Jobs

A Better Balance is recruiting rising third-year law students, judicial clerks, and recent law school graduates interested in applying for an externally funded 1-2 year public interest fellowship starting in September 2026.

A Better Balance (ABB) is the leading national nonprofit legal advocacy organization dedicated to promoting justice in the workplace, especially for women, caregivers, and people with health needs of their own. Our expert legal team combats discrimination against pregnant workers and caregivers and advances supportive policies like paid sick time, paid family and medical leave, and fair and predictable scheduling. We remain steadfast in working to dismantle the intersectional forms of injustice that contribute to the structural inequality working families in this country face, including but not limited to, gender injustice, racial injustice, economic injustice, health injustice, and injustice against immigrants, LGTBQIA communities, and people with disabilities, and are seeking candidates who are committed to this work. Ensuring families of color have access to strong work-family policies—especially BIPOC women workers who are currently the least likely to have access to these policies due to centuries of institutionalized sexism and racism, systemic barriers to economic mobility, and pervasive discrimination—is a core principle of ABB’s work.

A Better Balance has fought for and won: paid family and medical leave laws in 13 states and D.C., paid sick leave laws in 18 states and D.C.; Pregnant Workers Fairness Acts in 30 states and at the federal level; the federal PUMP for Nursing Mothers Act; inclusive protections for all families, including LGBTQ families; and victories on other work family issues across the country. Our advocacy work and legal efforts have gained national recognition in dozens of outlets including The New York Times, Washington Post, and The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

ABB is based in New York City and maintains offices in Washington, D.C.; a Southern regional office in Nashville, TN; and Denver, CO. Fellowships would be remote, so could be based in any of these geographies or elsewhere, unless the project is specific to work in a particular jurisdiction.

Learn more about ABB by visiting www.abetterbalance.org.

Potential Project Areas:

The chosen candidate will work with ABB to create and submit a project proposal to fellowship funders. Although we are open to developing a project in any area of ABB’s work, we are particularly seeking candidates to collaborate on projects that fall within the following areas:

• Enforce the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA). We are proud to have launched and led advocacy efforts to pass the PWFA, a federal law that requires employers to provide reasonable accommodations to enable workers to continue working while maintaining healthy pregnancies. Since the law and its final regulations came into effect in 2024, we have been working tirelessly to promote awareness of PWFA rights, support worker self-advocacy, and represent workers with PWFA claims. We seek a fellowship candidate to continue and expand on this work by taking calls from workers on our helpline, representing individual workers, and building strategic litigation to ensure the promise of the PWFA is realized for all workers. We are interested in focusing this project–for example, by geography or industry–depending on the interests and experience of our fellowship candidate.
• Enforce and support public education on New York’s Temporary Disability Insurance (TDI) and Paid Family Leave (PFL) programs. Since ABB’s founding, we have worked to expand and improve New Yorkers’ access to paid benefits when they need time off work to care for themselves or a loved one. With the help of ABB, millions of New Yorkers now have the right to paid, job-protected time off to bond with a new child or care for a seriously ill or injured family member, as well as paid time off if they are unable to work due to an off-the-job illness or injury. However, too many New York workers do not know about their rights under the TDI and PFL programs, or how those programs relate to other federal, state, and municipal leave rights. As a result, workers often miss their window to receive benefits, or cut their leave short due to lack of knowledge about their rights. In addition, despite robust anti-retaliation protections, many workers are punished or fired for exercising their right to leave. We seek fellowship candidates to educate, advise, and represent New York workers who need job-protected time off to care for themselves or a loved one, and to represent New York workers who have experienced retaliation for seeking or using leave. Because of the New York-focused nature of this project, it would likely involve some in-person work in New York State, as well as planned admission to the New York bar.

Qualifications:

• Law degree required by May 2026, and bar admission expected by the end of 2026.
• Demonstrated commitment to work/family law and policy; gender, women’s, and/or disability rights; and advocacy for low-income workers.
• Superior written and oral communication, advocacy, legal research, and analytic skills.
• Self-motivated with demonstrated problem-solving, time management, and organizational skills.
• Commitment to diversity within the office using an approach that values all individuals and respects differences in regards to race, ethnicity, age, gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, religion, disability, and socio-economic circumstance.
• Comfort with small non-profit and remote work environments.

Funding and Benefits

Fellows will be paid a salary in the range of of $78,000-$80,000, and if the amount of external funding is less than this amount, A Better Balance will make up the difference.

This position requires external funding, meaning it is not paid for by ABB and comes from another source. Some potential sources of external funding include the Skadden Foundation and Equal Justice Works. Many law schools also offer funding to law graduates in the form of fellowships.

ABB offers a remote working environment, 12 weeks of paid family and medical leave with full wage replacement, accrued paid time off up to 19.5 days a year (or 26 days a year after 5 years with the organization), unlimited paid sick days per year, paid time off for 13 holidays, 3 paid personal days a year, and paid bereavement leave. ABB is also proud to use the same model inclusive family definition in our paid leave policies, so that employees can care for their closest loved ones in times of need, including chosen, adopted, foster, and extended family members. We offer pre-tax health, dental, and vision insurance, as well as access to pre-tax retirement contributions alongside a 5% employer match. ABB also provides reimbursement towards certain professional fees, as well as stipends and reimbursement for home office expenses. Given the organizational mission, ABB is committed to encouraging a healthy work/life balance for all employees.

This position would be in A Better Balance’s UAW, Local 2325 bargaining unit.

How to Apply

Applications must be submitted by June 1, 2025, and will be considered on a rolling basis. Applicants will be expected to work with A Better Balance on application materials in July and early August.

To apply, please e-mail the following documents with the subject line “2026 Fellowship – [First Name Last Name]” to: careers@abetterbalance.org:

• a resume including relevant experience;
• tailored letter of interest, including your connection to ABB’s work;
• a short legal writing sample showing legal analysis, including applying facts to the law; and
• at least two references, including one professor/instructor from law school and one supervisor of legal work – these should be the individuals you plan to ask to write recommendations in support of your fellowship candidacy if selected by ABB.

A Better Balance is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization and we have an unwavering commitment to diversity with the aim that everyone on staff has a full sense of belonging within our organization. Inclusion and diversity are fundamental to our culture and core values, which helps us better serve our clients and our communities. We are an equal opportunity employer and encourage applications from all qualified individuals without regard to race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age, national origin, marital status, family status, citizenship, disability, veteran status, arrest or conviction, or any other factor protected by law.

A Better Balance is committed to providing reasonable accommodation for all individuals protected by law, including workers with needs related to pregnancy, childbirth, or related conditions; disabilities; religious observances or practices; or domestic violence. Interviews are primarily conducted via Zoom. If you need a reasonable accommodation to apply for the position, please complete this form.