Webinar Hosted by EOF and Funders for a Just Economy | June 25, 2019
As employment and workplaces evolve, so too must social supports for workers. Benefits tied to the workplace that are only available to certain kinds of workers are becoming less relevant as more corporations are shirking these responsibilities through misclassifying their workers. This evolution is a challenge, and while the misclassification of workers needs to be remedied, advocates and funders are also considering new social supports for work to meet these new arrangements within the workforce.
During this webinar, guest speakers discussed portable benefits and paid leave policies that meet the needs of non-standard workers and shared examples and lessons from campaigns to build better supports for workers in Massachusetts, Colorado and other states.
Key highlights from the discussion include:
- About 1 in 3 workers are engaged in some kind of nontraditional work.
- Only 8% of nontraditional workers have employer-sponsored health insurance (compared with 53% of traditional workers) or employer-sponsored retirement benefits (compared with 46% of traditional workers).
- Model policies need to be portable, prorated, and universal.
- Paid leave campaigns are gaining momentum in the states and serving as model policy for inclusion of all workers.
- Important work still to be done on educating policymakers about nontraditional workforce and organizing nontraditional workers so those most impacted can have a voice and help shape and inform policies.
- Investment in implementation and enforcement is key to ensuring policies are actualized.
Speakers:
- Sherry Leiwant, Co-Founder & Co-President, A Better Balance, [email protected]
- Neha Mahajan, Organizing Director, Family Values @ Work, [email protected]
- Libby Reder, Senior Fellow, Future of Work Initiative, Aspen Institute, [email protected]
Webinar Recording:
Click here to view the webinar recording.
PPTs:
- Neha Mahajan,Organizing Director, Family Values @ Work – PPT
- Sherry Leiwant, Co-Founder & Co-President, A Better Balance – PPT
- Libby Reder, Senior Fellow, Future of Work Initiative, Aspen Institute – PPT
Related Resources:
Designing Portable Benefits: A Resource Guide for Policymakers, By Libby Redder, Shelley Steward & Natalie Foster, The Aspen Institue Future of Work Initiative, June 6, 2019.
Constructing 21st Century Rights for a Changing Workforce: A Policy Brief Series, By Molly Weston Williamson, Sherry Leiwant, and Julie Kashen, A Better Balance, Re-Issued February 2019.