State Laws

A Better Balance Launches Policy Brief Series on Paid Leave and the Future Of Work

July 26, 2018
Paid Family Leave, State Laws

Today, we launched Constructing 21st Century Rights For A Changing Workforce, a new series of policy briefs analyzing key issues in covering non-standard and precarious workers under paid leave laws. The first brief focuses on how paid family and medical leave laws can cover self-employed workers like freelancers and independent contractors.

Walmart’s Absence Policy Forces Pregnant Workers to Choose between a Healthy Pregnancy and a Pink Slip

July 24, 2018
Absence control, Pregnant Workers Fairness, State Laws

Leigha Klopp was pregnant and working at Walmart. One morning, she woke up vomiting blood. She called the store to tell them that she was going to the hospital, on the advice of her obstetrician, and that she would need to miss work. When she returned for her next scheduled shift, Walmart fired her. We filed a class-action lawsuit against Walmart on behalf of Ms. Klopp and another former Walmart employee.

Press Release: Class-Action Lawsuit Alleges Walmart’s Absence Control Policy Discriminates Against Pregnant Workers

July 24, 2018
Pregnant Workers Fairness, State Laws

A Better Balance filed a class-action lawsuit today, challenging Walmart’s “no-fault” absence control policy as systemically violating the rights of women who need leave for pregnancy-related illnesses or medical care. The lawsuit is being brought on behalf of two former Walmart employees and is the first class action brought under New York's Pregnant Worker Fairness Act.

Complaint: Hoover v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.

July 24, 2018
Pregnant Workers Fairness

Map: State and Local Pregnant Worker Fairness Laws

July 19, 2018
Pregnant Workers Fairness

Twenty-three states and 5 localities have passed laws that grant explicit legal protections to pregnant workers, expanding rights available under federal law. A Better Balance has played a leading or…

FMLA 25: States are Expanding the meaning of Family

June 12, 2018
LGBTQ, Paid Family Leave

The way our laws define family sends a signal about who our country sees and values. But these choices are more than symbols—they have powerful practical consequences for real people’s ability to care for those they love.

FMLA 25: States are Providing Paid Leave

June 7, 2018
Paid Family Leave

Workers deserve meaningful access to family and medical leave—and that means being able to afford to take it. A growing number of states have shown that paid leave laws can work. We can and must do the same at the national level.

Regressive State Laws Undermine Local Progress on LGBTQ Rights

May 8, 2018
Defending Local Democracy, LGBTQ

These license-to-discriminate laws allow businesses to refuse to serve individuals if doing so would be contrary to religious beliefs. While it is unfortunate that states are still working to undermine LGBTQ rights, ABB stands with those who are instead fighting for more inclusive and equitable laws.

Happy Mother’s Day

May 7, 2018
Paid Family Leave, Paid Sick Time, Pregnant Workers Fairness

For too many mothers and those that love them, balancing family and work is a constant struggle, from staying healthy during pregnancy, to breastfeeding while working, to getting a sick parent or child to the doctor. This Mother’s Day, it’s time for more than cards and flowers—let’s honor our mothers with the policy changes working families need. We won’t stop fighting until all of us can be there for our families like Ileana was.

Standing Up for Austin’s Paid Sick and Safe Time Law

May 7, 2018
Defending Local Democracy, Paid Sick Time

The challenge to Austin’s ordinance claims, among other things, that Texas’s minimum wage law limits the city’s authority to pass a paid sick and safe time law. Fortunately for Austin workers, the state’s minimum wage law—applying as it does to minimum wage, and not other employee benefits—does no such thing.