination. [5]
Laws the National Partnership helped enact include: the Pregnancy Discrimination Act of 1978, the Civil Rights Act of 1991, the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 and the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, as well as national child support reforms in 1988. [1]
In 2009, the National Partnership helped lead efforts to create the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009 and the Children's Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act of 2009. The foundation also worked on reversing the global gag rule, and adding clauses to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. [1]
The National Partnership provided technical assistance and expert testimony in support of the 2010 Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. [6]
The National Partnership also works on city and state level campaigns and has driven or supported efforts to enact paid sick days laws in San Francisco (2006), the District of Columbia (2008) and the state of Connecticut (2011), as well as paid family leave laws in the states of California (2002), Washington (2007) and New Jersey (2008). [1]
In 2011, the organization won the Convio Innovator Award for Best Online Campaign. [7]
In 2022, the organization helped championed passage of the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA), a federal law meant to eliminate discrimination and ensure workplace accommodations for workers with known limitations related to pregnancy, childbirth, or a related medical condition. On December 29, 2022 President Joe Biden signed the PWFA into law.
First Lady Michelle Obama is a two-time speaker at National Partnership events. In 2011, she said that the National Partnership is "one of the most influential organizations for women and families in our country," and has had an "amazing imprint on nearly every single one of this nation's major policy achievements for women and families." [8]
Secretary of State and former First Lady Hillary Clinton has been twice honored by the National Partnership, in 1994 and 2012. In 2012 she said of the National Partnership, "For more than 40 years, you've been protecting the most vulnerable among us and holding us all to account when we are not living up to our own American values. And in the process, you improve the lives of countless women and help make that future a better place for them and their children." [9]
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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.
Equal pay for equal work is the concept of labour rights that individuals in the same workplace be given equal pay. It is most commonly used in the context of sexual discrimination, in relation to the gender pay gap. Equal pay relates to the full range of payments and benefits, including basic pay, non-salary payments, bonuses and allowances. Some countries have moved faster than others in addressing equal pay.
Anti-discrimination law or non-discrimination law refers to legislation designed to prevent discrimination against particular groups of people; these groups are often referred to as protected groups or protected classes. Anti-discrimination laws vary by jurisdiction with regard to the types of discrimination that are prohibited, and also the groups that are protected by that legislation. Commonly, these types of legislation are designed to prevent discrimination in employment, housing, education, and other areas of social life, such as public accommodations. Anti-discrimination law may include protections for groups based on sex, age, race, ethnicity, nationality, disability, mental illness or ability, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity/expression, sex characteristics, religion, creed, or individual political opinions.
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.
Business and Professional Women's Foundation (BPW) is an organization established for workforce development programs and workplace policies to acknowledge the needs of working women, communities, and businesses. It supports the National Federation of Business and Professional Women's Clubs.
The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights is an American coalition of more than 240 national civil and human rights organizations and acts as an umbrella group for American civil and human rights. Founded as the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights (LCCR) in 1950 by civil rights activists Arnold Aronson, A. Philip Randolph, and Roy Wilkins, the coalition has focused on issues ranging from educational equity to justice reform to voting rights.
Occupational sexism is discrimination based on a person's sex that occurs in a place of employment.
The Women and Girls Foundation (WGF) is an independent, community-based non-profit organization serving 11 counties in the southwestern part of Pennsylvania. It was founded in 2002. The stated goal of the foundation is to achieve equality for women and girls in Southwestern Pennsylvania. It works toward this goal through a combined use of advocacy, coalition building, and grantmaking that specifically engages women in their own political representation and empowerment. In WGF's understanding of women's empowerment, economic upliftment is just as imperative as political empowerment. Through ensuring women have access to better working conditions and wages, it hopes to enable women to care for themselves as well as their families. Additionally, WGF does not only campaign for women-conscious policies, it facilitates the training of women and girls into leaders through initiatives and programming, such as GirlGov and Crossroads.
The Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009 is a landmark federal statute in the United States that was the first bill signed into law by U.S. President Barack Obama on January 29, 2009. The act amends Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and states that the 180-day statute of limitations for filing an equal-pay lawsuit regarding pay discrimination resets with each new paycheck affected by that discriminatory action. The law directly addressed Ledbetter v. Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. (2007), a U.S. Supreme Court decision that the statute of limitations for presenting an equal-pay lawsuit begins on the date that the employer makes the initial discriminatory wage decision, not at the date of the most recent paycheck.
Women Employed is a nonprofit advocacy organization based in Chicago, Illinois. Founded in 1973, Women Employed's mission is to improve women's economic status and remove barriers to economic equity. They promote fair workplace practices, increase access to training and education, and provide women with tools and information to move into careers paying family-supporting wages.
Menstrual leave is a type of leave where a person may have the option to take paid or unpaid leave from their employment if they are menstruating and are unable to go to work because of this. Throughout its history, menstrual leave has been associated with controversy and discrimination against men, with very few countries enacting policies. In these countries, menstrual leave is still associated with low uptake. It is seen by some as a criticism of women's work efficiency or as sexism against men. Supporters of menstrual leave policies compare its function to that of maternity leave and view it as a promoter of gender equality.
Debra L. Ness is the former president of the National Partnership for Women & Families. She has previously worked for the Service Employees International Union and National Abortion Rights Action League.
Judith L. Lichtman is an American attorney specializing in women's rights and an advocate for human and civil rights. Lichtman currently serves as the senior advisor of the National Partnership for Women & Families. She is largely credited with the passage of the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993.
Parental leave is regulated in the United States by US labor law and state law. The Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 (FMLA) requires 12 weeks of unpaid leave annually for parents of newborn or newly adopted children if they work for a company with 50 or more employees. As of October 1, 2020, the same policy has been extended to caregivers of sick family members, or a partner in direct relation to the birth of the child therefore responsible for the care of the mother. Although 12 weeks are allowed to them, on average American fathers only take 10 days off, due to financial need. Beginning in 2020, California, New Jersey, and Rhode Island required paid parental leave to employees, including those a part of 50 or less employees. There is no paid paternity leave in the United States currently.
The legal status of women in the United States is, in comparison to other countries, equal to that of men, and women are generally viewed as having equal social standing as well. In the early history of the U.S., women were largely relegated to the home. However, the role of women was revolutionized over the course of the 20th century. Labor shortages during WWII led to an influx of women in the workforce, which helped to build toward the women's liberation movement of the 1960s and '70s.
Feminism in South Korea is the origin and history of feminism or women's rights in South Korea.
Sexual harassment in the workplace in US labor law has been considered a form of discrimination on the basis of sex in the United States since the mid-1970s. There are two forms of sexual harassment recognized by United States law: quid pro quo sexual harassment and behavior that creates a hostile work environment. It has been noted that a number of the early sexual harassment cases were brought by African American women and girls.
This is a Timeline of second-wave feminism, from its beginning in the mid-twentieth century, to the start of Third-wave feminism in the early 1990s.
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. The organization also provides a legal helpline for inquiries on workplace rights.
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.
